title: Kafoa language
text: # Kafoa language
  
  Kafoa, or Jafoo, is a Papuan language of Alor Island in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. The name "Kafoa" is not recognized by speakers; it is not clear which name they use themselves. Kafoa speakers are frequently multilingual, also speaking Malay, Klon and Abui. Children are typically initially taught Malay by their parents and later acquire Kafoa after having reached school age.
  
  ## Phonology
  
  The data in this section are taken from Baird (2017).
  
  ### Consonants
  
  Consonant phonemes :
  
  | | | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | ŋ ⟨ng⟩ | |
  | Plosive | voiceless | p | t | | k | |
  | Plosive | voiced | b | d | | ɡ | |
  | Fricative | Fricative | f | s | | | h |
  | Semivowel | Semivowel | w | | j ⟨y⟩ | | |
  | Liquid | lateral | | l | | | |
  | Liquid | rhotic | | r | | | |
  
  ### Vowels
  
  Vowel phonemes :
  
  | | Front | Front | Central | Central | Back | Back |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | High | i | iː | | | u | uː |
  | | | | | ʊ | ʊː | |
  | | | | | | | o |
  | Mid | | | | | | |
  | | ɛ | ɛː | | | | ɔː |
  | Low | | | a | aː | | |
  