Safeyoka language

Safeyoka
Ampale
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionMorobe Province
Native speakers
(2,390 cited 1980 census)[1]
Trans–New Guinea
Language codes
ISO 639-3apz
Glottologsafe1240

Safeyoka, or Ampale, is an Angan language of Papua New Guinea. Other names of this language include Ambari, Ampeeli, Ampeeli-Wojokeso, and Ampele.[2] According to a 1980 census, there were around 2,390 native speakers.[2] Commonly known as Ampale, the dialect is called Wojokeso. Speakers of Ampale range from the Waffa River to the Banir River, which is located in the northern part of Papua New Guinea.[3] The Wojokeso dialect is spoken by people who live in five villages where multiple districts, the Kaiapit, Mumeng and Menyama come together in the Morobe Province.[4]

Phonology

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Consonants[5]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain labial plain labial plain labial
Plosive p t tɕʷ k ʔ
Fricative f s ɕ ɕʷ h
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
Approximant w r j ɥ
  • /p t k/ are voiced /b d g/ following homorganic nasals.
  • /f/ is voiced [v~β] intervocalically.
  • The sequences /hm hn/ are realized as [ ].
  • /h/ is in free variation with [x], and can optionally be pronounced [ɣ] intervocalically.
  • /r/ manifests as [ɺ] utterance-initially.
Vowels[5]
Front Back
High i u
Mid e ʌ
Low æ ɑ
  • /i/ and /u/ are both reduced to [ɨ] when unstressed.

Safeyoka is also tonal, distinguishing between high and low tone.[5]

Grammar

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Subject Personal Pronouns

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In the term stem of Ampale outlines, the object person affixes are included in them. Class 2 verb roots, /put/ and /kill/, they occur immediately following the root. Other verb roots immediately come before the root.[3] Object person affixes include:

[3]
Singualr Dual Plural
1st Person nɨ- e- naa-/ne-
2nd Person kɨ- ze- ze-
3rd Person u- u- u-

Sentence Structure

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The Ampale language classifies with the Wojokeso dialect of the Angan language stock.[6] According to B.A Hooley and K.A. McElhanon, the language is referred to as the "Languages of the Morobe District - New Guinea". The sentence types of the Wojokeso are pattern types. On non-final verbs, the Wojokeso links clauses together by the means of affixes or clitics.[6]

Simple

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The simple sentence formula is "+ Base: General Clause/Elliptical Clause + Terminal: Final Intonation." The sentence is explained by a single base and final intonation. In other words, the single base is expounded by the general clause. Single base moods include: Indicative, Interrogative, Dubitative, Information interrogative, Avolitional, and Exclamatory.[6]

Single Bases Example
General Clause 1 = Indicative
Indicative

Hofɨko

they

pmmalofo-foho

came

Hofɨko pmmalofo-foho

they came

'They came'

Negative Indicative

mmalofo'maho

come

mmalofo'maho

come

'They didn't come.'

General Clause 2 = Interrogative
Interrogative

Nto

already

pmmalofotaho

came

Nto pmmalofotaho

already came

'Did they already come?'

Negative Interrogative

Mapɨ'njitaho

NEG-come'

Mapɨ'njitaho

NEG-come'

'Didn't they come?'

General Clause 3 = Dubitative
Dubitative

Pmmalofotɨkeno

come-they

Pmmalofotɨkeno

come-they

'Maybe they came'

Negative Dubitative

Mapɨ'njitɨkeno

come-maybe

Mapɨ'njitɨkeno

come-maybe

'Maybe they didn't come'

General Clause 4 = Information Interrogative
Information Interrogative

Tɨhwo

who

pmmalofoto

came

Tɨhwo pmmalofoto

who came

'Who came?'

Negative Information Interrogative

Tɨhwo

who

mapɨ'njito

NEG-came

Tɨhwo mapɨ'njito

who NEG-came

'Who didn't come?'

General Clause 5 = Avolitional
Avolitional

Pɨfɨtnnoho

come-they

Pɨfɨtnnoho

come-they

'It's not good that they come.'

Poyo

dead

imo'ntnnoho

become-you

Poyo imo'ntnnoho

dead become-you

'It's not good that you die.'

General Clause 6 = Exclamatory
Exclamatory

Yahufohi

pig

Yahufohi

pig

'It's a pig!'

Peho'no

why

pohinopu

come-you

Peho'no pohinopu

why come-you

'Shame on you for coming!'

[6]

Series

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The series sentence indicates multiple actions a person does. There is no grammatical distinction between temporal succession and temporal overlap. Usually used to explain actions which are performed by a dual or plural subject. However, actions with this partial change in subject may also be classified as a sequence sentence.[4]

Sequence

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The sequence sentence indicates an order of actions being completed by a subject, where base 1 differs from base 2. The action of the first base is usually completed before the action of the second base even begins. The deep structure of this sentence type is that it is purely based on succession.[4]

Example:

"Sɨkuno nomeHONƗNGKI sukwo'miyomo hofantiso toho nelofAHONƗNGKI"

This translates into "Darkness came and night mosquitoes bit us". This expresses temporal succession.[4]

Tense

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Future
Wojokeso English
Subjective y-ontɨfitnne They would, they will do
Unrealized Subjective y-ontɨtinnesohilo Would have done
Near Future u-y-on ɨtfeho They will do
Hortative-Imperative u-y-ɨfe Let them do it
[4]
Non-Future
Wojokeso English
Present Incomplete y-alowofo They are doing it
Present Complete y-ohofo They did it
Narrative Past humi-y-ohofi They did it
Near Past i-malofo They did it
Far Past i-mentohofo They did it a long time ago
Habitual Past i-motofo They used to do it regularly
[4]

References

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  1. ^ Safeyoka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b "Safeyoka". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  3. ^ a b c Franklin, Karl J. (Karl James) (1973). The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 0858831007. OCLC 1288732.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Angan languages are different : four phonologies. Healey, Phyllis M. Huntington Beach, Calif.: Summer Institute of Linguistics. 1981. ISBN 088312212X. OCLC 8619473.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ a b c West, Idi (1992). Ampeeli Organised Phonology Data. SIL International.
  6. ^ a b c d West, Dorothy. (1973). Wojokeso : sentence, paragraph, and discourse analysis. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University. ISBN 0858830892. OCLC 1220916.