Central Asmat language

Central Asmat is a Papuan language of West New Guinea, spoken by the Asmat people.

Dialects

Central Asmat has a number of dialects, which are:

• Keenok
• Sokoni
• Keenakap
• Kawenak (subdialects: Simai, Kainak, Mismam, Mecemup)

Yaosakor Asmat, assigned its own ISO code, is a variety of Central Asmat, not a distinct language.

Phonology

Consonants

• /p/ can be heard as a fricative when in intervocalic positions, as in the speech of older speakers when preceding /e/.
• /tʃ/ can be heard as a palatalized when in word-final positions following /i/.
• /k/ can be heard as a fricative when following a vowel and preceding a consonant.
• /s/ can be heard as fricatives or among some older speakers.
• /r/ can be heard as a flap in word-medial and word-final positions.
• /ʝ/ can be heard as or in word-initial positions.
• Nasals /m, n/ may fluctuate to voiced stops [, ] in word-initial positions, and as prenasal stops [, ] when in syllable-initial positions.

Vowels

References