Nii language
Trans–New Guinea language of Papua New Guinea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nii is a Trans–New Guinea language of the Chimbu–Wahgi branch spoken in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.
NativetoPapua New Guinea
Native speakers
(12,000 cited 1991)[1]| Nii | |
|---|---|
| Ek Nii | |
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Western Highlands Province |
Native speakers | (12,000 cited 1991)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nii |
| Glottolog | niii1240 |
Nii has an unusual number of lateral consonants: a typical alveolar flap, /ɺ/, plus both dental and velar lateral fricatives, /ɬ̪/ and /𝼄/, which are voiced between vowels and do not occur in initial position.[2][3]
Phonology
Note: the source used here is unreliable.
Vowels
Consonants
| Phoneme | word- initial | inter- vocalic | word- final | utterance- final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | [p]~[b] | [pᵊ]~[pʰ] | [pʰ] | |
| /s/ | [s̪]~[t̪s̪]~[t̪] | [s̪]~[t̪] | [s̪]~[t̪s̪] | |
| /r/ | [t]~[r](?) (after another word) | [ɾ]~[r] | [r̥] (after a vowel) | |
| /k/ | [k]~[ɡ] | [kᵊ]~[kʰ] | [kʰ] | |
| /mb/ | [mb] | [mb]~[mp] | [mpᵊ]~[mpʰ] | [mpʰ] |
| /ndz/ | [n̪d̪z]~[n̪t̪s]*** | [n̪d̪z]~[n̪t̪s]~[n̪s] | ||
| /nd/ | [nd]~[nt] | [ntᵊ]~[ntʰ] | [ntʰ]~[nt𐞩̥] | |
| /ŋɡ/ | [ŋk]~[ŋɡ] | [ŋkᵊ]~[ŋkʰ] | [ŋkʰ] | |
| /ɬ/ | NA | [ɮ̪]* | [ɬ̪] | |
| /ɺ/ | NA | [ɺ]** | NA | |
| /𝼄/ | NA | [ʟ̝] | [𝼄]~[𝼄ᵊ] | [𝼄] |
- * /ɬ/ is evidently [l̪] before a consonant
- ** /ɺ/ is [l] before /r/; in word-final position this sequence becomes [lt𐞩̥] ~ [ltʰ].
- *** /ndz/ may have a vocoid release [n̪d̪zᶦ] at the end of a syllable before a consonant.
The account of the initial allophones of /r/ is confused, and some of the other positions are not completely clear.
