Ambai language

Last updated
Ambai
Native to Indonesia
Region Ambai Islands
Ethnicity Ambai
Native speakers
(10,100 cited 2000) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 amk
Glottolog amba1265

The Ambai or Ampari is an Austronesian language spoken by the Ambai people in Indonesian New Guinea (Papua Province), mostly on the Ambai Islands, as well as the southern part of Yapen Island. [2] The number of speakers is estimated to be 10,000. Dialects are Randawaya, Ambai (Wadapi-Laut), and Manawi. [3]

Contents

Phonology

Ambai has 19 consonants and 6 vowels, shown on the tables below.

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Laryngeal
Plosive p    b t    d k    ɡ
Nasal m n ŋ
Trill r
Fricative ɸ s ç    ʝ ħ / h
Approximant w j
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Open a

Morphology

Pronouns

All pronouns in Ambai mark for number, person and clusivity (in first person).

The following bound pronouns are obligatorily added as affixes to the verb to stand as the subject of the sentence. Every verb in Ambai takes a subject, even if it is a 'dummy' third-person pronoun.

Bound Pronouns
SingularDualTrialPlural
1st personexclusivei-/dj-au(r)-anto(r)-ame(r)-
inclusivetu(r)-to(r)-ta(r)-
2nd personb-mu(r)-munto(r)-me(r)-
3rd persond-u(r)-co(r)-e(r)-

The following pronouns are independent and are more restricted in use. They do not appear as subjects – since the subject is marked already on the verb – but can appear as objects, in prepositional phrases and in subordinate clauses. Some verbs allow the object pronoun to be omitted.

Free Pronouns
SingularDualTrialPlural
1st personexclusivejauauruantoruamea
inclusiveturutotorotata
2nd personwaumurumuntoromea
3rd personiurucoruea

Examples of pronouns used in everyday language:

(1)

b-oti

2SG-see

suru

3DU.OBJ

b-oti suru

2SG-see 3DU.OBJ

'Look at them (two).'

(2)

uru

3DU

u-minohi

3DU-sit

uruu-minohi

3DU 3DU-sit

'They sit.'

References

  1. ↑ Ambai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "AMBAI" (PDF). PapuaWeb. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.

Further reading

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