Benabena language

Benabena (Bena) is a Papuan language spoken in the Goroka District of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.

Benabena
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province
Native speakers	(45,000 cited 2000 census)[1]
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Kainantu–Goroka Goroka Benabena
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bef
Glottolog	bena1264

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Open	a

• Vowel sounds /i, e, a, o, u/ can also be heard as [ɪ, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, ʊ] in word-initial or word-medial positions.

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n
Stop	p		t			k	ʔ
Fricative	β	f	s		ʝ	ɣ	h
Approximant				ɭ

• /p, t, k/ can be heard as aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] in syllable-initial position, and can be heard as unreleased as [p̚, t̚, k̚] when preceding a consonant.
• /β/ can be heard as a stop [b] in word-initial position, and also may rarely fluctuate with a glide [w].
• /ʝ/ can be heard as a glide [j] in stressed syllable word-initial position and can be heard as [z] in word-initial unstressed syllable position.
• /s/ can be heard as [ʃ] before high vowels /i, u/.
• /ɣ/ can be heard as [ɡ] in free variation among speakers.
• /ɭ/ can be heard as a tap [ɽ] in free variation.^[2]