Jump to content

Tigak language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tigak
RegionNew Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
(6,000 cited 1991)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3tgc
Glottologtiga1245
Languages of the New Ireland languages group

Tigak (or Omo) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 6,000 people (in 1991)[2] in the Kavieng District of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea.

The Tigak language area includes the provincial capital, Kavieng.

Phonology

[edit]

Phoneme inventory of the Tigak language:

Consonant sounds
Labial Alveolar Velar
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b g
Rhotic r
Fricative voiceless β s
lateral ɮ

/r/ can also be realized as [ɾ] allophonically. Both /k, ɡ/ are back-released as [k̠, ɡ̠].

Vowel sounds
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e ɔ
Low a
Phoneme Allophones
/i/ [i], [ɪ], [y]
/e/ [e], [ɛ]
/a/ [ʌ], [a]

Two vowels /i u/ in word-initial form can also be released as consonantal allophones [w j].[3]

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Tigak at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Gordon, Raymond G. Jr., ed. (2005). "Tigak". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (fifteenth ed.). Dallas: SIL. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapter= (help)
  3. ^ Beaumont, Clive H. (1974). The Tigak Language of New Ireland. Australian National University.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)