Mwakai language

Mwakai, also known as Mongol, is a Keram language of Papua New Guinea.

Names

The name "Mongol" is from Tok Pisin and refers to a village where the language is spoken. Native speakers call the language mwa or mwakai, which mean 'no' or 'nothing'.

Geographic distribution

It is spoken in the villages of Mongol (4°15′44″S 143°55′03″E / 4.262293°S 143.917638°E / -4.262293; 143.917638 (Mongol), Mongol: Amngwar) and Kaimbal, Keram Rural LLG, East Sepik Province. Many residents of these villages moved to the town of Angoram in the 1970s.

Phonology

Mwakai has 12 consonants and six vowels, shown in the tables below. This section follows Barlow (2020).

The sound [t] only occurs in borrowings, with earlier */t/ having historically become /r/; this is belied by the realisation of word-final /r/ as [t~r~l]. /s/ patterns as a palatal consonant, with the optional allophone [ʃ]; there is some interplay between the sounds /s/ and /ⁿd͡ʒ/ in casual speech, with the contrast sometimes being neutralised in favour or either realisation. [ɲ] is a marginal phone which appears in borrowings and occasional as a realisation of /n/ before /i/. /r/ varies between [r ~ ɾ ~ l] and /p/ is occasionally realised as [ɸ].

/w/ and /j/ have a limited distribution, appearing mostly word-initially or -finally, and only rarely intervocalically. Some instances of /j/ and most instances of /w/ may be merely epenthetic, suggesting that Mwakai is in the process of losing its glide phonemes.

/i u e/ are rarely realised as their cardinal qualities and may approach [ɨ~ɪ ɨ~ʊ ɛ~ə], especially when unstressed.

References