This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{ lang }}, {{ transliteration }} for transliterated languages, and {{ IPA }} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used.(June 2020) |
Puluwatese | |
---|---|
Native to | Federated States of Micronesia |
Region | Caroline Islands |
Native speakers | (1,400 cited 1989 census) [1] |
Austronesian
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | puw |
Glottolog | pulu1242 |
ELP | Puluwatese |
Puluwat is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Puluwatese is a Micronesian language of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is spoken on Poluwat.
Puluwatese has two dialects, Pulapese and Pulusukese, both of which have low intelligibility with Satawalese (64%), Woleaian (40%), and Ulithian (21%). [2] Puluwatese does however have slightly higher lexical similarity with Satawalese and Carolinian (88%), Mortlockese (83%), Woleaian (82%), Chuukese (81%), and Ulithian (72%). [2]
Long vowels and consonants are indicated by doubling their letters. [3]
The syllables in Puluwatese begin with either consonants or geminate consonants followed by a vowel or geminate vowel and can be ended with either a consonant or a vowel. [4] The various syllable structure types are as follows: [5]
Note that <mw> here stands for a single consonant phoneme /mʷ/ and not a sequence of two separate consonants.
Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | lab. | ||||||
Stop | p | pʷ | t | tʃ | k | ||
Fricative | f | s | h | ||||
Nasal | m | mʷ | n | ŋ | |||
Rhotic | tap | (ɾ) | |||||
trill | r | ||||||
Lateral | l | ||||||
Approximant | w | ɻ | j |
/tʃ, ɻ/ may also be heard as [ts, ɾ] in free variation among speakers.
In the voicing of consonants, nasals, liquids, and glides are always voiced. Voiceless consonants consist of stops and fricatives and usually follow a pattern of being voiceless initially, weakly voiced medially, and voiceless at the end. [6]
Puluwatese consists of long consonants ccòwo (heavy) and short consonants ppel (light). Long consonants are considered more forceful and are often used to display an emotion such as fear. Such an example is the word for hide-and seek/ tow-the-ghost: likohhomà. In this case, the "hh" long consonant creates a heavy sound that is used to frighten children. [7]
An interesting pattern in consonant replacement occurs where /w-/ and /y-/ glides replace /k-/ in some words. Some of the most commonly heard forms are as follows: [8]
Other consonant interchange patterns involve /c/ and /r/ which can be traced back to Chuukese influence. Oftentimes, the Chuukese consonant /c/ and the Puluwat /r/ correspond such as in the words: [9]
/k/ and /kk/ may also be used interchangeably as follows: [9]
While consonant clusters do not occur in Puluwatese, there are several instances of consonant combinations occurring. These consonant combinations are often interrupted by a vowel referred to as an Excrescent. Sometimes, the intersyllabic vowel is lost and a consonant cluster can occur. The historically noted consonant combinations are as follows: [10]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | ɨ | u |
Mid | e | ə | o |
Low | æ | a | ɔ |
After sounds /pʷ, mʷ/, /a/ may be raised and fronted as [æ], and back vowels may be slightly centered as [ü, ö, ɔ̈].
