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Selaru language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Selaru
Native toIndonesia
RegionTanimbar Islands
Native speakers
8,000 (2001)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3slu
Glottologsela1259

Selaru is an Austronesian language of Selaru and Yamdena, in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Linguistically it is not close to Seluwasan, its nearest relative.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Dorsal Glottal
Plosive voiceless t k ʔ
voiced b d (ɡ)
Fricative f s h
Nasal m n
Trill r
Lateral l
Approximant w j
  • /h/ can be heard as [x] before velar stops.
  • /k/ can be heard as [ɡ] within voiced environments.
  • Consonants preceding glide sounds are heard as either palatalized or labialized [ʲ, ʷ].[2]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

References

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  1. ^ Selaru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Coward, David F. (2005). An Introduction to the Grammar of Selaru (PDF). SIL International.

Further reading

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  • Drabbe, P. (1932). Beknopte Spraakkunst en Korte Woordenlijst der Slaroeëesche Taal [Concise Grammar and Short Glossary of the Slaru language] (in Dutch). Bandung: A. C. Nix.
  • Coward, D.; Coward, N. (2000). "A phonological sketch of the Selaru language". In Grimes, C. E. (ed.). Spices from the East: Papers in Languages of Eastern Indonesia. Pacific Linguistics No. 503. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 9–54. doi:10.15144/PL-503.9. hdl:1885/146101.
  • Coward, D. F. (2005). An Introduction to the Grammar of Selaru (PDF) (version 2 ed.). SIL International.