Apma language

Introduction · Alphabet · Word list

The orthography below was developed by linguist Cindy Schneider, based on earlier orthographic work by Catriona Hyslop of USP and on established local usage.

The letters of Apma, with their approximate IPA equivalents, are given below...

Sounds of Apma

Some locals writing in Apma use the letter j, while others use ts for the same sound (Cindy Schneider adopted the latter). This partly reflects a regional difference in pronunciation, and partly reflects differences in educational backgrounds: French-educated speakers prefer ts since they associate j with a different sound, while Anglophones consider j simpler.

The sound [p] is an allophone of [b], with [b] occuring at the start of a syllable and [p] at the end. Some linguists would prefer to see b used for both, but local practice is to make use of both b and p.

In the northern dialects, Suru Rabwanga (Suru Bo) and Suru Kavian, there is prenasalisation of d to ⁿd and g to ^ngg (most audibly after vowel sounds), and of b to ^mb where the previous consonant is nasal. The bilabial v sound may be pronounced w in Suru Rabwanga dialect. Suru Kavian dialect lacks the ts / j sound found in other dialects.