Sawai | |
---|---|
Weda | |
Native to | Indonesia |
Region | North Maluku province |
Native speakers | 12,000 (2000) [1] |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | szw |
Glottolog | sawa1247 |
The Sawai language (also Weda) is a South Halmahera language of the Austronesian language family spoken in the Weda and Gane Timor districts of southern Halmahera, northern Maluku Province, Indonesia. There are approximately 12,000 speakers.
Below is a description of the Kobe dialect of Sawai spoken in the villages of Lelilef Woyebulan and Kobe Peplis, as well as from Whistler (1995).
Sawai has 15 consonants:
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | p b | t d | k ɡ | |
Fricative | f | s | ||
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
Semivowel | w | j | ||
Liquid | l ɾ |
Sawai has eight vowels:
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | u | |
High-Mid | e | ə | o |
Low-Mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
Low | a |
Sawai has the following syllable structure:
Examples:
word | gloss | syllable type |
---|---|---|
/i/ | 's/he/it' | V |
/in/ | 'fish' | VC |
/wo/ | 'alcoholic drink' | CV |
/npo/ | 's/he/it gives' | CCV |
/kot/ | 'magic statue' | CVC |
/nfan/ | 's/he/it goes' | CCVC |
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