Western Dani language

{{Infobox language

|name=Western Dani

|nativename=Lani

|region=Highland Papua, Indonesia

|ethnicity=Lani

|speakers=180,000

|date=1993

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Papuan

|fam1=Trans–New Guinea

|fam2=West Trans–New Guinea

|fam3=Irian Highlands ?

|fam4=Dani languages

|fam5=Dani proper

|iso3=dnw

|glotto=west2594

|glottorefname=Western Dani

|notice=IPA

}}

Western Dani, or Lani, is a Nuclear-Trans-New Guinea language. It is the Papuan language with the most speakers in Indonesian New Guinea. It is spoken by the Lani people in the province of Highland Papua.

The Baliem Valley tribes are called Oeringoep and Timorini in literature from the 1920s, but those names are no longer used.

Phonology

= Consonants =

The consonant phoneme inventory of Western Dani has been described as follows:{{Cite book|title=A Grammar of Western Dani|last=Barclay|first=Peter|year=2008}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" \|+Consonant phonemes ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" \| ! rowspan="2" \|Bilabial ! rowspan="2" \|Alveolar ! colspan="2" \|Velar ! rowspan="2" \|Glottal
plain !lab.
colspan="2" \|Nasal \|{{IPA link\|m}} \|{{IPA link\|n}} \| \| \|
rowspan="2" \|Plosive !voiceless \|{{IPA link\|p}} \|{{IPA link\|t}} \|{{IPA link\|k}} \|{{IPA link\|kʷ}} \|{{IPA link\|ʔ}}
prenasal \|{{IPA link\|ᵐb}} \|{{IPA link\|ⁿd}} \|{{IPA link\|ᵑɡ}} \|{{IPA link\|ᵑɡʷ}} \|
colspan="2" \|Fricative \|{{IPA link\|β}} \| \|{{IPA link\|ɣ}} \|{{IPA link\|ɣʷ}} \|
colspan="2" \|Flap \| \|{{IPA link\|ɾ}} \| \| \|
colspan="2" \|Lateral \| \|{{IPA link\|l}} \| \| \|
colspan="2" \|Approximant \|{{IPA link\|w}} \|{{IPA link\|ɹ}} \| \| \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Consonant phonemes

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" |Bilabial

! rowspan="2" |Alveolar

! colspan="2" |Velar

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

plain

!lab.

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|{{IPA link|k}}

|{{IPA link|kʷ}}

|{{IPA link|ʔ}}

prenasal

|{{IPA link|ᵐb}}

|{{IPA link|ⁿd}}

|{{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}

|{{IPA link|ᵑɡʷ}}

colspan="2" |Fricative

|{{IPA link|β}}

|{{IPA link|ɣ}}

|{{IPA link|ɣʷ}}

colspan="2" |Flap

|{{IPA link|ɾ}}

colspan="2" |Lateral

|{{IPA link|l}}

colspan="2" |Approximant

|{{IPA link|w}}

|{{IPA link|ɹ}}

At the beginning of words, oral stops have aspirated allophones [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, kʷʰ]; intervocalically, voiceless /p t k / have voiced allophones [β d ~ ɾ ɣ ~ ʁ], for instance following the prefix no-/na- meaning "my".

class="wikitable sortable"

!Word-initial

!Intervocalic

!Word-final

/p/

|[ pʰɐɾum ]

‘corn’

|[ nɔβɐɾum ]

‘my corn’

|[ ɐːp ]

‘men’

/t/

|[ tʰowe ]

‘bird’

|[ nɐɾowe]

‘my bird’

|[ ɐɾet ]

‘certainly’

/k/

|[ kʰɒm ]

‘taro’

|[ nɐɣɒm ]

‘my taro’

|[ lek ]

‘no’

An intervocalic /ɣ/ is pronounced as {{IPAblink|ʁ}}, and a /ɹ/ before a high vowel becomes a fricative {{IPAblink|z}}.

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" \|+Vowel phonemes ! !Front !Central !Back
High \|{{IPA link\|i}} {{IPA link\|iː}} \| \|{{IPA link\|u}} {{IPA link\|uː}}
Mid \|{{IPA link\|e}} {{IPA link\|eː}} \| \| rowspan="2" \| {{IPA link\|ɒ}} {{IPA link\|ɒː}}
Low \| \|{{IPA link\|ɐ}} {{IPA link\|ɐː}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Vowel phonemes

|{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|iː}}

|{{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|uː}}

Mid

|{{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|eː}}

| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ɒ}} {{IPA link|ɒː}}

Low