Adzera language
Adzera (also spelled Atzera, Azera, Atsera, Acira) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 30,000 people in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.
Adzera | |
---|---|
Region | Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea |
Native speakers | ca. 30,000 (2000 census)[1] |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously:adz – Adzerazsu – Sukurumzsa – Sarasira |
Glottolog | adze1240 Adzera[2]suku1264 Sukurum[3]sara1323 Sarasira[4] |
Dialects
Holzknecht (1989) lists six Adzera dialects.[5]
- Central dialect chain: 9,950 speakers
- Amari dialect: 5,350 speakers
- Ngarowapum dialect: 1,200 speakers
- Yaros dialect: 2,200 speakers
- Guruf / Ngariawang dialect: 1,550 speakers
- Tsumanggorun dialect: 400 speakers
Sukurum is spoken in the villages of Sukurum (6.27629°S 146.476694°E), Rumrinan (6.277752°S 146.476623°E), Gabagiap (6.289357°S 146.465999°E), Gupasa, Waroum (6.287214°S 146.453831°E), and Wangat (6.35307°S 146.418517°E) in Wantoat-Leron Rural LLG.[5]
Sarasira is spoken in the villages of Sarasira (6.320957°S 146.48297°E), Som (6.323791°S 146.507495°E), Pukpuk, Saseang (6.418768°S 146.416931°E), and Sisuk in Wantoat-Leron Rural LLG. Sarasira and Som share the same speech variety.[5]
Phonology
Vowels
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | /i/ | /u/ |
Low | /ɑ/ |
The diphthongs /ɑi ɑu/ occur, while other sequences of vowels are split over two syllables.
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
Stop | prenasalized | ᵐp | ⁿt | ⁿtʃ | ᵑk | ⁿʔ |
voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | ʔ | |
voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | ||
Fricative | f | s | h | |||
Approximant | w | j | ||||
Rhotic | r |
/h/ occurs in only one word: the interjection hai "yes".
The prenasalized consonants tend to lose prenasalization initially and after consonants.
/tʃ ⁿtʃ/ are sometimes realized as [ts ⁿts], especially in codas.
Writing system
A a | B b | D d | Dz dz | F f | G g | H h | I i | K k | M m | Mp mp | N n | Nt nt |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/ɑ/ | /b/ | /d/ | /dʒ/ | /f/ | /ɡ/ | /h/ | /i/ | /k/ | /m/ | /ᵐp/ | /n/ | /ⁿt/ |
Nts nts | Ŋ ŋ | Ŋk ŋk | Ŋʼ ŋʼ | P p | R r | S s | T t | Ts ts | U u | W w | Y y | ʼ |
/ⁿtʃ/ | /ŋ/ | /ᵑk/ | /ⁿʔ/ | /p/ | /r/ | /s/ | /t/ | /tʃ/ | /u/ | /w/ | /j/ | /ʔ/ |
J, o and z are used in some loanwords and names.
The letter ŋ was replaced by the digraph ng in the 2015 orthography.[6]
Grammar
Negation
Simple negation
Simple negation in Adzera is achieved by the word imaʔ 'no'. This word can be used on its own in response to a question, or paired with a negative sentence.[7] For example:
Imaʔ | Dzi | i- | bugin | biskit |
NEG | 1SG | REAL | not.like | biscuit |
No, I do not like biscuits.[7] |
The Amari dialect of Adzera is specifically noted for its use of namu for 'no' where all other Adzera dialects would use imaʔ. however, in Amari both words can be used interchangeably.[7]
Negation of a noun phrase
The simple negative forms above can be used in a noun phrase after the noun to modify it. Such as mamaʔ namu 'No children'. This can also apply to a coordinated noun phrase, such as iyam da ifab 'dog and pig' where iyam da ifab namu would mean that there were no dogs and no pigs.[8]
Negation of a verb phrase
Most negation is done through the verb phrase. For general circumstances, verbal negation is achieved by a verbal prefix anuŋʔ- And an optional negation particle u at the end of the sentence.[9] For example:
dzi | anuŋʔ- | i- | saŋʔ | rim | -a | u | sib | u |
1SG | NEG | REAL | be.enough | help | PTCP | 2SG | COMP | NEG |
I am not able to help you.[9] |
However, for verbs in the imperative or hortative forms, which take a prefix wa- or na- respectively, the negative is achieved by replacing their respective prefixes with a negative form ma- followed at the end of the sentence by a compulsory particle maʔ.[10]
ma- | fan | maʔ |
IMP.NEG | go | IMP.NEG |
Do not go![10] |
Coordinated verb negation
When two negative verbs or phrases are joined by da ‘and’ the first verb takes the negative prefix anuŋʔ-, and the negative particle u comes at the end of the whole sentence.[11]
muŋʔ ugu | da | sagat | anuŋʔ- | i- | ga | was | da | i- | is | pauʔ | u |
a.long.time.ago | TIME.MARKER | woman | NEG | REAL | eat | lime | and | REAL | hit | tobacco | NEG |
