Baluan-Pam is an Oceanic language of Manus Province, Papua New Guinea. It is spoken on Baluan Island and on nearby Pam Island. The number of speakers, according to the latest estimate based on the 2000 Census, is 2,000. Speakers on Baluan Island prefer to refer to their language with its native name Paluai.

Baluan-Pam
Paluai
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionBaluan Island and Pam Islands, Manus Province
Native speakers
2,000 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3blq
Glottologbalu1257
ELPPaluai
Baluan Island

The language is of the agglutinating type with comparatively little productive morphology. Basic constituent order is subject–verb–object (SVO).

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The Baluan Island and Pam Island varieties of the language are practically similar, apart from a number of lexical differences. The language is closely related to Lou, spoken on Lou Island. Lou forms a dialect chain, with the varieties spoken on the far side of the island, facing Manus mainland, differing the most from Paluai and the ones on the side facing Baluan Island being the closest.

 
Bush material house

In Manus Province, about 32 languages are spoken, all of which belong to the Admiralties branch, a higher-order subgroup of Oceanic, which belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian. Most of the languages of Manus Province are scarcely documented. A reference grammar of Loniu was published in 1994.[2]

There is a minority of Titan speakers on Baluan, relatively recent immigrants living in Mouk village. The Titan people have become well known through the work of Margaret Mead. Many speakers have at least a passive command of Titan and Lou. In addition, the creole language Tok Pisin is widely spoken on the island, and most people have at least a basic command of English.

Phonology

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Consonant phonemes

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The table below shows the consonant phonemes in the language.

 
Yams exchanged at bride price
Labial Coronal Dorsal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k ()
Fricative s (h)
Approximant l (j) (w)
Vibrant (ɾ~r)

In contrast to many of the Manus languages, there are no bilabial trill or prenasalised consonants. The consonant inventory is rather simple, with a labialised nasal and plosive in addition to bilabial, apico-alveolar and dorso-velar stops and nasals. There is just one fricative, /s/, with /h/ being a very marginal phoneme. /t/ has a tap or trill as a variant. The glides [j] and [w] are analysed as non-syllabic variants of /i/ and /u/, respectively.[3]

Vowel phonemes

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The vowels of Baluan-Pam are /i, e, ɛ, ɐ, ɔ, o, u/.

The vowel inventory consists of the standard five vowels most common in Oceanic languages,[4] with two additional segments: open-mid /ɛ/ and /ɔ/, which are much more frequently occurring. For younger speakers, /e/ appears to be merging with /ɛ/ and /o/ appears to be merging with /u/.

Syllable structure

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The syllable template is (C)V(C). Not many syllables start with a vowel. Due to loss of word-final consonants and consequently vowels, which is a feature of eastern Admiralties languages,[5] the language allows consonants in the syllable coda and has many monosyllabic words with CVC form.

Word classes

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Open classes

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The two major open word classes are noun and verb (with a major subclass of stative verbs), with adjectives and adverbs as minor classes distinguished from both noun and verb and from each other. Verb to noun and verb to adjective derivations are very common, but not vice versa. Most predicates are headed by a verb complex, but nouns, adjectives, numerals and some prepositions can also function as predicate head. Only verbs, however, can take bound pronouns and be modified by tense–aspect–mood (TAM) particles.

Closed classes

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The major closed classes in the language, containing function words, are pronouns, demonstratives, prepositions, numerals, quantifiers, and interrogative words. The pronominal system distinguishes singular, dual, paucal and plural number and first, second and third person, but not gender. The range of adpositional forms is limited, since most spatial relations are expressed either by a directly possessed spatial noun, or by a serial verb construction containing a directional.

Grammar

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Ladle made from coconut shell

Nominal morphology

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The language does not have case or number marking on nouns. The only nominal morphology in the language functions to indicate possession. A distinction is made within nominal possessive constructions between direct and indirect possession. This correlates with, but does not coincide completely with, a semantic distinction between inalienable and alienable possession. With direct possession, a suffix indicating person and number of the possessor is added directly to the noun stem. With indirect possession, this suffix is added to a postposed possessive particle ta-. Most kinship terms and body part terms either can or must be used in a direct possessive construction. In addition, spatial nouns, referring to concepts such as "inside", "on top of" and "behind", are obligatorily used in a direct possessive construction.

