PHONOLOGY

The Sentani language bas 7 vocalie and 10 eonsonantal phonemes. Apart from minor non-distinetive deviations, vowel phonemes have as a rule very fixed phonetic values. But consonantal phonemes are very rich in non-distinctive variants of of ten strongly deviating phonetic types. These allophones are, generally speaking, “free”, although to a certain extent combinatory influences play their part. Only in some cases allophones are positionally “bound”. However, in addition to the “normal” non-distinctive variation referred to above, in which the allophonic limits of the phonemes concerned are not exceeded, there occurs for certain phonemes under certain combinatory conditions an equally non-distinctive