Also Known As: Maisan
Description:
Maisin (or Maisan) is a language of Papua New Guinea with both Austronesian and Papuan features. It is spoken by the Maisin people of Oro Province.
[ŋ] and [kʷ] are not phonemic, but are distinguished in the orthography.
Syllables can begin and end with up to one consonant each. I.e., English wrong /rɔŋ/ would be an acceptable word, but strength /streŋθ/ would not. Words can only end in either a vowel or [ŋ]. The vowels /u/ and /o/ never occur word-initially. /β/ never occurs before /o/ or /u/.
Literacy varies from 20% to 80% in different areas...... full article at Wikipedia |