/i/ can be heard as [ɪ] when in closed syllables. [11]
Vowel distribution is limited and occur finally[ clarification needed ]. Vowels may present themselves as short or long and can change to a lower pitch when lengthened. [12] While all syllables are stressed fairly evenly, stressed syllables are often denoted as capitals. The following are two rules that determine stressed syllables: [13]
Unstressed syllables often occur as excrescent vowels except for when they follow h- and are denoted by breves. Unstressed vowels occur in the following instances: [14]
Independent pronouns, subject pronouns, and polite vocatives are the three types of pronouns that occur in differing distributions. [15] Independent pronouns occur alone and in equational sentences, they precede noun or noun phrases, as well as subject pronouns, or the prepositions me, and, and with. [15] Subject pronouns never occur as objects and always precede verbs, normally with intervening particles. [15] The use of polite vocatives are rare in daily life and even rarer in texts. [16] However, the known polite vocatives are included in the table below. [17]
Before proper names, 'person' | Clause - final | |
---|---|---|
To a male or males | ko, ŕewe | wo, ko keen ŕewe |
To a female or females | ne | ne |
To males or females | keen | kææmi |
The polite vocatives that occur before a proper name may most closely be translated to Mr, Miss, or Mrs, but there are no accurate translations for the clause-final polite vocatives. [17]
Independent and subject pronouns occur in seven propositions: first person singular (1s, 2s, 3s), first person plural inclusive (1p inc), first person plural exclusive (1p exc, 2p, 3p), and is illustrated in the table below. [4]
Independent Pronoun | Subject Pronoun | |
---|---|---|
1s | ngaang, nga | yiy, wu |
2s | yeen | wo |
3s | yiiy | ye, ya |
1p inc | kiir | hi, hay |
1p exc | yææmen | yæy |
2p | yææmi | yaw, yɔw |
3p | yiiŕ | ŕe, ŕa |
For transitive sentences, Puluwatese follows a SVO word order but an SV or VS structure for intransitive sentences. [11]
Wuŕumwo
Wuŕumwo
ya
3S
yákékkél-ee-ŕ
teach-SV-3PL.obj
yát-e-kkit
child-EV-small
mákk.
writing
'Wuŕumwo taught the children writing.' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
Ye-ray
one-CL
eŕemahán
man
Polowat
Puluwat
a
perf
fáyi-to.
come-hither
'A Puluwat man has come.'
Ye
3S
pwe
FUT
le
IMM.FUT
mááló
die
manú-hmwaay
DEM-SV-sick
we.
DEM
'the sick man will soon die.' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
Numbers in Puluwatese are confusing because there is such an intricate system of suffixes for counting different objects. In general, the base of the number stays the same and suffixes for different objects are added onto each base of the number. Suffixes that are added onto the base numbers can significantly alter the meaning of the word such as in the example ye-ray woong (a small turtle) and yee-w woong (a large turtle). [4] For counted objects, suffixes can greatly change their meaning such as in ye-fay teŕeec (a spool of thread) and ye-met teŕeec (a piece of thread). [4] The most common counting suffixes are outlined in the following table. [4]
Sequential | General -oow | Animate -ray -man | Long Objects -fór | Round Objects -fay | Flat Objects -réé | Hundreds -pwúkúw |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. yé-ét | yee-w | ye-ray | -ye | -ye | -yé | -ye |
2. rúúw | ŕuw-oow | ŕuw-oow | ŕuwe-ray | ŕuwe | ŕuwa | ŕuwa |
3. yéél | yeluu-w | yelú-ray | -yelú | -yelú | -yelú | -yelú |
4. fáán | f-oow | fa-ray | fó-ór -fé | -faa | -faa | -fa |
5. liim | lim-oow | lim-man | -lif | -lime -lif | -limaa | -lima |
6. woon | won-oow | wono-man | -wono | -wono | -wonaa | -wona |
7. fúús | féh-úúw | fúú-man | -fúú | -fúú | -fúú | -fúú |
8. wall | wal-uuw | walú-man | -wale | -walu | walú | -walu |
9. ttiw | ttiw-oow | ttiwa-man | -ttiwa | -ttiwa | -ttiwaa | -ttiwa |
how many? | fit-oow | fite-ray | -fite | -fite | -fitaa | -fitaa |
Sequential counting is used for rapid counting and can be combined in order to count two or three numbers without intervention. For example, "one, two" can be counted as yét-é-ŕúúw and "three, four" as yei-u-fáán. [4] This sequential counting can be used as a system for rapid pair counting of objects such as coconuts and breadfruit. [18]
The general suffixes are used for objects that do not have a specified suffix. Suffixes for objects are either drawn upon from the general set or any of the other sets. [4]
The animate suffixes are applied to humans, animals, weapons, tools, musical instruments, and other miscellaneous artifacts. The animate suffixes are the only ones to have two different classifiers: -ray and -man with -man being the Chuukese cognate for -mén. [4]
Long object suffixes are used for objects that are long and slender such as rope (yámeey), vehicles (citosa), and cigarettes (suupwa). [4]
