Manam language

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Manam
Spoken in:	Northern New Guinea
Total speakers:	7,000 (1998)
Language family:	Austronesian  Malayo-Polynesian   Central Eastern Malayo-Polynesian    Eastern Malayo-Polynesian     Oceanic      Western Oceanic       North New Guinea        Schouten         Kairiru-Manam          Manam           Manam
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	—
ISO 639-3:	mva
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

Manam is a Kairiru-Manam language spoken mainly on the volcanic Manam Island, northeast of New Guinea.

Contents 1 Phonology 1.1 Vowels 1.2 Consonants 1.3 Allophony 1.4 Syllable structure 1.5 Stress 2 Syntax 3 Morphology 3.1 Number 3.1.1 Pronouns 3.2 Reduplication 3.2.1 Nouns 3.2.2 Adjectives 3.2.3 Verb aspects 3.3 The verb 3.3.1 Subject marking 3.3.2 Mood 3.3.3 Manner prefixes 3.3.4 Object marking 3.3.5 Transitivization 3.3.6 Optional suffixes 3.4 Adjectives 3.5 Possession 3.5.1 Possessive pronouns 3.5.2 Inalienable possession 3.5.3 Edible possession 3.5.4 Alienable possession 3.5.5 Cross-class possession 4 Resources

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

[edit] Consonants

	Bilabial		Alveolar		Velar
Stop	p	b	t	d	k ~ ʔ ~ q	g
Nasal	m		n		ŋ
Fricative			(t)s	(d)z
Lateral			l
Flap			ɾ ~ r

[edit] Allophony

Some vowels become glides in diphthongs, eg. /u/, /o/ -> [w] and /i/, /e/ -> [j]. /i/ and /u/ are 'weaker' than /e/ and /o/, so that the syllable /kuo/ becomes [kwo] and not *[kuw]

According to Turner, /k/ is more and more often realized as [ʔ], while some older speakers have [q].

[edit] Syllable structure

The Manam syllable is (C)(V₁)V(V₁)(C₁), the only exception is a syllabic [m̩].

There are some phonotactic restrictions on the prevalent syllable structure. Eg. V₁ cannot be [a], whereas V must be [a] as long as it’s not the syllable’s sole vowel. C can be any consonant, whereas C₁ must be a nasal consonant.

[edit] Stress

Stress is phonemic: /ˈsara/ 'palm tree', /saˈra/ 'seagull'. The stress falls on one of the three last syllables of a word, and stressing the penult syllable is the most common: /ˈnatu/ 'child', /maˈlipi/ 'work'. If the last syllable ends in a nasal consonant, it will be stressed instead: /naˈtum/ 'your child'. Some inflections and affixes do not alter the stress of the root word: /iˈto/ 'he learned' (i- is a 3rd person prefix), /siˈŋabalo/ 'in the bush' (-lo is a locative suffix).

In the orthography, stressed vowels can be underlined in order to avoid ambiguities. Ie. /ˈsara/ <sara> 'palm tree', /saˈra/ <sara> 'seagull'.

[edit] Syntax

The main word order in Manam is SOV:

	tamoata	boro	i-	un	-i
	man	pig	3SG	hit	3SG

"The man hit the pig."

[edit] Morphology

[edit] Number

Manam has got a very unusual four-way distinction between singular, dual, trial and plural number. This is marked on the verb and sometimes on the adjective, but never on the noun.

[edit] Pronouns

Person		Number
		Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1st	Inclusive		kitaru	kitato	kita
	Exclusive	ngau nga	keru	keto	keka
2nd		kaiko kai	kamru	kamto	kam kakaming
3rd		ngai	diaru	diato	di

[edit] Reduplication

Reduplication can be either leftward (sa-salaga) or rightward (salaga-laga). There seems to be no point in using terms like 'partial' and 'total' reduplication, since at most two syllables are reduplicated.

[edit] Nouns

Rightwards reduplicated nouns can either take on a meaning related to the original word, or function as an agentive marker:

	moata	snake
	moata-moata	worm
	malipi	the work
	malipi-lipi	worker

[edit] Adjectives

Here are two examples of how number can be marked on the adjective through the different kinds of reduplication:

Rightward reduplication (singular)

	udi noka-noka	ripe banana
	tamoata bia-bia	the big man

Leftward reduplication (plural)

	udi no-noka	ripe bananas
	tamoata bi-bia	the big men

[edit] Verb aspects

[edit] The verb

The verb always marks the subject and the mood (these two are fused together). Optional suffixes includes such things as object, direction, aspectual markers, benefactive and various kinds of intensifiers and quantifiers. Here’s a schematical overview of the Manam verb:

Outer prefixes	Verb nucleus			Outer suffixes
	Inner prefixes	Root	Inner suffixes
Subject/mood marking	Manner prefix aka- transitive	Verb root	ak- transitive	Object marking Optional suffixes

[edit] Subject marking

The marking of subject is obligatory. In addition to expressing number and person, the pronouns have fused with the mood markers (see below) called real and unreal.

