Kire Language
Kire (Giri) is a Ramu language of Giri village (4°17′12″S 144°43′29″E / 4.286778°S 144.724753°E) in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.
Phonology
Out of all the Ramu languages, Kire has the most complex consonant phonemic inventory.
| Labial | Alveolar | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g |
| Aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ |
| Prenasalized | ᵐp ᵐb | ⁿt ⁿd | ᵑk ᵑg |
| Fricative | β, f v | s̪, s z | h |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ |
| Approximant | w | r |
- Aspirated plosives only occur word-initially.
- /w/ has only been found word-initially.
| Short | Long | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| High | i ĩ | ɨ ɨ̃ | u ũ | iː ĩː | ɨː ɨ̃ː | uː |
| Mid | e ẽ | o õ | eː ẽː | õː | ||
| Low | a ã | aː ãː | ||||
Additionally, the following diphthongs and triphthongs are found: /ia/, /ĩã/, /ei/, /ẽĩ/, /ai/, /aːi/, /oi/, /ui/, /uiː/, /ũĩ/, /ue/, /ũẽː/, /ua/, /ũã/, /ũãː/, /uei/, /uai/, /ũãĩ/, /ũĩã/, /ũẽĩ/.
Orthography
Kire orthography:
| Phonemes | ɑ | ɑ̃ | b | β | d | e | ẽ | f | g | h | i | ĩ | ɨ | ɨ̃ | k | kʰ | m | ᵐb | ᵐp | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase letters | a | ä | b | ƀ | d | e | ë | f | g | h | i | ï | ɨ | ɨ̈ | k | kh | m | mb | mp | n |
| Phonemes | ⁿd | ⁿt | ŋ | ᵑg | ᵑk | o | õ | p | pʰ | r | s | s̪ | t | tʰ | u | ũ | v | w | z | |
| Lowercase letters | nd | nt | ŋ | ŋg | ŋk | o | ö | p | ph | r | s | š | t | th | u | ü | v | w | z |
References
- ^ Kire at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
- ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
- ^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- ^ Pryor, David B. (2004). Kire Organised Phonology Data. SIL International.