Ama language (New Guinea)

Ama (Sawiyanu) is a Left May language of Papua New Guinea, in East Sepik Province. Former dialects have merged.

Ama
Sawiyanu
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionEast Sepik Province
Native speakers
(480 cited 1990 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3amm
Glottologamap1240
ELPAma[2]

Ethnologue reports that it is spoken in Ama (Wopolu I) (4.103263°S 141.665012°E / -4.103263; 141.665012 (Ama)), Kauvia (Kawiya) (4.123436°S 141.662939°E / -4.123436; 141.662939 (Kavia)), Waniap creek (4.215844°S 141.728851°E / -4.215844; 141.728851 (Waniap)), Wopolu II (Nokonufa) (4.072957°S 141.706211°E / -4.072957; 141.706211 (Waburu 1&2)), and Yonuwai (4.193624°S 141.603848°E / -4.193624; 141.603848 (Yenuai)) villages of Tunap-Hunstein Rural LLG, East Sepik Province.[3][4]

Phonology

Ama has 12 consonants, which are:[5]:344

ptk
ɸsh
mn
w ɻj

Ama has 7 vowels, which are:[5]:344

iu
eo
ɔ
aɒ

Pronouns

Pronouns are:[5]:345

sgdupl
1incl motimoi
1excl yo/yakotikoi
2 nono/namotimoi
3 to/tatotitoi

Grammar

Ama has four tenses, which are marked by suffixes.

  • remote past (-ki)
  • near past (i. e. yesterday) (-a)
  • present (today) (Ø, unmarked)
  • future (-imoi ~ -i)

References

  1. Ama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Ama.
  3. Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
  4. United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  5. 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. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.