Manam language

Manam
Region	Northern New Guinea
Native speakers	8,000 (2003)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Western Oceanic Schouten Kairiru–Manam Manam Manam
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mva
Glottolog	mana1295

Manam is a Kairiru–Manam language spoken mainly on the volcanic Manam Island, northeast of New Guinea.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

Consonants

	Bilabial		Alveolar		Velar
Stop	p	b	t	d	k ~ ʔ ~ q	ɡ
Nasal	m		n		ŋ
Fricative			(t)s	(d)z
Lateral			l
Flap			ɾ ~ r

Allophony

Some vowels become glides in diphthongs, e.g. /u/, /o/ > [w] and /i/, /e/ > [j]. /i/ and /u/ are 'weaker' than /e/ and /o/, so that the syllable /kuo/ becomes [kwo] and not *[kuw]

According to Turner, /k/ is more and more often realized as [ʔ], while some older speakers have [q].

Syllable structure

The Manam syllable is (C)(V₁)V(V₁)(C₁), the only exception is a syllabic [m̩].

There are some phonotactic restrictions on the prevalent syllable structure. E.g. V₁ cannot be [a], whereas V must be [a] as long as it’s not the syllable’s sole vowel. C can be any consonant, whereas C₁ must be a nasal consonant.

Stress

Stress is phonemic: /ˈsara/ 'palm tree', /saˈra/ 'seagull'. The stress falls on one of the three last syllables of a word, and stressing the penult syllable is the most common: /ˈnatu/ 'child', /maˈlipi/ 'work'. If the last syllable ends in a nasal consonant, it will be stressed instead: /naˈtum/ 'your child'. Some inflections and affixes do not alter the stress of the root word: /iˈto/ 'he learned' (i- is a 3rd person prefix), /siˈŋabalo/ 'in the bush' (-lo is a locative suffix).

In the orthography, stressed vowels can be underlined in order to avoid ambiguities. Ie. /ˈsara/ ⟨sara⟩ 'palm tree', /saˈra/ ⟨sara⟩ 'seagull'.

Syntax

The main word order in Manam is SOV:

tamoata	boro	i-un-i
man	pig	3SG.SUB-hit-3SG.OBJ

"The man hit the pig."

Morphology

Number

Manam has an unusual, though regionally common, four-way distinction between singular, dual, trial, and plural number. Singular and plural are marked on the verb and sometimes on the adjective, but not on the noun.

Pronouns

Person		Number
		Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1st	Inclusive		kitaru	kitato	kita
	Exclusive	ngau nga	keru	keto	keka
2nd		kaiko kai	kamru	kamto	kam kakaming
3rd		ngai	diaru	diato	di

Reduplication

Reduplication can be either leftward (sa-salaga) or rightward (salaga-laga). There is no point in distinguishing 'partial' and 'total' reduplication, since at most two syllables are reduplicated.

Nouns

Rightwards reduplicated nouns can either take on a meaning related to the original word, or function as an agentive marker:

moata	snake
moata-moata	worm
malipi	the work
malipi-lipi	worker

Adjectives

Here are two examples of how number can be marked on the adjective through the different kinds of reduplication:

Rightward reduplication (singular)

udi noka-noka	ripe banana
tamoata bia-bia	the big man

Leftward reduplication (plural)

udi no-noka	ripe bananas
tamoata bi-bia	the big men

The verb

The verb always marks the subject and the mood; these are fused together. Optional suffixes includes such things as object, direction, aspectual markers, benefactive and various kinds of intensifiers and quantifiers. Here’s a schematical overview of the Manam verb:

Outer prefixes	Verb nucleus			Outer suffixes
	Inner prefixes	Root	Inner suffixes
Subject/mood marking	Manner prefix aka- transitive	Verb root	-ak- transitive	Object marking Optional suffixes

Subject marking

The marking of subject is obligatory. In addition to expressing number and person, the pronouns have fused with the mood markers (see below) called realis and irrealis.

Person		Singular		Plural
		Real	Irr	Real	Irr
1st	Inclusive			ta-
	Exclusive	u-	m-	ki-	ga-
2nd		ku-	go-	ka-	kama-
3rd		i-	nga-	di-	da-

Mood

The realis mood (REAL) is used for actual events of the past or present, i.e. things that are certain to have happened, things that are "real". Accordingly, the irrealis (IRR) mood describes anticipated events in the future, or events that the speaker wishes were real.

