Aghu language

Last updated
Aghu
Central Awyu
Region South Papua, Indonesia
Native speakers
(<14,000 cited 1987–2002) [1]
Dialects
  • Aghu
  • Nohon
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
ahh   Aghu
awu   Central Awyu
Glottolog mapp1234

Aghu, or Central Awyu, is a Papuan language of South Papua, Indonesia. It may actually be two languages, depending on one's criteria for a 'language'. The two varieties are: [2] Mappi River Awyu (Aghu) and Pasue River Awyu (Nohon, Mitak).[ citation needed ]

Contents

Phonology

The phonology of the Aghu language: [3]

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ~ ɾ ɡ
Fricative f s ~ ʃ x
Approximant w j
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i y u
Mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a

At the ends of words, vowels may appear both long and nasalized. This occurs historically where there was a final nasal /m/ or /n/. Within words, rather than nasal vowels there are sequences of vowel plus nasal consonant which matches the articulation of the following consonant. Thus nasal vowels may be analyzed as /Vn/ or /VN/.

Related Research Articles

Wutung (Udung) and Sangke (Nyao) are a Skou language or pair of languages of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in the villages of Wutung and Sangke in Bewani/Wutung Onei Rural LLG of Sandaun Province. The two varieties are sometimes considered separate languages.

Guéré (Gere), also called (Wee), is a Kru language spoken by over 300,000 people in the Dix-Huit Montagnes and Moyen-Cavally regions of Ivory Coast.

Maninka, or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké people in Guinea, where it is spoken by 3.1 million people and is the main language in the Upper Guinea region, and in Mali, where the closely related Bambara is a national language, as well as in Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, where it has no official status. It was the language of court and government during the Mali Empire.

The Sholaga (Soliga) language is a Dravidian language related to Kannada and Tamil, spoken by the Soliga people.

Bukawa is an Austronesian language of Papua New Guinea.

May River Iwam, often simply referred to as Iwam, is a language of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Awyu languages</span> Language family in Papua

The Greater Awyu or Digul River languages, known in earlier classifications with more limited scope as Awyu–Dumut (Awyu–Ndumut), are a family of perhaps a dozen Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in eastern West Papua in the region of the Digul River. Six of the languages are sufficiently attested for a basic description; it is not clear how many of the additional names may be separate languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ok languages</span> Trans–New Guinea language family

The Ok languages are a family of about a dozen related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in a contiguous area of eastern Irian Jaya and western Papua New Guinea. The most numerous language is Ngalum, with some 20,000 speakers; the best known is probably Telefol.

Bilua is the most populous Papuan language spoken in the Solomon Islands. It is a Central Solomon language spoken by about 9,000 people on the island of Vella Lavella. It is one of the four Papuan non-Austronesian languages spoken in the Solomon Islands.

Telefol is a language spoken by the Telefol people in Papua New Guinea, notable for possessing a base-27 numeral system.

Wahgi is a Trans–New Guinea language of the Chimbu–Wahgi branch spoken by approximately 100,000 people in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Like other Chimbu languages, Wahgi has some unusual lateral consonants.

Hatam is a divergent language spoken on the island of New Guinea, specifically in the Indonesian province of West Papua.

Kiwai is a Papuan language, or languages, of southern Papua New Guinea. Dialects number 1,300 Kope, 700 Gibaio, 1,700 Urama, 700 Arigibi, 3,800 Coast, 1,000 Daru, 4,500 Island, 400 Doumori. Wurm and Hattori (1981) classify Arigibi as a separate language.

The Abawiri language, is a Lakes Plain language of Papua, Indonesia. It is spoken in the village of Fuau, located along the Dijai River, a tributary to the Mamberamo River. Clouse tentatively included Abawiri and neighboring Taburta (Taworta) in an East Lakes Plain subgroup of the Lakes Plain family; due to the minimal data that was available on the languages at that time. With more data, the connection looks more secure.

Binandere is a Papuan language spoken in the "tail" of Papua New Guinea.

Mandobo, or Kaeti, is a Papuan language of Mandobo District in Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, Indonesia.

Uma is an Austronesian language spoken in Central and South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Akoye, also known as Lohiki or Maihiri (Mai-Hea-Ri), is an Angan language of Papua New Guinea.

Zenzontepec Chatino, also known as Northern Chatino, or "Chatino Occidental Alto" is an indigenous Mesoamerican language, one of the Chatino family of the Oto-Manguean languages. It is not intelligible with other Chatino languages. It is spoken by one of the most isolated groups in Oaxaca, the Chatino people in the municipalities of Santa Cruz Zenzontepec and San Jacinto Tlacotepec, and in the former municipality of Santa María Tlapanalquiahuitl.

Nuguria (Nukuria) was a Polynesian language, spoken by approximately 550 people on Nuguria in the eastern islands of Papua New Guinea. The language was taught in primary schools in Nuguria and was used for daily communications between adults and children. Nuguria is one of the eighteen small islands to the east of Papua New Guinea, which are known as the Polynesian Outliers. The Nukuria language has been concluded to be closely related to other nearby languages such as Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuoro, and Luangiua. Research on the Nuguria Atoll and the language itself is scarce; past research demonstrated that this language was at risk of potential endangerment. The language was only then classified as at risk of endangerment because it was still used between generations and was passed on to the children. However, recent research indicates that Nukuria is now most likely an extinct language.

References

  1. Aghu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Central Awyu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. "Awyu". newguineaworld. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  3. van den Heuvel, Wilco (2016). Aghu: Annotated Texts With Grammatical Introduction and Vocabulary Lists. A-PL 33. Canberra: Australian National University. hdl: 1885/111412 . ISBN   9781922185358.

Further reading