Mesem language
| Mesem | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province |
Native speakers | (4,000 cited 1997 census)[1] |
Trans–New Guinea
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mci |
| Glottolog | mese1244 |
Mesem (Mesẽ) is a Papuan language spoken in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.
Names
The alternate names for Mesem are Mese, Momalili, and Momolili.[2]
Phonology
Consonants
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
The table below shows Mesem's vowel phonemes:[3]: 2
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ʉ | o |
| Open | a |
Orthography
| a | ã | b | d | e | ẽ | g | i | ĩ | k | l | m | n |
| ng | o | õ | p | s | t | u | ũ | ʉ | ʉ̃ | w | y | z |
References
- ^ Mesem at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ "Glottolog 5.1 - Mese". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
- ^ 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.
- ^ SIL 2002.