Siane (Siani) is a Papuan language spoken in the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in Siane Rural LLG and other neighboring local-level government areas of Papua New Guinea.
Named dialects are Hakoa, Kolepa, Yamofowe, Komongu, Komoigaleka, Kemanimowe, Ona, Keto, Laiya, Fowe, Olumba, Lambau, Alango, Yandime, Wando. Komongu and Lambau are the literary standards.
Like many Papuan languages Siane has a register tone system.[2]
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | ɑ |
Consonnes
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Dorsal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palatal | Velar | ||||
| Stop | Voiceless | p | t | k | |
| Voiced prenasalized | m͡b | n͡d | ŋ͡g | ||
| Fricative | f | s | |||
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Tap | ɾ | ||||
| Semi-vowel | w | j | |||
References
- ^ Siane at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Lucht, Ramona (1978). "Siane tone orthography". SIL.