Verbal morphology

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Verbal derivational morphology is limited to the causative prefix pe-, the applicative suffix -ek, and reduplication.

Causative

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The causative pe- makes transitive an intransitive verb. Causatives can be productively formed, but only with stative verbs. A causative adds an extra "causer" A argument, demoting the original S argument of the intransitive verb to O position. Examples are mat 'die, be dead' → pemat 'kill'.

Applicative

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The applicative in this language is a valency-rearranging rather than a valency-increasing device. It promotes an instrumental Oblique constituent of a verb to O position. The original O is not demoted, but rather follows the promoted constituent as a second object. The applicative is typically encountered in one specific discourse/information structure context. It is used as an anaphorical device to refer back to an item mentioned just before, usually in the previous clause, as in the example below:

(1)

ope

wo=pe

2SG=PFV

lêp

lêp

take

suep

suep

hoe

a

a

and

ope

wo=pe

2SG=PFV

yilek

yil-ek=Ø

dig-APPL=3SG.ZERO

ponat

ponat

soil

[6]

 

 

ope lêp suep a ope yilek ponat

wo=pe lêp suep a wo=pe yil-ek=Ø ponat

2SG=PFV take hoe and 2SG=PFV dig-APPL=3SG.ZERO soil

‘You will take a hoe and you will dig the ground with it.’ [lit. ‘dig-with (it) the ground’]

Reduplication

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With transitive verbs, full or partial reduplication can be used as an intransitivising device. With intransitive verbs, reduplication adds aspectual meanings such as continuous aspect. A second function of reduplication within the verb class is to derive nominalizations.

Demonstratives

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Demonstratives in Paluai utilise a three-way distinction pattern based upon person (near speaker, near addressee or neither) or relative distance (close, intermediate, distant).[3]

These three distinctions can be defined as

  1. position at or very close to the deictic centre, proximate
  2. an intermediate position
  3. a position considered to be significant distance from the deictic centre[7]

Here the deictic centre refers to the speaker.

When considering discourse deixis, demonstratives will function as anaphors (referring to previously mentioned information) or cataphors (referring forward).[8]

Basic forms as well as forms prefixed by te- that are either proximate or distal are usually cataphors. Meanwhile, forms beginning with ta- are often used as anaphors, in addition to all intermediate forms despite prefixes.[9]

Three basic forms[7]
word degree English gloss
Pwo proximate 'this'
Yo intermediate 'that'
Lo distal 'that (far)'

The above three demonstratives are often used to modify pronouns as seen in examples 1–2.

1.
Pwo, proximate demonstrative. Situational deictic use of pwo. Can mean 'this'.

i

yi

3SG

pwo,

pwo

DEM.PROX

moni

moni

money

reo

te-yo

EMP-DEM.INT

pepa

pepa

ten.kina

sangal

sangal

ten

[10]

 

 

i pwo, moni reo pepa sangal

yi pwo moni te-yo pepa sangal

3SG DEM.PROX money EMP-DEM.INT ten.kina ten

‘Here. The money is one hundred kina.’ [said when the money is handed over]

2.
Yo, intermediate demonstrative. Discourse deictic use of yo. Can mean 'that'

i

yi

3SG

o.

yo

DEM.INT

naman

naman

perhaps

kamou

kamou

speech

rang

ta-ng

POSS-1SG

teo

te-yo

EMP-DEM.INT

inêm

yi=nêm

3SG=be.finished

[10]

 

 

i o. naman kamou rang teo inêm

yi yo naman kamou ta-ng te-yo yi=nêm

3SG DEM.INT perhaps speech POSS-1SG EMP-DEM.INT 3SG=be.finished

‘That’s it. Perhaps my talk is finished.’

