Last Updated: 2019-09-30
Background
Language Family: Trans-New Guinea / Main Section / Central and Western / East New Guinea Highlands / East-Central / Gahuku-Benabena
- Some sources hyphenate the language as Bena-Bena.
- Benabena is spoken throughout the Goroka district of the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea.
Phonology
Consonants
- R. Young and Young (1961) and R. Young (1975) argue for [β] rather than /ɸ/ (p. 4; p. 1). However, I have preferred the analysis of R. Young (1992), which seems to show the most recent form of Young’s understanding of the phoneme.
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Place of Articulation
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Manner of Articulation
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Bilabial
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Labiodental
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Alveolar
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Retroflex
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Palatal
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Velar
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Glottal
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Stops
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p
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t
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k
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ʔ
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Fricatives
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ɸ
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f
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s
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ɣ
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h
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Nasals
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m
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n
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Approximants
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ɭ
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j
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Vowels
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Front
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Back
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High
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i
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u
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Mid
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e
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o
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Low
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ɑ
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Alphabet
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Grapheme
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Phoneme
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a
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/ɑ/
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b
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/ɸ/
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e
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/e/
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f
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/f/
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g
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/ɣ/
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h
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/h/
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i
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/i/
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k
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/k/
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l
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/ɭ/
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m
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/m/
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n
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/n/
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o
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/o/
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p
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/p/
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s
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/s/
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t
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/t/
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u
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/u/
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y
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/j/
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’
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/ʔ/
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Syllable Structure
- Benabena has a (C)V(ʔ) syllable structure (R. Young 1992, 2).
Lenition Rules
- In a small number of words, word-initial /ɸ/ approximantizes to [w] (R. Young and Young 1961, 9).
- /ʔ/ may be deleted in certain words (ibid.).
Misc. Rules
- /ɸ/ alternates with [b] word-initially (R. Young 1992, 2).
- /j/ undergoes some word-initial alternation: in stressed syllables, it alternates with [ʝ], while in unstressed syllables it alternates with [z] (R. Young 1992, 10–11).
- Some speakers realize /ɣ/ as [ɡ] (R. Young 1992, 3; R. Young and Young 1961, 12).
- Some speakers realize /ɭ/ as [ɽ] (R. Young 1992, 3; R. Young and Young 1961, 14).
- Non-glottal stops are sometimes realized with aspiration (R. Young and Young 1961, 8).
- Preconsonantal glottal stops may adopt the place of articulation of the following consonant; when this occurs, the stop is produced as unreleased (R. Young and Young 1961, 9).
- Some speakers back /s/ to [ʃ] before high vowels (R. Young and Young 1961, 11).
References
Young, Robert. 1975. “Notes on the Dialect Differences of Bena-Bena.” SIL International.
———. 1992. “Benabena Organised Phonology Data.” SIL International.
Young, Robert, and Rosemary Young. 1961. “The Phonemes of Bena-Bena: A Routine Statement.” SIL International.