Kovai language

Kovai
Native to Papua New Guinea
Region Umboi Island, Morobe Province
Native speakers
6,000 (2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 kqb
Glottolog kova1243[2]

Kovai (Kobai, Kowai) is a Papuan language spoken on Umboi Island, halfway between mainland Papua New Guinea and the island of New Britain, and mostly within the caldera of that volcanic island.

Phonology

Vowels (orthographic)

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

Consonants (orthographic)

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Voiceless plosive p t k
Voiced plosive b g
Voiced nasal m n ng
Voiceless fricative s
Voiced fricative z
Voiced trill r
Approximant w l y

References

  1. Kovai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Kovai". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.


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