Nii language

Nii is a Trans–New Guinea language of the Chimbu–Wahgi branch spoken in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Nii
Ek Nii
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionWestern Highlands Province
Native speakers
(12,000 cited 1991)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nii
Glottologniii1240

Nii has an unusual number of lateral consonants: a typical dental approximant, /l̪/, plus both dental and velar lateral fricatives, /ɬ̪/ and /ʟ̝̊/, which are optionally voiced between vowels and do not occur in initial position.[2]

References

  1. Nii at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Foley, 1986:63, The Papuan languages of New Guinea

Further reading

  • Stucky, Al (1994). "Organised Phonology Data" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)


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