Shiaxa (Sjiagha) and Yenimu (Jénimu, Oser), together known as South Awyu, are a
Papuan language
The Papuan languages are the non-Austronesian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands in Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. It is a strictly geographical grouping, and does not imply a ...
or languages of
Papua,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. Whether they constitute one language or two depends on one's criteria for a 'language'. The two varieties are,
*
Bamgi River Awyu (Oser, Yenimu/Jénimu)
*
Ia River Awyu (Shiaxa/Sjìagha)
Phonology
*Word-initial voiced stops /b, d, ɡ/ may have prenasalized allophones
��b, ⁿd, ᵑɡwhen the preceding word within a sentence ends in a vowel.
*/s/ may have an allophone of
�when preceding /i/, and may also have an affricate allophone
sin word-initial positions.
*/x/ may be voiced as
�in intervocalic positions.
*/n/ when in word-final position, may nasalize a preceding vowel
��
*In the Yenimu dialect, /ɾ/ may also have lateral allophones as
or
�
References
External links
*Shiaxa at the Awyu–Ndumut research group at VU University Amsterdam
Languages of Western New Guinea
Awyu–Dumut languages
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