Round objects suffixes are used for round objects such as stones (fawú), breadfruit (mááy), eggs (hakúll). [4]
Flat object suffixes are applied to objects such as leaves (éé), clothes (Mégaak: cloth), and mat (hááki). [4]
Ordinals follow the pattern of sequential counting with the prefixes /ya-/, /yó-/, or /yé-/, followed by the base number, and the suffix /an-/ as seen in the following table. [4]
1st | ya-ye-w-an |
2nd | yó-ŕuw-ow-an |
3rd | yé-yelú-w-an |
4th | yó-f-ow-an |
5th | Yá-lim-ow-an |
6th | yó-won-ow-an |
7th | ya-féh-úw-an |
8th | ya-wal-uw-an |
9th | ya-ttiw-ow-an |
10th | ya-hee-yik-an |
The names of the days of the week for Tuesday through Saturday are the ordinals from 2nd through 6th without the suffix /an-/. Monday is sometimes referred to as ya-ye-w (1st) and Sunday ya-féh-úw (7th), but more commonly known as, hárin fáál (ending sacredness) and ránini pin (sacred day). [19] However, Chuukese words for the names of the week are more often heard but with a Puluwat accent. [19]
Monday | seŕin fáán |
Tuesday | yóŕuuw |
Wednesday | yewúnúngat |
Thursday | yeŕuuwanú |
Friday | yelimu |
Saturday | yommol |
The Tunica or Luhchi Yoroni language is a language isolate that was spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no native speakers of the Tunica language, but there were 32 second-language speakers in 2017, and as of 2023, there are 60 second-language speakers.
The Tonkawa language was spoken in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico by the Tonkawa people. A language isolate, with no known related languages, Tonkawa has not had L1 speakers since the mid 20th centiury. Most Tonkawa people now only speak English, but revitalization is underway.
The phonology of the Persian language varies between regional dialects, standard varieties, and even from older variates of Persian. Persian is a pluricentric language and countries that have Persian as an official language have separate standard varieties, namely: Standard Dari (Afghanistan), Standard Iranian Persian (Iran) and Standard Tajik (Tajikistan). The most significant differences between standard varieties of Persian are their vowel systems. Standard varieties of Persian have anywhere from 6 to 8 vowel distinctions, and similar vowels may be pronounced differently between standards. However, there are not many notable differences when comparing consonants, as all standard varieties a similar amount of consonant sounds. Though, colloquial varieties generally have more differences than their standard counterparts. Most dialects feature contrastive stress and syllable-final consonant clusters. Linguists tend to focus on Iranian Persian, so this article may contain less adequate information regarding other varieties.
Wintu is a Wintu language which was spoken by the Wintu people of Northern California. It was the northernmost member of the Wintun family of languages. The Wintun family of languages was spoken in the Shasta County, Trinity County, Sacramento River Valley and in adjacent areas up to the Carquinez Strait of San Francisco Bay. Wintun is a branch of the hypothetical Penutian language phylum or stock of languages of western North America, more closely related to four other families of Penutian languages spoken in California: Maiduan, Miwokan, Yokuts, and Costanoan.
Comanche is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Comanche, who split from the Shoshone soon after the Comanche had acquired horses around 1705. The Comanche language and the Shoshoni language are quite similar, but certain consonant changes in Comanche have inhibited mutual intelligibility.
Eastern Pomo, also known as Clear Lake Pomo, is a nearly extinct Pomoan language spoken around Clear Lake in Lake County, California by one of the Pomo peoples.
Tauya is a Rai Coast language spoken in the Ramu River valley, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea by approximately 350 people. The Linguistics Department at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, has Tauya language resources.
The phonological system of the Hawaiian language is based on documentation from those who developed the Hawaiian alphabet during the 1820s as well as scholarly research conducted by lexicographers and linguists from 1949 to present.
Southern Sierra Miwok is a Utian language spoken by the Native American people called the Southern Sierra Miwok of Northern California. Southern Sierra Miwok is a member of the Miwok language family. The Miwok languages are a part of the larger Utian family. The original territory of the Southern Sierra Miwok people is similar to modern day Mariposa County, California. The Southern Sierra Miwok language is nearly extinct with only a few speakers existing today. However, as of 2012, an active revitalization program is underway.
