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Austronesian language spoken in New Guinea
Not to be confused with Waigeo language.
^ /i u/ realized as glides with the posterior vowel: /ɪ̯ ʊ̯/.
May be realized as /ʷ/ or /w/ as long as it does not occur on the boundary of two morphemes.
Words in Wogeo have lexical stress—it creates both lexical and grammatical distinctions, primarily realized through lengthening and changing the quality of the stressed vowel. The accent can be on the penultimate or ultimate syllable, with the penultimate accent considered unmarked. Compare lima ‘hand’ with limá ‘his/her hand’.
Vowel assimilation in Wogeo occurs mainly within word forms, with total or partial assimilation of tongue height. Elisions of vowels are morphologically and somewhat lexically determined.
Verbal reduplication in Wogeo expresses imperfective aspect and can take different forms depending on the phonological structure of the verb.
Adjectival reduplication in Wogeo is a common phenomenon, with reduplicated adjectives being more prevalent than non-reduplicated ones. There are also traces of an older adjectival reduplication pattern in certain lexemes, where the reduplication is fully lexicalized, and no longer recognized as such by speakers.
Reduplicated nouns are less common than reduplicated adjectives or verbs, and they serve either to denote 'affiliation/similarity' or to express 'continuous/discrete plurality'. Some proper names also show traces of old reduplication processes.
Sources
Wogeo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
References
Exter, Mats, (2003) Phonetik und Phonologie des Wogeo. Arbeitspapier (Universität zu Köln. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft); Nr. 46
