Today, we want to address a highly relevant topic that has captured the attention of many people in recent times. Ngadha language has generated a great deal of debate and has sparked the interest of experts in the field, as well as ordinary people seeking to understand more about this topic. Throughout this article, we will explore different aspects related to Ngadha language, addressing its importance, impact and possible implications. It is essential to thoroughly understand this aspect to be able to analyze it from different perspectives and form an informed opinion about it. Join us on this tour and discover more about Ngadha language!
Ngadha | |
---|---|
Bahasa Ngadha | |
Native to | Indonesia |
Region | Flores |
Native speakers | (ca. 65,000 cited 1994–1995) |
Austronesian
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:nxg – Ngadʼanea – Eastern Ngadʼa |
Glottolog | ngad1261 |
Ngadha (IPA: [ŋaᶑa], also spelled Ngada, Ngadʼa or Ngaʼda) is an Austronesian language, one of six languages spoken in the central stretch of the Indonesian island of Flores. From west to east these languages are Ngadha, Nage, Keo, Ende, Lio, and Palu'e. These languages form the proposed Central Flores group of the Sumba–Flores languages, according to Blust (2009).
Ngadha is one of the few languages with a retroflex implosive /ᶑ /.
The sound system of Ngadha is as follows.
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | u | |
Mid | e | ə̆ | o |
Low | a |
The short vowel /ə̆/ is written ⟨e⟩ followed by a double consonant, since phonetically a consonant becomes geminate after /ə̆/. It is never stressed and does not form sequences with other vowels except where glottal stop has dropped (e.g. limaessa 'six', from lima 'five' and 'essa 'one').
Within vowel sequences, epenthetic may appear after an unrounded vowel (e.g. in /eu/, /eo/) and after a rounded vowel (e.g. in /oe/, /oi/). Double vowels are sequences. Vowels tend to be voiceless between voiceless consonants and pre-pausa after voiceless consonants.
Stress is on the penultimate syllable, unless that contains the vowel /ə̆/, in which case stress is on the final syllable.
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palato- alveolar |
Retroflex | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
Plosive/ Affricate |
unaspirated | b | d̪ | dʒ | ɡ | ʔ | ||
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||||
implosive | ɓ | ᶑ | ||||||
Fricative | voiced | v | z | ɣ | ||||
voiceless | f | s | x | |||||
Liquid | lateral | l | ||||||
trill | r |
The implosives have been spelled ⟨bʼ dʼ⟩, ⟨ʼb ʼd⟩ and ⟨bh dh⟩. The velar fricatives are spelled ⟨h, gh⟩.
The trill is short, and may have only one or two contacts.
Glottal stop contrasts with zero in initial position, as in inu 'drink' vs 'inu 'tiny'. In rapid speech it tends to drop intervocalically.
Phonetically words are analyzed as having an initial schwa. In initial position the consonant is always voiced (otherwise the schwa remains). Examples are emma 'father', emmu 'mosquito', enna 'sand', Ennga (name), ebba 'swadling sling', ebbu 'grandparents', Ebbo (name), erro 'sun' – also in medial position with voiceless consonants, as in limaessa 'six'.