Mian language

Mian is an Ok language spoken in the Telefomin district of the Sandaun province in Papua New Guinea by the Mian people. It has some 3,500 speakers spread across two dialects: West Mian (a.k.a. Suganga), with approximately 1,000 speakers in around Yapsiei, and East Mian, with approximately 2,500 speakers in and around Timeilmin, Temsakmin, Sokamin, Gubil, Fiak and Hotmin.

Phonology

Phonologically, Mian is very similar to other Papuan languages in the size of its phoneme inventory, but it nevertheless has some peculiarities, such as its contrast between a plain [a] and a pharyngealized [aˤ]. It is also a tonal language.

Vowels

Mian has six vowels, including the pharyngealized open front vowel.

Mian vowels

	Front	Back
	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	i Template:IPAslink	u Template:IPAslink
Close-mid		o Template:IPAslink
Open-mid	e Template:IPAslink
Open	a Template:IPAslink aa Template:IPAslink

Mian also has four diphthongs:

Mian diphthongs

Ending with	Ending with
ai	au
ei	ou

/ɛ/ is realized as [ə] in word-initial low-tone syllables, [ɛ] elsewhere.

/a/ is realized as [ɐ] in unaccented syllables, [ə] in word-initial low-tone syllables beginning with a consonant, [a] elsewhere.

/o/ is realized as [ɔ] in word-initial low-tone syllables and in syllables ending in a voiceless plosive or [ŋ], [o] elsewhere.

/u/ is realized as [ʊ] in word-initial low-tone syllables, [u] elsewhere.

Consonants

Mian has 16 consonants:

Mian consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
					Plain	Labialized
Plosive	Voiceless		Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme		Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme	Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme
	Voiced	Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme	Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme		Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme	Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme
Nasal		Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme	Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme		Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme
Fricative		Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme	Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme				Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme
Approximant			Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme	Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme		Template:IPAlink Template:Grapheme

is realized as word-initially, or [p̚] syllable-finally, [b] elsewhere.

Examples: banǒn [ᵐbànǒn] lower arm, mǎab [mǎˤːp̚] frog, teběl [tʰɛ̀bɛ̌l] ant

/t/ is realized as [tʰ] before vowels, [tʰ] or [t̚] syllable-finally.

Examples: tam [tʰàm] temple, mát [mát̚] gall bladder

/k/ is realized as [kʰ] before vowels, [kʰ] or [k̚] syllable-finally, sometimes [x] between vowels, [qʰ] before [aˤ].

Examples: kemin [kʰèmìn] to do, manggěk [màŋgɛ̌k̚] bee, okok [òxòk̚] work, kaawá [qʰàˤwá] steel axe

/ɡ/ is realized as [ᵑɡ] word-initially, [ɡ] elsewhere.

Examples: gát [ᵑɡát̚] mole, manggěk [màŋɡɛ̌k̚] bee

/ɡʷ/ is realized as [ᵑɡʷ] word-initially, [ɡʷ] elsewhere.

Examples: gwaán [ᵑɡʷàán] spider, gwalgwal [ᵑɡʷàlɡʷàl] twins

Tones

Mian has five tonemes, which apply at the word-stem level:

Mian tones

Tone	Example
Low	am [àm] house
High	án [án] arrow
Low-High	ǎam [ǎˤːm] Pandanus species
High-Low	hâs [hâs] hat
Low-High-Low	aam [àˤːm̂] older sister

The tones of Mian are very complex, as they are subject to various phonological processes, and furthermore, they can be used for indicating various grammatical aspects, especially in connection with verbs, where the tones are crucial for understanding.

Consider the two verb forms below, being non-hodiernal and imperfective respectively:

dolâbībe [dòlábíbè] I wrote

dolâbibe [dòlábìbè] I am writing

Nouns

Large objects in Mian are feminine, while small objects are masculine.