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Mesem language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mesem
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionHuon Peninsula, Morobe Province
Native speakers
(4,000 cited 1997 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mci
Glottologmese1244

Mesem (Mesẽ) is a Papuan language spoken in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.

Names

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The alternate names for Mesem are Mese, Momalili, and Momolili.[2]

Phonology

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Consonants

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The table below shows Mesem's consonantal phonemes:[3]: 1 

Bi­labial Alveolar Velar
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k ɡ
Fricative s, z
Approximant j
Lateral approximant l

The language also has /w/, which is a voiced labio-velar fricative, not an approximant.[3]: 1 

Vowel

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The table below shows Mesem's vowel phonemes:[3]: 2 

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ʉ o
Open a

Orthography

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Mesem alphabet [4]
a ã b d e g i ĩ k l m n
ng o õ p s t u ũ ʉ ʉ̃ w y z

References

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  1. ^ Mesem at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Glottolog 5.1 - Mese". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
  3. ^ a b c "Mesem Organised Phonology Data: Morobe province". SIL International. 2014-12-23. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
  4. ^ SIL 2002.