Alekano language

Alekano
Gahuku
Native to Papua New Guinea
Region Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province
Native speakers
 25,000  (1999)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 gah
Glottolog alek1238[2]

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.[3]

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”.[4][5]

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.[6]

Vowels

Front Back
High i ɯ
Mid e ɤ
Low ɑ

Glottal coda

In Alekano, a syllable may only be closed with a glottal stop, as in /ɑʔnesiʔ/ "enough". This is currently not treated as one of the consonants, though it is unclear if words written as vowel initial begin with a glottal stop. It is written as an acute accent in the orthography, for example, ánesí.[5]

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive p t k
Approximant β l~ɽ ɣ h
Sibilant voiceless s
voiced z

The lateral is [l] initially and [ɽ] between vowels.

The syllable

The most complex syllables are of the form /CVVʔ/, where VV may be a diphthong of /ɑ/, /e/, or /ɤ/ followed by /i/ or /ɯ/, or of /iɯ/. Other vowels may also occur in sequence (hiatus).

Tone

Alekano has low and high tones, but with a very low functional load. HL receives strong stress, LH lesser stress.

Word Order

Alekano is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language.[7]

Orthography

Alekano uses the Latin script.[6]

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

References

  1. ↑ Alekano at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Alekano". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ Ethnologue report for Alekano
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Deibler, Ellis W., compiler. Available: 2008; Created: 2008. Dictionaries of Alekano - English and English - Alekano. [Manuscript] iii, 311 p.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 1992. Alekano Organised Phonology Data. [Manuscript]
  7. ↑ http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_gah

External links