Merap language

Merap (Mbraa) is an Austronesian language, spoken in the village of Langap [id] in South Malinau district, Malinau Regency, North Kalimantan, Indonesia.^[2] Soriente (2015) classifies Mbraa (also known as Merap) as a Kayan–Murik (Modang-Bahau) language.

Merap
Mbraa / Mpraa
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Langap [id], South Malinau, Malinau, North Kalimantan
Ethnicity	Merap
Native speakers	(200 cited 1981)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Greater North Borneo Kayanic Murik–Merap Merap
Language codes
ISO 639-3	puc
Glottolog	mera1243
ELP	Punan Merap

Phonology

Merap phonology has departed significantly from Proto-Malayo Polynesian. Merap stress is word-final, and word shape is sesquisyllabic (a minor penultimate syllable followed by a stressed full ultima). The number of vowel contrasts has increased significantly as well. Where Proto-Malayo-Polynesian had four vowels (*i, *u, *a, and *ə) Merap has well over twenty contrasts, including diphthongs, triphthongs, and nasality distinctions.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	p b	t d	c ɟ	k ɡ	ʔ
Fricative		s			h
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Lateral		l
Trill		r

• /b/ is pronounced as implosive [ɓ] in the offset of final syllables.^[3]
• /ɡ/ except after /ŋ/ is rare, and occurs only in loanwords.^[4]

Vowels

		Front	Central		Back
			short	long
Close		i			u
Mid		ɛ	ə		o
Open			a	aː
Diphthongs	closing	iw ɛj əw ae̯ ai̯ ao̯ au̯ oj uj
	centering	iə̯ aə̯ uə̯
	nasalised	ĩə̯ ãə̯ ũə̯
Triphthongs		ɛjə̯ ajə̯ awə̯ ojə̯

• The distinction between /a/ and /aː/ only occurs in final syllables before glottals /ʔ/ and /h/.^[4]