Olo language

Not to be confused with Livvi-Karelian language.

Olo
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Sandaun Province
Native speakers	14,000 (2003) [1]
Language family	Torricelli Wapei Olo
Dialects	Payi (Pay) Wapi (Wape)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ong
Glottolog	oloo1241
ELP	Olo

Olo (Orlei) is a non-Austronesian, Torricelli language of Papua New Guinea. The language is spoken in 55 villages, from the Aitape Township (north) to the Sandaun Province (south), and is at risk of going extinct. ^[1] Olo is believed to be a Goal Oriented Activation language, meaning the speaker chooses their words with an idea of what they are trying to achieve with the listener in mind, ^[2] this has been labeled as referential theory. Referential theory has been divided into four groupings, all of which come with disadvantages, recency, episodes, prominence, and memorial activation.

Classification

Olo derives from the Torricelli language Phylum and belongs to the Wape Family. The two dialects that are spoken are Payi()Pay) and Wapi (Wape). The dialect boundaries are not absolute and are based on the prominent differences in grammar. Despite the differences, they share dialect chaining.

Phonology

Nouns

Nominal plural formatives include: ^[3]

gloss	singular	plural
‘ear’	mingi	mingim
‘banana’	tefa	tefas
‘betelnut’	mere	meri
‘garden’	liom	lipes
‘coconut’	wom	wefes
‘boar’	wasene	wasem
‘wound’	pam	pape
‘seasoning’	num	nus
‘hand’	eti	esi
‘branch’	uno	ine
‘wing’	naru	nare
‘liver’	pale	palu

Consonants

The chart below includes the consonants used in the Olo language, /p,t,k,f,s,m,n,ŋ,w,y/. Three types of nasals are used when speaking this language, alveolar, bilabial, and velar. Alveolar nasals occur near the teeth, /n/, bilabial nasals occur at the base of the tongue in close proximity to the roof of the mouth towards the beginning of the throat, and velar nasals occur on the lips. A rule of Olo is that a velar nasal only happens before a velar stop. Stops are not executed on the exhalation of breathe, making them weakly articulated.

Consonant Chart ^[4]

	Labial	Alveolar	Velar
Nasal	m	n	ŋ
Stop	p	t	k
Fricative	f	s
Lateral		l
Liquid		r
Semivowel	w	j

Vowels

According to phonology, Olo has seven vowels, but orthography acknowledges five, /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are usually seen as "i" and "u".

Vowel Chart ^[5]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i ɪ		u ʊ
Mid	ɛ		ɔ
Low		a

Semantics

Structure

Olo is classified as an SVO (subject, verb, object) language under normal circumstance, but, in certain cases, the object can be fronted, the subject can continue on as a free noun, or there can be occurrences similar to passive tense in English. The prefixes that attach to the verb serves as markers for the subjects and gives the listener information about the person, number and gender. the object's person, number, and gender is identified by the suffix or infix. [Person: first, second, third; Number: singular, dual, plural; Gender: masculine, feminine.]

Subject prefix

Subject Prefixes

k-	first person singular	I'
w-	first person dual	we two
m-	first person plural	we
o-	second person singular	you
y-	second person plural	you
l-	third person singular masculine	he
n-	third person singular female	she
t-	third person dual masculine	they two
m-	third person dual feminine	they two
p-	third person plural	they

Verbs that begin with a vowel take the prefix. Verbs that start with /r/ and /l/ are the only verbs that begin with a consonant that can take on a verbal prefix.

Object infixes

Object Infixes

-l-	him
-n-	her
-ut-	two males
-m-	two females
-p-	them

Object suffixes

Suffixes, and some infixes, indicate first or second person objects and applies to all transitive verbs. When an infix is used to describe an object's first or second person, if the first syllable contains /a/ or /e/, then it transforms into /ei/.

First and Second Suffixes

-iki	first person singular	I
-uku	first person plural	us
-ye	second person singular	you
-ise	second person plural	you

There is a fundamental difference between -(w)o and -o, -o follows the vowel /i/ and -wo follows in all other scenarios.

Third Person Object Suffixes

set 1	set 2
-(w)o	-o	third singular masculine	him
-ene	-ne	third singular feminine	her
-enge	-nge	third dual masculine	them
-eme	-me	third dual feminine	them
-epe	-pe	third plural	them

References

1. Olo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Staley, William (1995). Referent management in Olo: a cognitive perspective. OCLC   896393831.
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. "Type IPA phonetic symbols - online keyboard". ipa.typeit.org. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
5. McGregor, Donald E. (1982). Olo language materials . McGregor, Aileen R. F. Canberra, A.C.T., Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. ISBN   0858832623. OCLC   10825288.