Manam language Totally Explained

Everything about Manam Language totally explained

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

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

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

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].

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 can't 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.

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'll be stressed instead: /naˈtum/ 'your child'. Some inflections and affixes don't 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/ ara> 'palm tree', /saˈra/ a> 'seagull'.

Syntax

The main word order in Manam is SOV:

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

Morphology

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.

Pronouns

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

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.

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

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

Verb aspects

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

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

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

	u-	noku
	1SG:RE	jump

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

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

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

Object marking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spreading

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

Intensifying

	u-	rere	-tina
	1SG:RE	like	very

Benefactive

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

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).

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.

Possessive pronouns

Person

Number
Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1st	Inclusive		-da-ru	-da-to	-da
1st	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

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

	niu	labu	-di
	coconut	base	3PL

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

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

	natu	keu	ne	-di
	child	dog	AL	3SG

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'm 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)

Resources

Ethnologue: Manam

Turner, Blaine (1986) A teaching grammar of the Manam language

Short description of Manam culture

Further Information

Get more info on 'Manam Language'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://manam_language.totallyexplained.com">Manam language Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.