Example of anaphor – refers to previously mentioned discourse[11]

It is unusual for either three of the basic demonstrative forms to modify nouns and it is also uncommon that the distal form lo is used in discourse, rather used to indicate to a distant object.[10]

Formative te-

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Forms tepwo, teyp and telo have the ability to modify both nouns and pronouns and are more common in the Paluai language than basic forms of demonstratives.[10]

Te- is classed as an emphatic marker and is used in conjunction with the basic demonstrative form.[10]

Since forms with te- must always modify either a noun or a pronoun, they cannot occur independently.[12]

Examples 3–5 show use of each demonstrative form with formative te-

3.
Tepwo, proximate demonstrative. Refers to place and time, can mean 'this', 'here' and 'now'[10]

on

wo=an

2SG=PRF

pwa

pwa

think

mun

mun

banana

tepwo

te-pwo

EMP-DEM.PROX

iro

yi=to

3SG=be

Paluai?

Paluai

Baluan

[13]

 

 

on pwa mun tepwo iro Paluai?

wo=an pwa mun te-pwo yi=to Paluai

2SG=PRF think banana EMP-DEM.PROX 3SG=be Baluan

‘Do you think this kind of banana grows on Baluan?’

Example of cataphor – refers forward[9]

4.
Teyo, intermediate demonstrative. Used to indicate definiteness 'those'

mun

mun

banana

teo

te-yo

EMP-DEM.INT

i

yi

3SG

makerin

ma=kerin

NEG1=bunch

sip

sip

one.INANIM

pwên

pwên

NEG2

[12]

 

 

mun teo i makerin sip pwên

mun te-yo yi ma=kerin sip pwên

banana EMP-DEM.INT 3SG NEG1=bunch one.INANIM NEG2

‘Those bananas, they are not in a bunch.’

Example of anaphor, refers to previously mentioned discourse.[11]

4b.
Unusual case. Intermediate demonstrative teyo in this situation is not an anaphor, new participant is mentioned for the first time, not referring to previously mentioned participants.

te

te

SUB

yoy

yoy

stone

reo,

te-yo

EMP-DEM.INT

yamat

yamat

person

te

te

REL

i

yi

3SG

pari

pari

belonging.to

ai

a-yi

at-3SG

pusungop

pusungop

clan

turê

ta-urê

POSS-1PC.EXCL

tepwo

te-pwo

EMP-DEM.PROX

mwanen

mwanenen

straight

teo

te-yo

EMP-DEM.INT

ipwak

yi=pwak

3SG=meet

ai

a-yii

at-3SG

[14]

 

 

te yoy reo, yamat te i pari ai pusungop turê tepwo mwanen teo ipwak ai

te yoy te-yo yamat te yi pari a-yi pusungop ta-urê te-pwo mwanenen te-yo yi=pwak a-yii

SUB stone EMP-DEM.INT person REL 3SG belonging.to at-3SG clan POSS-1PC.EXCL EMP-DEM.PROX straight EMP-DEM.INT 3SG=meet at-3SG

‘As for these stones, this person who is straight from our clan encountered them.’

5.
Telo, distal demonstrative. Can mean 'those (far)'

kei

kei

tree

raywei

ta-yuei

DEF-two.long

relo

te-lo

EMP-DEM.DIST

ila

yi=la

3SG=go.to

ro

to

be

monokinirê

monoki-n-irê

behind-PERT-3PC

[12]

 

 

kei raywei relo ila ro monokinirê

kei ta-yuei te-lo yi=la to monoki-n-irê

tree DEF-two.long EMP-DEM.DIST 3SG=go.to be behind-PERT-3PC

‘Those two trees are behind them.’

Example of cataphor – refers forward[9]

Spatial deictics with a-

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Another set of demonstratives is formed by prefixing emplatic particle te- with preposition a- to form a spatial adverbial demonstrative of which has the ability to modify verbs only.

Atepwo, ateyo and atelo refer to the location where the activity described by verb is held.[12]

6.
Atepwo, proximate demonstrative. Can mean 'here'

wosa

wo=sa

2SG=MOD

yen

yen

lie

arepwo

a-te-pwo

at-EMP-DEM.PROX

pwên

pwên

NEG

[12]

 

 

wosa yen arepwo pwên

wo=sa yen a-te-pwo pwên

2SG=MOD lie at-EMP-DEM.PROX NEG

‘You cannot lie here.’

