Aimele is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea. It has around 300 speakers, living primarily in Lake Campbell in Western Province, where it is the dominant language of the community.[1]: 4
Names
The alternate names for Aimele are Eibela and Kware.[2]
Phonology
Aimele has 28 phonemes in total, with a consonantal inventory of 13 phonemes, and a vowel inventory of 14 phonemes when including diphthongs and lengthened vowels, or 5 without.[1]: 26
Consonants
The consonantal system is very similar to the ones found in the neighboring languages Kasua, Kaluli, Kamula and Odoodee.[1]: 26
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Plosive | voiceless | t | k | |||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | ɸ | s | h | |||
| Approximant | w | l | j | |||
Vowels
| Short | Long | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | Front | Back | |
| Close | i | u | iː | uː |
| Mid | ɛ | o | ɛ: | oː |
| Open | a | aː | ||
| Diphthongs | ai, oi, ou, ɛi | |||
References
- ^ a b c Aiton, Grant William (2016). A grammar of Eibela: a language of the Western Province, Papua New Guinea (phd thesis). James Cook University.
- ^ “Glottolog 5.1 – Aimele”. glottolog.org. Retrieved 2025-02-13.