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.

Kovai
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionUmboi Island, Morobe Province
Native speakers
6,000 (2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kqb
Glottologkova1243

Phonology

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Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a
  • Vowels may be heard as lax [ɪ ɛ ʌ ɔ ʊ] when in closed syllables.[2]

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b ɡ
Nasal m n ŋ
Fricative voiceless s
voiced z
Trill r
Approximant w l j
  • In word-final position /b ɡ/ can be heard as devoiced [b̥ ɡ̊], and may also be realized as fricatives [β ɣ] in intervocalic positions.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Kovai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Bugenhagen, Robert D. (1994). Language change on Umboi island. Tom Dutton and Darrell T. Tryon (eds.), Language contact and change in the Austronesian world: Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 46.
  3. ^ Brown, Alan (1992). Kovai (Umboi) organized phonology data. SIL.
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