Kela language (New Guinea)
Kela is an Austronesian language spoken by about 2500 people (in 1997) in several villages along the south coast of the Huon Gulf between Salamaua Peninsula and the Paiawa River, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The principal villages are Keila/Kêla, Logui/Laugwêc, Laukanu, Lababia, Buso, and Kui. Linguistically, Kela belongs to the North Huon Gulf languages and Kela-speakers appear to have arrived on the southern coast of the Gulf relatively recently, beginning perhaps as late as the 17th century (Bradshaw 1997).
Morphology
Names
Like most of the languages around the Huon Gulf, Kela has a system of birth-order names (Holzknecht 1989: 43-45). The seventh son is called "No Name": se-mba 'name-none'. Compare Numbami.
| Birth order |
Sons |
Daughters |
| 1 |
Alisa' |
Kali' |
| 2 |
Aliŋa' |
Aiga |
| 3 |
Aŋgua' |
Aya |
| 4 |
Aluŋ |
Dam |
| 5 |
Dei |
Hop |
| 6 |
Selep |
Dei |
| 7 |
Semba |
|
External links
References
- Bradshaw, Joel (1997). "The population kaleidoscope: Another factor in the Melanesian diversity v. Polynesian homogeneity debate." Journal of the Polynesian Society 106: 222-249.
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1989). The Markham languages of Papua New Guinea. Series C-115. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
- Johnson, Morris (1994). Kela organised phonology data. [1]