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″S 142°00′06″E / 3.565508°S 142.001655°E), Kamnom (3°33′09″S 141°59′39″E / 3.552454°S 141.994165°E), Tubum (3°34′03″S 142°00′13″E / 3.567408°S 142.003722°E), and Wiup (3°33′14″S 141°59′04″E / 3.553766°S 141.9845°E) villages in Kamnom East ward, East Wapei Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.[1][2]
| Awtuw | |
|---|---|
| Region | East Wapei Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea |
Native speakers | 700 (2014)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kmn |
| Glottolog | awtu1239 |
| ELP | Awtuw |
It is an endangered language, being widely replaced by Tok Pisin.
Phonology
editAwtuw 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
editPronouns are:[3]
sg du pl 1 wan nan nom 2 yen an om 3m rey ræw rom 3f tey
Verbal morphology
editAwtuw 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]
Rey
3sg:MASC
aeye
food
rokr’-imy’-e.
cook-CELER-PST
'He cooked the food quickly.' (Feldman 1983: 122–123)
References
edit- ^ a b Awtuw at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Feldman, Harry (1983). A grammar of Awtuw (PhD thesis). Australian National University. doi:10.25911/5D723CE831842. hdl:1885/132945.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Jacques, Guillaume (2024). "Celerative: the encoding of speed in verbal morphology". STUF. 77 (2): 261–282. doi:10.1515/stuf-2024-2006.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- Feldman, Harry (1983). A grammar of Awtuw (PhD thesis). Australian National University. doi:10.25911/5D723CE831842. hdl:1885/132945.
- Feldman, Harry (1986). A Grammar of Awtuw. Pacific Linguistics Series B - No. 94. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University. doi:10.15144/pl-b94. hdl:1885/145411. ISBN 0-85883-342-5.
- Whitehead, Carl R. 1992. Review of: a grammar of Awtuw, by Harry Feldman.
- Rosetta Project:Awtuw Swadesh List