Misplaced Pages

Aion a.k.a. Ambakich is a Keram language of Papua New Guinea. It is only spoken by adults; children grow up speaking Tok Pisin.

Phonology

• /t/ and /ŋ/ only appear in loanwords.
• /p/ may sometimes be heard as .
• /k/ is sometimes pronounced as or , usually word-initially.
• /tʃ/ can manifest as , or when adjacent to /ɨ/, .
• In certain words, the prenasalized consonants are denasalized.
• /s/ is occasionally before /i/.
• /n/ is heard as before /i/, and before /u/.
• Following /o/ and before any other vowel, /w/ is realized as .
• Before /a/, /j/ is heard as .
• Before the high vowels /i ɨ u/, /j/ is pronounced .

• The high vowels /i ɨ u/ do not occur word-initially.
• /e/ is occasionally centralized to .
• /a/ is typically raised to in open syllables.
• /a/ can also range in realization to , , and .
• /u/ is sometimes unrounded to .
• /ɨ/ is often deleted between two consonants.

Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /ai/, /ei/, /oi/, /au/, /ou/.

References

1. ^ Aion at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Timothy Usher, East Keram River
3. ^ Barlow, Russell (2021). "Ambakich phonological sketch". Language and Linguistics in Oceania. 13: 32–88.

• v
• t
• e

• Keram languages
• Languages of East Sepik Province
• Endangered Papuan languages
• Papuan language stubs