Ajië (also known as Houailou (Wailu), Wai, and A'jie) is an Oceanic language spoken in New Caledonia. It has approximately 4,000 speakers.
Phonology
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalnor.lab.nor.lab.Stopvoiceless()prenasalNasalFricativeRhoticApproximant A glottal stop only appears after oral vowels. Different speakers may realize /v/ as a bilabial sound /β/. Glide sounds [ɹ, ɻ] are heard as allophones of /r/.
Vowels FrontCentralBackHigh High-midLow-mid Low
+Glottalized vowelsFrontCentralBackHighHigh-midLow-midLow
In addition to this, vowel length is phonetically distinct in Ajië, bringing an additional sixteen vowels for a total of forty-eight total vowels. Only the plain oral and nasal vowels are displayed for simplicity. +Nasal vowelsFrontCentralBackHigh High-midLow-mid Low
References