Lungalunga language


Lungalunga, frequently though ambiguously called Minigir, is spoken by a small number of the Tolai people of Papua New Guinea, who live on the Gazelle Peninsula in East New Britain Province. It is often referred to in the linguistics literature as the Tolai "dialect" with an /s/.

Classification

Lungalunga belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian language family. The most immediate subgroup is the Patpatar–Tolai group of languages which also includes Kuanua and Patpatar.
A "Tolai-Nakanai trade language" reported in the literature was apparently not a pidgin as assumed, but Minigir with perhaps some Meramera or Nakanai mixed in.

Geographic distribution

Lungalunga is spoken on Ataliklikun Bay, in the villages of Lungalunga, Kabaira and Vunamarita, located on the Gazelle Peninsula in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.

Grammar

Independent Pronouns

Lungalunga pronouns have four number distinctions and three person distinctions as well as an inclusive/exclusive distinction. There are no gender distinctions.
SingularDualTrialPlural
1st exclusiveiau
iamiru
iamitalu
iamamami
1st inclusive-iadori
iadatalu
iada
2ndiavau
iamuru
iamutalu
iamui
3rdia
idiru
iditalu
idi

Syntax

The usual word order of Lungalunga is SVO.