Bola language (Austronesian)

Bola
Bola
Bakovi
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Native speakers	14,000 (2000 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Western Oceanic Meso-Melanesian Willaumez Bola; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bnp
Glottolog	bola1250
ELP	Bola

Bola, or Bakovi, is an Oceanic language of West New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The Harua (Xarua) dialect developed on a palm plantation.

Phonology

Phonology of the Bola language^[2]:

Consonant sounds
	Labial	Alveolar	Velar
Plosive	p b	t d	k g
Nasal	m	n	ŋ
Rhotic		r
Fricative	β		ɣ
Lateral		l

/t/ is realized as /s~ʃ/ when only occurring in front of /i/. The voiced stops /b d ɡ/ can often sound prenasalized [ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ] among various speakers.

**Vowel sounds**
	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

References

^ Bola at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Wiebe, Brent (August 2004). "Bola (Bola-Bakovi) Language [BNP] East New Britain & West New Britain Province" (PDF). Organised Phonology Data.

External links

This article about Meso-Melanesian languages is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[e18-1] Bola at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Wiebe, Brent (August 2004). "Bola (Bola-Bakovi) Language [BNP] East New Britain & West New Britain Province" (PDF). Organised Phonology Data.

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