Alekano language

Alekano
Gahuku
Spoken in Papua New Guinea
Region Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province
Native speakers 25,000  (1999)
Language family
Writing system Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 gah
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Alekano, or Gahuku (Gahuku-Gama), is a Papuan language spoken in the northern district of Goroka Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. There are about 25,000 speakers.[1]

Alekano is also known as Gahuku, after the name of the largest clan of speakers, or Gama, after the second largest clan. Calling the language by these names has been rejected by speakers who are not members of these clans and Alekano has been largely adopted as the official name. Alekano means “bring it”. In two closely related languages spoken directly to the northwest, Tokano and Dano, it also means “bring it”.[2][3]

Contents

Phonology

Alekano has 5 vowels and 12 consonants, though w, a voiced labio-velar approximant, is only found only in the village name Wanima, its derivations or Pidgin loanwords.[4]

Vowels

Front Back
High i ɯ
Mid e ɤ
Low ɑ

Glottal stop

In Alekano, each of the five vowels can be cut short by a glottal stop. It is written as an accent in the orthography.[3]

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Stop p t k
Nasal m n
Fricative β s z ɣ h
Approximant l

Word Order

Alekano is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language.[5]

Orthography

Alekano uses the Latin alphabet.[4]

IPA ɑ e ɣ h i k l m n ɤ p s z t ɯ β
Latin Letter Aa Ee Gg Hh Ii Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Ss Zz Tt Uu Vv

References

  1. ^ Ethnologue report for Alekano
  2. ^ Deibler, Ellis W. 1987. "The function of glottal stop in Gahuku." In John M. Clifton (ed.), Studies in Melanesian orthographies, 23-30. Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages, 33. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics. [1]
  3. ^ a b Deibler, Ellis W., compiler. Available: 2008; Created: 2008. Dictionaries of Alekano - English and English - Alekano. [Manuscript] iii, 311 p. [2]
  4. ^ a b 1992. Alekano Organised Phonology Data. [Manuscript] [3]
  5. ^ http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_gah

External links