Western Dani, or Laani, is the most populous Papuan language in Indonesian New Guinea. It is spoken by the Lani people in the province of Papua. The Swart Valley tribes are called Oeringoep and Timorini in literature from the 1920s, but those names are no longer used.

Phonology

The phonology of the Western Dani language:[2]

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Velar Glottal
plain lab.
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p (pʰ) t (tʰ) k (kʰ) kʷ (kʷʰ) ʔ
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ ᵑɡʷ
Fricative β ɣ ɣʷ
Flap ɾ
Lateral l
Approximant w ɹ

At the beginning of words, stops sound aspirated. An intervocalic /ɣ/ is pronounced as [ʁ], and a /ɹ/ before a high vowel becomes a fricative [z].

Vowels
Front Central Back
High i iː u uː
Mid e eː ɒ ɒː
Low ɐ ɐː

Vowels /i, u, ɒ/ have allophones, [ɪ, ʊ, ɔ].

References

  1. ^ Western Dani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Barclay, Peter (2008). A Grammar of Western Dani.