Manam language


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

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Allophony

Some vowels become glides in diphthongs, e.g., > and, >. and are 'weaker' than and, so that the syllable becomes and not
According to Turner, is more and more often realized as, while some older speakers have.

Syllable structure

The Manam syllable is V, the only exception is a syllabic.
There are some phonotactic restrictions on the prevalent syllable structure. E.g. V1 cannot be, whereas V must be 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: 'palm tree', 'seagull'. The stress falls on one of the three last syllables of a word, and stressing the penult syllable is the most common: 'child', 'work'. If the last syllable ends in a nasal consonant, it will be stressed instead: 'your child'. Some inflections and affixes do not alter the stress of the root word: 'he learned', 'in the bush'.
In the orthography, stressed vowels can be underlined in order to avoid ambiguities. Ie. 'palm tree', 'seagull'.

Syntax

Word order

The basic, unmarked word order in Manam is SOV:

Predicator

Lichtenberk defines the predicator as the primary element within a clause. The predicator of a Manam clause can be realised in a variety of different ways, such as verb phrases Ex., noun phrases Ex., postpositional phrases Ex., numbers Ex., etc.
Ex. : verb phrase predicator
Ex. : noun phrase predicator
Ex. : postpositional phrase predicator
Ex. : numeral predicator

Negation

Negation in Manam is primarily expressed using one of two negative markers: moaʔi and tago. moaʔi is used exclusively in direct speech prohibitions; whilst tago is used for all other cases.

Scope of negation

The use of tago is primarily categorised by its scope of negation, which further indicates the focus of the clause. The spectrum of scope runs from negating one or more elements within a single clause, to negating an entire clause. The concept of scope of negation can be demonstrated in English: ‘I did not go to the party’ is an example of a broad scope of negation, i.e. the verb phrase is negated, therefore act of going to the party is negated; ‘not one person went to the party’ is an example of a narrow scope of negation, i.e. the subject is negated, not the act of going to the party.

Broad scope

A broad scope of negation is expressed in Manam by negating the predicator—this is done so by placing the negative marker tago before the predicator, as demonstrated in the following examples:
Ex. : broad scope negation–1 element
Ex. : broad scope negation–2 elements
Ex. : broad scope negation–3 elements
Additionally, the negative marker tago can also function as a predicator of existential and possessive clauses. Compare the following examples:
Ex. : negative existential sentence
Ex. : negative possessive sentence

Narrow scope

As a general rule, Manam primarily expresses narrow scope negation by placing tago before the element which is being negated i.e. the object of focused negation within the clause.
Ex. : narrow scope negation
In example, it is not the act of coming that is being negated, rather the negation is narrowly focused in negating the presence of the brother.
Ex. : narrow scope negation
Similarly, in example, it is not the act of calling one's name that is being negated, rather the negation focuses the fact that someone was called, but by some other name that was not their own.

Negative quantifiers

Additionally, the negative marker tago can be used in conjunction with the quantifiers teʔe ‘one’ and alu ‘some’ to produce the negative expressions, tago teʔe ‘no; not any’ and tago alu ‘no; not any’. These expressions function as attributes within the noun phrases that they modify, as seen in the following examples :
Ex. : negation using tago teʔe
Ex. : negation using tago teʔe
More specifically, tago alu is used to modify noun phrases whose head are mass nouns; tago teʔecomparatively modifies count nouns. Compare the following two examples:
Ex. : negative quantifier mass noun
Ex. : negative quantifier count noun

Intensified negation

Negation in Manam can be intensified by appending the buffer element –na and the intensifier suffix –tina to tago, as seen in the following example:
Ex. : intensifier suffix
The buffer element –na, however, is not included when tago acts as the predicator of a clause, as seen in the following example:
Ex. : intensified predicator
Additionally, negation in Manam can be intensified using sesu ‘little’, as seen in the following example:
Ex. : intensifier sesu
Moreover, sesu ‘little’ can be used in conjunction with –tina within the same clause, as seen in the following example:
Ex. : intensifier sesu + suffix –tina
Furthermore, the suffix –tina may be appended to the prohibitive marker moaʔi, as seen in the following example:
Ex. : suffix –tina + prohibitive marker moaʔi

Prohibitions

Manam expresses prohibitions in two basic ways: using finite verbs—defined as verb forms that can occur on their own in a main clause; using gerunds and verbal nouns. Lichtenberk defines gerunds as verb nuclei used to indicate ‘non-specific’ events, whereas verbal nouns are used to indicate ‘specific’ events. Compare the following examples:
Ex. : gerund
Ex. : verbal noun

Prohibitive constructions with finite verbs

The basic structure of prohibitive constructions using finite verbs is moaʔi followed by a verb with a realis subject/mood prefix, as seen in the following examples:
Ex. : prohibitive construction finite verb
Ex. : prohibitive construction finite verb w/ subject NP
Ex. : prohibitive construction finite verb w/ direct object NP
Sometimes, however—the subject or direct object NP may occur between moaʔi and the verb, as in the following example:
Ex. : prohibitive construction finite verb

Prohibitive constructions with gerunds and verbal nouns

Prohibitive constructions using gerunds or verbal nouns are formed by placing the prohibitive/negative marker moaʔi after the gerund or verbal noun, demonstrated in the following example:
Ex. : prohibitive construction using gerund/verbal noun
The distinction between using a gerund or a verbal noun is determined by whether the source verb is transitive or intransitive.
Additionally, the form raʔania ‘never mind’ may also be used in forming prohibitive constructions using gerunds and verbal nouns. The location of raʔania within the clause is more dynamic than the prohibitive/negative marker moaʔi, as raʔania may occur both following or preceding the verbal noun or gerund. Compare the following two examples:
Ex. : prohibitive construction using raʔania
Ex. : prohibitive construction using raʔania

Indirect prohibitive constructions

The negative marker tago is used when expressing prohibitions in indirect speech—its behaviour is identical as in its regular usage: tago is placed before the element which is being negated, as seen in the following example:
Ex. : indirect prohibitive construction

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

Reduplication

can be either leftward or rightward. 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:

Adjectives

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

Verb aspects

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:

Subject marking

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

Mood

The realis mood 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 mood describes anticipated events in the future, or events that the speaker wishes were real.

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.

Object marking

Transitivization

There are three different morphologically overt methods for turning intransitive verbs into transitive ones:
These methods can be combined.

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
Spreading
Intensifying
Benefactive

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'. Some adjectives use the possessive pronouns to mark person and number, e.g. kapisa-Ø 'selfish' and kapisa-di 'selfish'.

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

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:

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:

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:

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:

Directional System

Manam, like most Oceanic languages primarily uses an absolute reference directional system, even on a local scale,. This system is oriented on a land-sea axis. However, Manam's system is unique because it has taken on a circular nature, becoming intrinsically linked to the geography of the island which is almost perfectly circular. Below are the directional terms associated in Manam:
This directional system has only been attested in three languages: Manam, Boumaa Fijian, and Makian Taba.

Abbreviations

Resources