Person		Singular		Plural
		Real	Unreal	Real	Unreal
1st	Inclusive			ta-
	Exclusive	u-	m-	ki-	ga-
2nd		ku-	go-	ka-	kama-
3rd		i-	nga-	di-	da-

[edit] Mood

The "real" mood (RE) is used for events of the past or present, ie. things that are certain to have happened, things that are "real". Accordingly, the "unreal" (UN) mood describes events that are in the future, or events that the speaker wish were real.

	ura	nga-	pura
	rain	3SG:UN	come

"it will rain"

	u-	noku
	1SG:RE	jump

"I jumped"

	nga-	pile	i-	bebe
	3SG:UN	say	3SG:RE	unable

"he will say that he is unable" (he still hasn’t said anything, but when he does, his unability will be real)

	tama	-gu	i-	rere	zama	go-	pura
	father	1SG:POSS	3SG:RE	want	tomorrow	2SG:UN	come

"my father wants you to come tomorrow" (the father’s wanting is real, whereas the anticipated coming is still unreal)

[edit] Manner prefixes

Manner prefixes are infixed between the subject/mood marker and the verb root. The manner prefixes describe in what manner the verb action was done, such as 'biting', 'cutting', 'throwing' etc.

	boro	u-	tara-	paka	-i
	pig	1SG:RE	spearing	miss	3SG:OBJ

"I speared at the pig but missed it"

[edit] Object marking

Person		Singular	Plural
1st	Inclusive		-kita
	Exclusive	-a	-kama
2nd		-(i)ko	-kaming
3rd		-i	-di
		-Ø

	mi-	ang	-ko
	1SG:UN	give	2SG:OBJ

"I will give (it) to you"

	niu	u-	sing	-Ø
	coconut	1SG:RE	drink	3SG:OBJ

"I drank a coconut"

	go-	ang	-kama
	2SG:UN	give	1SG:PL:EXCL

"give it to us"

[edit] Transitivization

There are three different morphologically overt methods for turning intransitive verbs into transitive ones:

• The affix -aka- can occur between the person/mood marker and the verb root.
• The affix -ka- can occur between the verb root and the outer suffixes.
• The so called "transitive consonant" (TC) can occur between the verb root and the outer suffixes.

These methods can also be combined.

	dang	i-	aka-	gita	-i
	water	3SG:RE	TRANS	be hot	3SG:OBJ

"he heated the water"

	aka-	tukura	-ng	-ak	-i
	TRANS	be short	TC	TRANS	3SG:OBJ

"to shorten it"

[edit] Optional suffixes

The object suffixes are also optional, but rather common. Here are a few examples of some of the more unusual suffix types:

Direction

	go-	dok	-a	-mai
	2SG:UN	bring	3SG:OBJ	hither

"bring it here"

Spreading

	pipia	i-	rokaki	-ramoi
	rubbish	3SG:RE	throw away	all over

"he throws rubbish all over the place"

Intensifying

	u-	rere	-tina
	1SG:RE	like	very

"I like it very much"

Benefactive

	go-	moasi	-n	-a
	2SG:UN	sing	BEN	1SG:OBJ

"sing for me"

[edit] Adjectives

Most adjectives are derived by reduplication from a verb or a noun. As seen above, some reduplicated adjectives have a number distinction, but some others don’t, eg. siki-siki 'small' (singular and plural). Some adjectives use the possessive pronouns to mark person and number, eg. kapisa-Ø 'selfish' (singular) and kapisa-di 'selfish' (plural).

[edit] Possession

As in many other Austronesian languages, Manam expresses different degrees of possession. In addition to the most common differentitation between alienable and inalienable possession, Manam uses a particular morphological processes to describe belongings that are edible or associated with eating.

[edit] Possessive pronouns

Person		Number
		Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1st	Inclusive		-da-ru	-da-to	-da
	Exclusive	-gu	-ma-i-ru	-ma-i-to	-ma
2nd		-m / -ng	-ming-ru	-ming-to	-ming
3rd		-Ø	-di-a-ru	-di-a-to	-di

[edit] Inalienable possession

In this class, we find 'belongings' that are involuntary, such as body parts, family members and different kinds of necessary 'parts of a whole'. This class is characterized by simply a possessive suffix attached to the word in question:

	mata	-gu
	eye	1SG

"my eye"

	niu	labu	-di
	coconut	base	3PL

"the bases of the coconut trees"

[edit] Edible possession

In this class, we find things that are edible and 'used to obtain, prepare or store food'. This class is characterized by the word kana, which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:

	udi	kana	-gu
	banana	ED	1SG

"my banana"

[edit] Alienable possession

In this class, we find belongings that are voluntary; things that we can cease to own, unlike body parts or family. This class is characterized by the word ne, which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:

	kati	ne	-gu
	canoe	AL	1SG

"my canoe"

	natu	keu	ne	-di
	child	dog	AL	3SG

"the children’s dogs"

[edit] Cross-class possession

One fascinating thing is that the same word can occur in all three possession classes, and then of course its meaning will differ. Here are two examples:

	boro-gu	my pig (as part of one’s wealth)
	boro kana-gu	my pork (which I am going to eat)
	boro ne-gu	my pig (which I may or may not eat later)

	dang-i-gu	my water (or rather 'body fluids')
	dang kana-gu	my water (to drink)
	dang ne-gu	my water (to wash with)

[edit] Resources

• Ethnologue: Manam
• Turner, Blaine (1986) A teaching grammar of the Manam language
• Short description of Manam culture