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.

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


Contents

[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