Galela language

Galela is the second most populous Papuan language spoken west of New Guinea, with some 80,000 speakers. Its dialects are Kadai (41,000), Morotai (24,000), Kadina (10,000), and Sopi (4,000). Its closest relative is the Loloda language.

Galela
Native toIndonesia
RegionNorth Halmahera
Native speakers
(79,000 cited 1990)[1]
West Papuan
Language codes
ISO 639-3gbi
Glottologgale1259

Galela is spoken on the eastern side of the northern tip of Halmahera island (in Galela district and in neighbouring villages in Tobelo and Loloda districts), on Morotai Island to the north, on the Bacan and Obi islands to the south of Halmahera, and in scattered settlements along the southwest coast. All are in North Maluku province of Indonesia.

Phonology

The following sound inventory is based on Shelden (1998).[2]

Vowels

Galela has a simple five vowel system: /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palato-alveolar/
Palatal
Velar Glottal
Laminal Apical
Stop/
Affricate
voiceless ptt͡ʃk
voiced bd͡ʒg
Fricative ɸsh
Nasal mnɲŋ
Flap ɾ
Lateral l
Semivowel wj

Galela orthography largely follows Indonesian spelling conventions:

  • [ɸ] is spelled f
  • [t͡ʃ] is spelled c
  • [d̻] is spelled
  • [d̺] is spelled d
  • [d͡ʒ] is spelled j
  • [ɲ] is spelled ny
  • [ŋ] is spelled ng
  • [j] is spelled y

Grammar

Pronouns

Galela has two free pronoun sets, and two sets of bound pronominal prefixes.[2][3][4] The use of the pronominal prefixes is governed by semantic alignment: actor prefixes are used to index the S-argument of active intransitive verbs and the A-argument of transitive verbs, while undergoer prefixes index the S-argument of stative intransitive verbs and the P-argument of transitive verbs.

independentpossessiveactorundergoer
1.sg. ngohiaito-i-
2.sg. ngonaanino-ni-
3.sg.masc. unaawiwo-wi-
3.sg.fem. munaamimo-mi-
1.pl.incl. ngonenangapo-na-
1.pl.excl. ngomimiami-mi-
2.pl. ngininiani-ni-
3.pl. human onamangayo-ya-
3. non-human imai-ḋa-

References

  1. Galela at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
  2. Shelden, Howard (1998). "Transitivity and Galela pronominal reference". SIL Electronic Working Papers. 1998–005.
  3. van Baarda, M. J. (1904). "Het Lòda'sch, in vergelijking met het Galela'sch dialect op Halmaheira" [Lòda'sch, compared to the Galela'sch dialect on Halmaheira]. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië (in Dutch). 56 (3/4): 317–496. doi:10.1163/22134379-90002009.
  4. Holton, Gary (2008). "The rise and fall of semantic alignment in North Halmahera, Indonesia". In Donohue, Mark; Wichmann, Søren (eds.). The Typology of Semantic Alignment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 252–276.
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