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.
| Selaru | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Tanimbar Islands |
Native speakers | 8,000 (2001)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | slu |
| Glottolog | sela1259 |
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| 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
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
References
edit- ^ Selaru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Coward, David F. (2005). An Introduction to the Grammar of Selaru (PDF). SIL International.
Further reading
edit- 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.
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