Awtuw language

Last updated
Awtuw
Region East Wapei Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
700 (2014) [1]
Sepik
Language codes
ISO 639-3 kmn
Glottolog awtu1239
ELP Awtuw
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Awtuw (Autu), also known as Kamnum, is spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. It is a polysynthetic language closely related to Karawa and Pouye. It is spoken in Galkutua, Gutaiya ( 3°33′56″S142°00′06″E / 3.565508°S 142.001655°E / -3.565508; 142.001655 (Gutaiya) ), Kamnom ( 3°33′09″S141°59′39″E / 3.552454°S 141.994165°E / -3.552454; 141.994165 (Kamnom) ), Tubum ( 3°34′03″S142°00′13″E / 3.567408°S 142.003722°E / -3.567408; 142.003722 (Tubum) ), and Wiup ( 3°33′14″S141°59′04″E / 3.553766°S 141.9845°E / -3.553766; 141.9845 (Wiup) ) villages in Kamnom East ward, East Wapei Rural LLG, Sandaun Province. [1] [2]

Contents

It is an endangered language, being widely replaced by Tok Pisin.

Phonology

Awtuw consonants are: [3]

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k
Rhotic r ɻ
Lateral l
Semivowel w j

Awtuw vowels are: [3]

Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e ə o
Near-open æ
Open a

Pronouns

Pronouns are: [3]

sgdupl
1wannannom
2yenanom
3mreyræwrom
3ftey

Verbal morphology

Awtuw has a very rich verbal morphology, with 8 prefixal slots encoding tense, aspect, modality, polarity, subject number and reciprocal. [4] ). Six of these slots contain prefixes that have cognates in Pouye. [5]

The suffixal chain contains recently grammaticalized suffixes encoding associated motion, aspect, benefactive, and various unusual categories such as celerative -imya 'quickly' as in (1) (grammaticalized from the verb imya 'run'), [6] simulative -panya 'pretend', [7] and periodic tense (adauroral -alw 'until dawn'). [8]

(1)

Rey

3sg:MASC

aeye

food

rokr’-imy’-e.

cook-CELER- PST

Rey aeye rokr’-imy’-e.

3sg:MASC food cook-CELER-PST

'He cooked the food quickly.' (Feldman 1983: 122–123)

References

  1. 1 2 Awtuw at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. ↑ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  3. 1 2 3 Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.
  4. ↑ Feldman, Harry (1983). A grammar of Awtuw (PhD thesis). Australian National University. doi: 10.25911/5D723CE831842 . hdl: 1885/132945 .
  5. ↑ Jacques, Guillaume (2024). "Essai de comparaison de la morphologie verbale des langues ram (awtuw et pouye), famille sepik". Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris . 118 (1): 275–288. doi:10.2143/BSL.118.1.3292785.
  6. ↑ Jacques, Guillaume (2024). "Celerative: the encoding of speed in verbal morphology" . STUF. 77 (2): 261–282. doi:10.1515/stuf-2024-2006.
  7. ↑ Jacques, Guillaume (2023). "Simulative derivations in cross-linguistic perspective and their diachronic sources" . Studies in Language . 47 (4): 957–988. doi:10.1075/sl.22054.jac.
  8. ↑ Jacques, Guillaume (2023). "Periodic tense markers in the world's languages and their sources". Folia Linguistica. 57 (3): 539–562. doi:10.1515/flin-2023-2013.
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