Ambakich language

Aion
Ambakich
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	East Sepik Province
Ethnicity	2,000 (2003) [1]
Native speakers	770 (2003) [1]
Language family	Ramu–Keram Keram East Keram [2] Aion
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aew
Glottolog	amba1269
ELP	Ambakich

Aion a.k.a. Ambakich is a Keram language of Papua New Guinea. It is only spoken by adults; children grow up speaking Tok Pisin.

Phonology

Consonants ^[3]

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	p	( t )	tʃ	k
Prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ⁿdʒ	ᵑɡ
Fricative		s
Nasal	m	n		( ŋ )
Approximant	w	r	j

• /t/ and /ŋ/ only appear in loanwords.
• /p/ may sometimes be heard as [ɸ].
• /k/ is sometimes pronounced as [q] or [ʔ], usually word-initially.
• /tʃ/ can manifest as [s], or when adjacent to /ɨ/, [t].
• In certain words, the prenasalized consonants are denasalized.
• /s/ is occasionally [ʃ] before /i/.
• /n/ is heard as [ɲ] before /i/, and [ŋ] before /u/.
• Following /o/ and before any other vowel, /w/ is realized as [ŋ].
• Before /a/, /j/ is heard as [ɲ].
• Before the high vowels /i ɨ u/, /j/ is pronounced [dʒ].

Vowels ^[3]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

• The high vowels /i ɨ u/ do not occur word-initially.
• /e/ is occasionally centralized to [ə].
• /a/ is typically raised to [ə] in open syllables.
• /a/ can also range in realization to [ɛ], [ʌ], and [ɔ].
• /u/ is sometimes unrounded to [ɤ].
• /ɨ/ is often deleted between two consonants.

Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /ai/, /ei/, /oi/, /au/, /ou/.

References

1. Aion at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Timothy Usher, East Keram River
3. Barlow, Russell (2021). "Ambakich phonological sketch". Language and Linguistics in Oceania. 13: 32–88.