ura	nga-pura
rain	3SG.IRR-come

"it will rain"

u-noku

1SG.REAL-jump

"I jumped"

nga-pile	i-bebe
3SG.IRR-say	3SG.REAL-unable

"he will say that he is unable" (he still hasn’t said anything, but when he does, his inability will be stated as actual)

tama-gu	i-rere	zama	go-pura
father-1SG.POSS	3SG.REAL-want	tomorrow	2SG.IRR-come

"my father wants you to come tomorrow" (the father’s wanting is real, whereas the anticipated coming is still unreal)

Manner prefixes

Manner prefixes are found between the subject/mood marker and the verb root. The manner prefixes describe in what manner the verb action was done, such as 'biting', 'cutting', 'throwing' etc.

boro	u-tara-paka-i
pig	1SG.REAL-spearing-miss-3SG.OBJ

"I speared at the pig but missed it"

Object marking

Person		Singular	Plural
1st	Inclusive		-kita
	Exclusive	-a	-kama
2nd		-(i)ko	-kaming
3rd		-i	-di
		-Ø

mi-ang-ko

1SG.IRR-give-2SG.OBJ

"I will give (it) to you"

niu	u-sing-Ø
coconut	1SG.REAL-drink-3SG.OBJ

"I drank a coconut"

go-ang-kama

2SG.IRR-give-EXCL

"give it to us"

Transitivization

There are three different morphologically overt methods for turning intransitive verbs into transitive ones:

• The preffix -aka- can occur between the person/mood marker and the verb root.
• The suffix -ka- can occur between the verb root and the outer suffixes.
• The so-called "transitive consonant" (TC) can occur between the verb root and the outer suffixes.

These methods can be combined.

dang	i-aka-gita-i
water	3SG.REAL-TRANS-be_hot-3SG.OBJ

"he heated the water"

aka-tukura--ng-ak-i

TRANS-be_short-TC-TRANS-3SG.OBJ

"to shorten it"

Optional suffixes

The object suffixes are also optional, but rather common. Here are a few examples of some of the more unusual suffix types:

Direction

go-dok-a-mai

2SG.IRR-bring-3SG.OBJ-hither

"bring it here"

Spreading

pipia	i-rokaki-ramoi
rubbish	3SG.REAL-throw_away-all_over

"he throws rubbish all over the place"

Intensifying

u-rere-tina

1SG.REAL-like-very

"I like it very much"

Benefactive

go-moasi-n-a

2SG.IRR-sing-BEN-1SG.OBJ

"sing for me"

Adjectives

Most adjectives are derived by reduplication from a verb or a noun. As seen above, some reduplicated adjectives have a number distinction, but some others don’t, e.g. siki-siki 'small' (singular and plural). Some adjectives use the possessive pronouns to mark person and number, e.g. kapisa-Ø 'selfish' (singular) and kapisa-di 'selfish' (plural).

Possession

As in many other Austronesian languages, Manam expresses different degrees of possession. In addition to the most common differentitation between alienable and inalienable possession, Manam uses a particular morphological processes to describe belongings that are edible or associated with eating.

Possessive pronouns

Person		Number
		Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1st	Inclusive		-da-ru	-da-to	-da
	Exclusive	-gu	-ma-i-ru	-ma-i-to	-ma
2nd		-m / -ng	-ming-ru	-ming-to	-ming
3rd		-Ø	-di-a-ru	-di-a-to	-di

Inalienable possession

In this class, we find 'belongings' that are involuntary, such as body parts, family members and different kinds of necessary 'parts of a whole'. This class is characterized by simply a possessive suffix attached to the word in question:

mata-gu

eye-1SG.POSS

"my eye"

niu	labu-di
coconut	base-3PL.POSS

"the bases of the coconut trees"

Edible possession

In this class, we find things that are edible and 'used to obtain, prepare or store food'. This class is characterized by the word kana, which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:

udi	kana-gu
banana	FOOD-1SG.POSS

"my banana"

Alienable possession

In this class, we find belongings that are voluntary; things that we can cease to own, unlike body parts or family. This class is characterized by the word ne, which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:

kati	ne-gu
canoe	ALIEN-1SG.POSS

"my canoe"

natu	keu	ne-di
child	dog	ALIEN-3PL.POSS

"the children’s dogs"

Cross-class possession

One fascinating thing is that the same word can occur in all three possession classes, and then of course its meaning will differ. Here are two examples:

	boro-gu	my pig (as part of one’s wealth)
	boro kana-gu	my pork (which I am going to eat)
	boro ne-gu	my pig (which I may or may not eat later)

	dang-i-gu	my water (or rather 'body fluids')
	dang kana-gu	my water (to drink)
	dang ne-gu	my water (to wash with)

Resources

• Lichtenberk, Frantisek (1983) A grammar of Manam. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 18. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press. (Available in JSTOR.)
• Turner, Blaine (1986) A teaching grammar of the Manam language
• Short description of Manam culture