Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Linguistics and Cultural Studies (ICLC-6 2025)

6th International Conference on Linguistics and Cultural Studies (ICLC-6 2025)

📍Makassar, Indonesia🗓️ 12 November 2025
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Hiatus and Diphthongs in Wawonii Language: Distribution and Syllable Structure Implications

Authors
A. D. Firman1, 2, *, Muhammad Darwis3
1Doctoral Student, Linguistics Program, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia
2Research Centre for Language and Literature Preservation, BRIN, Jakarta, Indonesia
3Faculty of Cultural Science, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia
*Corresponding author.
Corresponding Author
A. D. Firman
Available Online 4 September 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_14How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Wawonii language; phonology; hiatus; diphthong; syllable structure
Abstract

This study examines the phenomena of hiatus and diphthongs in the Wawonii language, aiming to describe the vowel inventory, distribution, and their implications for syllable structure. The data were drawn from phonological documentation of Wawonii and analyzed using a descriptive qualitative method with a distributional and phonotactic approach. The findings reveal that Wawonii has five basic vowels (/a, e, i, o, u/), all of which can occur in initial, medial, and final positions. Hiatus in Wawonii occurs when two adjacent vowels are pronounced separately, each forming its own syllabic nucleus, while diphthongs involve two vowels pronounced within a single syllabic peak. Hiatus predominantly appears in medial and final positions, whereas diphthongs are more common in final positions. These phenomena have important implications for the syllable structure of Wawonii, which is largely dominated by the (C)V pattern with a high tolerance for vowel sequences. The study highlights the unique phonological features of Wawonii and contributes to broader discussions in phonology and Austronesian language typology.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Linguistics and Cultural Studies (ICLC-6 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
4 September 2026
ISBN
978-2-38476-613-0
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_14How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - A. D. Firman
AU  - Muhammad Darwis
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Hiatus and Diphthongs in Wawonii Language: Distribution and Syllable Structure Implications
BT  - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Linguistics and Cultural Studies (ICLC-6 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 150
EP  - 164
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_14
ID  - Firman2026
ER  -