Woisika language

Woisika
	Kamang
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Alor Island
Native speakers	6,000 (2014)[1]
Language family	Trans–New Guinea ? West Bomberai ? Timor–Alor–Pantar Alor–Pantar Alor Woisika; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	woi
Glottolog	kama1365
ELP	Kamang[2]

Woisika, also known as Kamang, is a Papuan language of Alor Island of Indonesia. The three main dialects are Western Kamang, Lowland Kamang, and Upland Kamang. Dialects also include Lembur, Sibo, Kamang, Tiayai, Watang, Kamana-Kamang. They may constitute more than one language. Kamang is an endangered language, since children usually only have passive competence of the language, and instead are shifting to Malay.[3]

Speakers may prefer the term Kamang to refer to the speech community as a whole; Woisika is a village name.[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Woisika consonant phonemes
		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ <ng>
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	(ʔ) <'>
Plosive	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Fricative		ɸ <f>	s			(h)
Approximant		w		j <y>
Lateral			l

/h/ and /ʔ/ are marginal. /r/ is rare in initial and final position. Word-final /s/ is only in loan words.

The consonant /ŋ/ is not found word-initially, and /f/ is not found word-finally.[5]

Vowels

**Woisika vowel phonemes**
	Front		Central		Back
Close	i	iː <ii>			u	uː <uu>
Mid	e	eː <ee>			o	oː <oo>
Open			a	aː <aa>

Grammar

Serial verb constructions

Kamang has serial verb constructions.

Mooi	bong	nok	kok	silang	dii[3]^:345
banana	tree	one	fall.down	descend	lie
'A banana tree came falling down.'

Afunaa	yakii	me	noowaai.[3]^:348
a-funaa	ga-kii	me	noo-waai.
3.PAT-face	3.PAT-turn	come	3.AST-face
'Turn and face me.'

Valence

Examples with avalent, monovalent, bivalent, and trivalent verbs are shown below.[3]

Avalent

Itunma[3]^:300
itun-ma
late.afternoon-PFV
'It's late afternoon.'

Monovalent

Markus	gamanteima[3]^:301
Markus	ga-mantei-ma
Markus	3.PAT-thirst-PFV
'Markus is thirsty already.'

Bivalent

Na	Markus	gatakma.[3]^:301
na	Markus	ga-tak-ma
1SG.AGT	Markus	3.PAT-see-PFV
'I have seen Markus'

Trivalent

Markus	patei	me	dumma	wotulen.[3]^:301
Markus	patei	me	dum=a	go-tulen
Markus	corn	TAKE	child=SPEC	3.LOC-divide
'Markus divides corn amongst the children.'

Riddles

Woisika riddles relate to animals, the human body, human artifacts, natural phenomena, crops and other foods, among others.[6]

References

"UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
Endangered Languages Project data for Kamang.
Schapper, Antoinette (2014). "Kamang". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1: Sketch Grammars. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 287–349.
Grimes, Charles (1997). A guide to the people and languages of Nusa Tenggara (PDF). Kupang: Artha Wacana Press.
Stokhof, W.A.L. (1979). Woisika II Phonemics (PDF). Australian National University.
Stokhof, W.A.L. (1982). Woisika Riddles (PDF). Australian National University.

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[1] "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-06-06.

[ELP1-2] Endangered Languages Project data for Kamang.

[Schapper-3] Schapper, Antoinette (2014). "Kamang". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1: Sketch Grammars. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 287–349.

[4] Grimes, Charles (1997). A guide to the people and languages of Nusa Tenggara (PDF). Kupang: Artha Wacana Press.

[Phonemics-5] Stokhof, W.A.L. (1979). Woisika II Phonemics (PDF). Australian National University.

[Riddles-6] Stokhof, W.A.L. (1982). Woisika Riddles (PDF). Australian National University.