Paiwan Language - Phonology

Phonology

Kuɬaɬau Paiwan has 23–24 consonants (/h/ is found only in loanwords, and /ʔ/ is uncommon) and 4 vowels (Ferrell 1982:7). Unlike many other Formosan languages that have merged many Proto-Austronesian phonemes, Paiwan preserves most Proto-Austronesian phonemes and is thus highly important for reconstruction purposes.

The four Paiwan vowels are /i ə a u/. /ə/ is written e in the literature.

In Northern Paiwan the palatal consonants have been lost, though this is recent and a few conservative speakers maintain them as allophonic variants (not as distinct phonemes). /ʔ/ is robust, unlike in other Paiwan dialects where its status is uncertain, as it derives from *q.

Younger speakers tend to pronounce /ʎ/ as . Fricative is characteristic of Mudan village; elsewhere is Southern Paiwan it tends to be a trill, though it still varies . Word-initial *k has become /ʔ/.