7.
Ateyo, intermediate demonstrative. Can mean 'there'

wuisot

wui=sot

1DU.EXCL=go.up

kunawayut

kunawayut

take.rest

areo

a-te-yo

at-EMP-DEM.INT

[12]

 

 

wuisot kunawayut areo

wui=sot kunawayut a-te-yo

1DU.EXCL=go.up take.rest at-EMP-DEM.INT

‘We went up to take a rest there.’

8.
Atelo, distal demonstrative. Can mean 'there (far)'

ola

wo=la

2SG=go.to

lêp

lêp

take

kong

ka-ng

CLF.food-1SG.PERT

payanpôl

payan.pôl

dry.coconut

sip

sip

one.INANIM

te

te

REL

ila

yi=la

3SG=go.to

ro

to

be

arelo

a-te-lo

at-EMP-DEM.DIST

me

me

come

[15]

 

 

ola lêp kong payanpôl sip te ila ro arelo me

wo=la lêp ka-ng payan.pôl sip te yi=la to a-te-lo me

2SG=go.to take CLF.food-1SG.PERT dry.coconut one.INANIM REL 3SG=go.to be at-EMP-DEM.DIST come

‘You go and take my coconut (for me to eat) that is over there, and bring it here.’

Demonstrative: free forms with ta-

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This complex demonstrative uses formative ta-, the emphatic particle te- and a basic form of demonstrative. In comparison to the earlier mentioned demonstrative forms, free forms with ta- often have an element of definiteness when referring to a subject/object.[16] It is the one form of demonstrative that can be used independently and can therefore substitute the place of a noun and be the subject or object to a verb in noun phrases. Three forms with formative ta- include tatepwo, tateyo and tatelo. Here the proximate and distal demonstrative function as verbless clause subject, whilst the intermediate demonstrative functions as a transitive object.[15]

9.
Tatepwo, proximate demonstrative. Can mean 'this' with reference to specific subject or object

Nulik,

Nulik

Nulik

tarepwo

ta-te-pwo

DEF-EMP-DEM.PROX

ran

ta-n

POSS-PERT

sê?

who

[15]

 

 

Nulik, tarepwo ran sê?

Nulik ta-te-pwo ta-n sê

Nulik DEF-EMP-DEM.PROX POSS-PERT who

‘Nulik, whose is this?’

10.
Tateyo, intermediate demonstrative. Can mean 'that', as in previously discussed subject/object

irouek

yi=touek

3SG=show

nêm

nêm

be.finished

tareo

ta-te-yo

DEF-EMP-DEM.INT

la

la

go.to

ran

ta-n

POSS-PERT

pein

pein

woman

teo

te-yo

EMP-DEM.INT

[17]

 

 

irouek nêm tareo la ran pein teo

yi=touek nêm ta-te-yo la ta-n pein te-yo

3SG=show be.finished DEF-EMP-DEM.INT go.to POSS-PERT woman EMP-DEM.INT

‘She showed all that [what has been talked about just before] to the woman.’

11.
Tatelo, distal demonstrative. Can mean 'those', as in pointing out a specific subject/object

tarelo

ta-te-lo

DEF-EMP-DEM.DIST

yeuyeu

yeuyeu

star

[16]

 

 

tarelo yeuyeu

ta-te-lo yeuyeu

DEF-EMP-DEM.DIST star

‘Those are stars.’

Pronouns

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Paradigms

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There are four pronominal paradigms: free subject forms, bound subject forms, object forms and possessive forms. They are formally very similar. Pronouns distinguish singular, dual, paucal and plural number, and have a clusivity distinction. Dual refers to two entities, paucal refers to a few (any number between three and about ten), and plural refers to many. Inclusive pronouns include the addressee ('we, including you'), whereas exclusive ones exclude them ('we, but not you'). Below, the paradigm for the free forms is given.