A long time ago, women neither chewed betel nut nor smoked tobacco.[11] |
Negation with future tense
When negating a sentence in the future tense, the future tense prefix is replaced with the realis prefix. Any future time marking still remains. There is also a preference toward forming negative sentences in the future tense with an auxiliary verb saŋʔ 'be able, be enough' before the main verb of the sentence, suggesting a reluctance toward making negative statements about the future.[12] For example:
tataʔ | da | u | anuŋʔ- | i- | saŋʔ | fa | -da | taun | u |
tomorrow | TIME.MARKER | 2SG | NEG | REAL | be.enough | go | PTCP | town | NEG |
Tomorrow you will not be able to go to town.[12] |
When coordinating two sentences of future tense, the first verb phrase replaces the future prefix with the realis, but all following verb phrases retain their future tense marking.[12]
List of abbreviations
see List of Glossing Abbreviations.
Below is a list of Grammatical abbreviations used throughout this article:
Grammatical Abbreviations | |
---|---|
NEG | Negative |
1SG | 1st Person Singular |
REAL | Realis |
PTCP | Participle |
2SG | 2nd Person Singular |
COMP | Completive |
IMP | Imperative |
References
- Adzera at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Sukurum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Sarasira at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Adzera". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Sukurum". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Sarasira". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1989). The Markham Languages of Papua New Guinea. Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-394-8.
- "HIV da AIDS Nan Gan". SIL.org.
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1986). "A morphology and grammar of Adzera (Amari dialect), Morobe province, Papau New Guinea". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics. Pacific Linguistics A. 70: 137–138. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1986). "A morphology and grammar of Adzera (Amari dialect), Morobe province, Papau New Guinea". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics. Pacific Linguistics A. 70: 138. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1986). "A morphology and grammar of Adzera (Amari dialect), Morobe province, Papau New Guinea". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics. Pacific Linguistics A. 70: 138. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1986). "A morphology and grammar of Adzera (Amari dialect), Morobe province, Papau New Guinea". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics. Pacific Linguistics A. 70: 140–141. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)}
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1986). "A morphology and grammar of Adzera (Amari dialect), Morobe province, Papau New Guinea". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics. Pacific Linguistics A. 70: 140. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)}
- Holzknecht, Susanne (1986). "A morphology and grammar of Adzera (Amari dialect), Morobe province, Papau New Guinea". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics. Pacific Linguistics A. 70: 139–140. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)}
Further reading
- Cates, Ann R. (1974). "The Atzera literacy programme: An experimental campaign in Papua New Guinea". Papua New Guinea Journal of Education. 10: 34–38.
- Holzknecht, K. G. (1973). "The phonemes of the Adzera language". Pacific Linguistics A. 38: 1–11.
- Holzknecht, K. G. (1973). "Morphophonemics of the Adzera language". Pacific Linguistics A. 38: 13–19.
- Holzknecht, K. G. (1973). "A synopsis of the verb forms in Adzera". Pacific Linguistics A. 38: 21–28.
- Holzknecht, K. G. (1978). Adzera–English dictionary.
- Holzknecht, S. (1986). "A morphology and grammar of Adzera (Amari dialect), Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea". Pacific Linguistics A. 70: 77–166. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Howard, David Edward (2002). Continuity and given-new status of discourse referents in Adzera oral narrative. M.A. thesis. University of Texas at Arlington.
- Roke, Ann; Price, Dorothy (1970). A summary of the Atzera literacy programme. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics.