Molima is an Austronesian language spoken in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua New Guinea.

Molima
Salakahadi
Fagululu
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionFergusson Island, Milne Bay Province
Native speakers
4,000 (2000 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Tola’ai
  • Ai’alu
  • Tosila’ai
Language codes
ISO 639-3mox
Glottologmoli1248

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
plain lab. plain lab. plain lab.
Plosive voiceless k ʔ ʔʷ
voiced b ɡ ɡʷ
Fricative voiceless ɸ ɸʷ s h
voiced v ʝ ɣ
Nasal m
Lateral l
Approximant (j) w
  • [p] may also occur as an allophone of /ɸ/, or as a result of borrowed words from Dobu, Motu or English.
  • /v/ can be weakened as [ʋ] in all environments, in free variation.
  • /i/, when preceding a vowel, may also be realized as a semivowel [j].[2]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

References

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  1. ^ Molima at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Engkvist, Leif & Helena (2002). Organized Phonology Data of Molima Language (Tola'ai dialect).