Singular Dual Paucal Plural
1st person Exclusive wong wui wure ep
Inclusive tau tare tap
2nd person wo au are ap
3rd person yi u ire ip

Directional system

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Forms in the paradigm

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Navigating the outrigger canoe

The language has a system of directionals composed of ten members, eight of which are specified with regard to an absolute frame of reference (FoR).[18][19] An absolute FoR is based on fixed bearings, such as where the sun rises or sets or wind directions. In Baluan-Pam the FoR is based on a land-sea axis; a distinction is made between:

  1. seaward movement
  2. landward movement
  3. movement parallel to the shore

Therefore, going inland always means going up, and going towards the shore always means going down. In addition, since motion parallel to the shore (i.e. intersecting the land–sea axis) usually means moving on more or less the same level, this has obtained a secondary meaning of 'moving on a horizontal level'. At sea, the system is extrapolated: thus, for moving towards the shore the same directionals are used as for moving inland, and for moving out to sea the same directionals are used as for moving towards the shore when on land.

The directionals are organised along two dimensions: absolute FoR and deixis. The table below shows the paradigm.

down, seaward (on land);
out to sea (on water)
up, landward (on land);
toward the shore (on water)
parallel to shore not specified
away from deictic centre suwot sot wot la, lak
toward deictic centre si sa, sak me
not deictically anchored suwen sen wen

The deixis distinction cross-cuts with the FoR distinction, so that five terms are specified for FoR and for deixis, three are specified for FoR only, and two are specified for deixis but not FoR. There is no dedicated term for motion toward the deictic centre parallel to the shore, and no unspecified term that is not deictically anchored (such a term would not add any information to a lexical verb of motion).

Use of directionals

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The directional paradigm provides a very precise reference structure with ample use in discourse. For virtually all actions that in some sense involve motion (including perception-based actions such as seeing/looking, speaking or listening), the direction of the action has to be specified with a directional. In Paluai, this is done by a serial verb construction (SVC), in which a directional either precedes or follows the main verb. Directional SVCs are a common feature of Oceanic languages.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ "Manus Language Map". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
  2. ^ Hamel, Patricia J. (1994). A grammar and lexicon of Loniu, Papua New Guinea (PDF). Series C - 103. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/pl-c103. ISBN 0-85883-410-3.
  3. ^ a b Schokkin 2014, p. 20.
  4. ^ Lynch, John; Ross, Malcolm; Crowley, Terry (2002). The Oceanic languages. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon.
  5. ^ Blust, Robert (2009). The Austronesian languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  6. ^ Schokkin 2014, p. 295.
  7. ^ a b Schokkin 2014, p. 148.
  8. ^ Schokkin 2014, p. 147.
  9. ^ a b c Schokkin 2014, p. 447.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Schokkin 2014, p. 149.
  11. ^ a b Schokkin 2014, p. 448.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Schokkin 2014, p. 151.
  13. ^ Schokkin 2014, p. 150.
  14. ^ Schokkin 2014, pp. 448–449.
  15. ^ a b c Schokkin 2014, p. 152.
  16. ^ a b Schokkin 2014, p. 153.
  17. ^ Schokkin 2014, p. 152-153.
  18. ^ Levinson, Stephen C. (2003). Space in language and cognition: explorations in cognitive diversity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  19. ^ Levinson, Stephen C.; Wilkins, David (2006). Grammars of space: explorations in cognitive diversity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  20. ^ Crowley, Terry (2002). Serial verbs in Oceanic: a descriptive typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  21. ^ Durie, M. (1988). "Verb serialization and "verbal-prepositions" in Oceanic languages". Oceanic Linguistics. 27 (1/2): 1–23. doi:10.2307/3623147. JSTOR 3623147.

1PC:first person, paucal 2PC:second person, paucal 3PC:third person, paucal DEF:definiteness marker EMP:emphatic marker INANIM:inanimate INT:intermediate MOD:modal operator NEG:negation marker NEG1:negation marker 1 NEG2:negation marker 2 PERT:pertensive PROX:proximate REL:relative clause marker SUB:subordinate clause marker ZERO:unrealised pronoun