Aguaruna is an indigenous American language of the Chicham family spoken by the Aguaruna people in Northern Peru. According to Ethnologue, based on the 2007 Census, 53,400 people out of the 55,700 ethnic group speak Aguaruna, making up almost the entire population. It is used vigorously in all domains of life, both written and oral. It is written with the Latin script. The literacy rate in Aguaruna is 60–90%. However, there are few monolingual speakers today; nearly all speakers also speak Spanish. The school system begins with Aguaruna, and as the students progress, Spanish is gradually added. There is a positive outlook and connotation in regard to bilingualism. 50 to 75% of the Aguaruna population are literate in Spanish. A modest dictionary of the language has been published.
The Nukak language is a language of uncertain classification, perhaps part of the macrofamily Puinave-Maku. It is very closely related to Kakwa.
Maliseet-Passamaquoddy is an endangered Algonquian language spoken by the Wolastoqey and Passamaquoddy peoples along both sides of the border between Maine in the United States and New Brunswick, Canada. The language consists of two major dialects: Maliseet, which is mainly spoken in the Saint John River Valley in New Brunswick; and Passamaquoddy, spoken mostly in the St. Croix River Valley of eastern Maine. However, the two dialects differ only slightly, mainly in their phonology. The indigenous people widely spoke Maliseet-Passamaquoddy in these areas until around the post-World War II era when changes in the education system and increased marriage outside of the speech community caused a large decrease in the number of children who learned or regularly used the language. As a result, in both Canada and the U.S. today, there are only 600 speakers of both dialects, and most speakers are older adults. Although the majority of younger people cannot speak the language, there is growing interest in teaching the language in community classes and in some schools.
Pashto is an S-O-V language with split ergativity. Adjectives come before nouns. Nouns and adjectives are inflected for gender (masc./fem.), number (sing./plur.), and case. The verb system is very intricate with the following tenses: Present; simple past; past progressive; present perfect; and past perfect. In any of the past tenses, Pashto is an ergative language; i.e., transitive verbs in any of the past tenses agree with the object of the sentence. The dialects show some non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms.
The Naʼvi language is a fictional constructed language originally made for the 2009 film Avatar. In the film franchise, the language is spoken by the Naʼvi, a race of sapient humanoids indigenous to the extraterrestrial moon Pandora. The language was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the USC Marshall School of Business with a doctorate in linguistics. Naʼvi was designed to fit moviemaker James Cameron's conception of what the language should sound like in the film. It had to be realistically learnable by the fictional human characters of the film and pronounceable by the actors, but also not closely resemble any single human language.
Uyghur is a Turkic language spoken mostly in the west of China.
Pech or Pesh is a Chibchan language spoken in Honduras. It was formerly known as Paya, and continues to be referred to in this manner by several sources, though there are negative connotations associated with this term. It has also been referred to as Seco. There are 300 speakers according to Yasugi (2007). It is spoken near the north-central coast of Honduras, in the Dulce Nombre de Culmí municipality of Olancho Department.
Warndarrang (waɳʈaraŋ), also spelt Warndarang, Wanderang, Wandaran, and other variants is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language in the Arnhem family, formerly spoken by the Warndarrang people in southern Arnhem Land, along the Gulf of Carpentaria. The last speaker was Isaac Joshua, who died in 1974, while working with the linguist Jeffrey Heath.
Iyo is a language spoken in the Madang Province of Papua New Guinea that comes from the Trans-New Guinea language family. Iyo also goes by the names Bure, Naho, Nabu, and Nahu. It has about 6,900 speakers. The Iyo language was previously known as Nahu because the first discovered speakers of the language lived in villages along the Nahu river. The name changed due to other communities speaking the same language but having different names for it. It was decided to call the language 'Iyo', which is the word for 'yes', after the leaders in the communities agreed to it.
Grass Koiari (Koiali) is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea spoken in the inland Port Moresby area. It is not very close to the other language which shares its name, Mountain Koiali. It is considered a threatened language.
Wangkajunga is a dialect of the Western Desert language.