Kirikiri language


Kirikiri, or Faia, is a Lakes [Plain languages|Lakes Plain language] of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. It is spoken in Dofu Wahuka and Paniai villages.

Phonology

Kirikiri does not have many consonant phonemes, but there are many consonant allophones:
Kirikiri, like Doutai, has the fricativized high vowels and . There are 7 vowels:

Closei
<ɨ>uMideoOpena
Other sources analyse the vowel phonemes differently. One analysis published by SIL Global describes the fricativized high vowels as /i/ and /u/, analyze the close vowels as /e/ and /o/, and transcribes the mid vowels as /ɛ/ and /ɔ/.
A set of two vowels at the same tone will diphthonize, but a set of two vowels with different tones will not. Instances of /u/ between vowels or between /k/ and a vowel are realized as .
Kirikiri has four tones: low, high, falling, and rising. The low tone is marked V̀, the high tone is marked V́, the falling tone is marked V́V̀, and the rising tone is marked V̀V́. The syllable structure is V, but some speakers pronounce CCV syllables as CəCV.

Orthography

Kirikiri does not have a universally accepted orthography, but SIL Global has created one.

Letter-to-sound correspondances (consonants)