Native to Papua New Guinea Native speakers (8,200 cited 1978) Glottolog want1252 | Region Morobe Province ISO 639-3 wnc | |
Language family Trans–New Guinea
Finisterre–Huon
Finisterre
Wantoat languages
Wantoat | ||
Wantoat, named after the Wantoat River, is one of the Finisterre languages of Papua New Guinea. Dialects are Wapu (Leron), Central Wantoat, Bam, Yagawak (Kandomin), continuing on to Awara, though the last is only 60–70% lexically similar with Wantoat and Wapu. Major Wantoat villages are Gwabogwat, Mamabam, Matap, Ginonga, Kupung.
Phonology
Consonants clusters with mixed voicing occur within words:
okᵑɡa 'your uncle', kaotⁿdu 'half', ɡeᵐbikᵐbik 'lip', temⁿzin 'they will shoot it', kapⁿza 'strong'Vowel sequences are /ie iə iɑ iu, ee eə eɑ eu, əə, ææ æə, ɑɑ ɑo ɑu, oi oə oɑ, uu/.
Syllables are minimally V and maximally CVVC. Stress is distinctive but has a low functional load.
References
Wantoat language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA