{-} (Bantere’)

BANTERE’

Orthography: bantere’

Phonemic Form: /V.V/ (hiatus)

Phonetic Realization: [V.V] (open vowel sequence; no glottal closure)

Type: Suprasegmental phoneme

Category: Hiatus marker / vowel disjunction

DEFINITION

Bantere’ is a phonemic hiatus in Boie’nen that separates adjacent vowels into distinct syllables without glottal closure.

It represents a continuous, flowing vocal transition, in contrast to the interrupted closure of the okina {-}

CORE FUNCTION

Bantere’:

Signals syllable boundary between vowels

• Maintains vowel independence
• Prevents vowel coalescence or diphthongization
• Creates phonemic contrast with glottal stop (okina)

PHONETIC DESCRIPTION

No closure of the vocal tract

• No glottal stop /ʔ/
• Smooth airflow between vowels
• Often perceived as:
  CONTRAST WITH OKINA

MINIMAL / CONTRASTIVE SETS

1. Classic Triplet

• paa → “belt”
• pa-a → “foot” (bantere’)
• pa-a’ → “thirst” (bantere’ + okina)

2. Lexical Contrast

po’ot → “suffocate” (okina)

• po-ot → “stickiness / sap-like adhesion” (bantere’)

3. Verb Contrast

i’beg → “thickness” (okina)

• i-beg → “envy” (bantere’)

PHONOLOGICAL STATUS

Phonemic (contrastive)

• Not predictable from environment
• Functions at the suprasegmental level
• Coexists with:
  ORTHOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION

Bantere’ is represented by:
Example:

pa-a (explicit)

• paa (context-dependent; may require clarification)

MORPHOLOGICAL ROLE

Bantere’ frequently arises in:

Affixation

• Root + suffix combinations
• Vowel-final + vowel-initial morpheme junctions

Example:

ka-en → ka’en / ka-en (depending on glottal vs hiatus resolution)

PEDAGOGICAL NOTE

For learners:

Bantere’ = “keep the vowels apart, but don’t stop the voice.”

Okina = “stop, then release.”

             [CF normalized 2026-03]