Kire language

Kire (Giri) is a Ramu language of Giri village (4.286778°S 144.724753°E / -4.286778; 144.724753 (Giri 1)) in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.^[2][3]

Kire
Giri
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Madang Province
Native speakers	2,400 (2003)[1]
Language family	Ramu Ramu proper Lower Ramu Misegian Kire
Language codes
ISO 639-3	geb
Glottolog	kire1240
ELP	Kire
Coordinates: 4.286778°S 144.724753°E / -4.286778; 144.724753 (Giri 1)

Phonology

Out of all the Ramu languages, Kire has the most complex consonant phonemic inventory.^[4]

Consonants^[5]

	Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal
Plosive	p b	t d	k g
Aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	kʰ
Prenasalized	ᵐp ᵐb	ⁿt ⁿd	ᵑk ᵑg
Fricative	β, f v	s̪, s z	h
Nasal	m	n	ŋ
Approximant	w	r

• Aspirated plosives only occur word-initially.
• /w/ has only been found word-initially.

Vowels^[5]

	Short			Long
	Front	Central	Back	Front	Central	Back
High	i ĩ	ɨ ɨ̃	u ũ	iː ĩː	ɨː ɨ̃ː	uː
Mid	e ẽ		o õ	eː ẽː		õː
Low		a ã			aː ãː

Additionally, the following diphthongs and triphthongs are found: /ia/, /ĩã/, /ei/, /ẽĩ/, /ai/, /aːi/, /oi/, /ui/, /uiː/, /ũĩ/, /ue/, /ũẽː/, /ua/, /ũã/, /ũãː/, /uei/, /uai/, /ũãĩ/, /ũĩã/, /ũẽĩ/.

Orthography

Kire orthography:^[5]

Kire alphabet

Phonemes	ɑ	ɑ̃	b	β	d	e	ẽ	f	g	h	i	ĩ	ɨ	ɨ̃	k	kʰ	m	ᵐb	ᵐp	n
Lowercase letters	a	ä	b	ƀ	d	e	ë	f	g	h	i	ï	ɨ	ɨ̈	k	kh	m	mb	mp	n
Phonemes	ⁿd	ⁿt	ŋ	ᵑg	ᵑk	o	õ	p	pʰ	r	s	s̪	t	tʰ	u	ũ	v	w	z
Lowercase letters	nd	nt	ŋ	ŋg	ŋk	o	ö	p	ph	r	s	š	t	th	u	ü	v	w	z