Siar-Lak language
| Siar | |
|---|---|
| Lak | |
| ep warwar anun dat | |
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | New Ireland Province |
Native speakers | (2,100 cited 2000 census)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sjr |
| Glottolog | siar1238 |
Siar, also known as Lak, Lamassa, or Likkilikki, is an Austronesian language spoken in New Ireland Province in the southern island point of Papua New Guinea. Lak is in the Patpatar-Tolai sub-group, which then falls under the New Ireland-Tolai group in the Western Oceanic language, a sub-group within the Austronesian family.[2] The Siar people keep themselves sustained and nourished by fishing and gardening.[3] The native people call their language ep warwar anun dat, which means 'our language'.[4]
Phonology
[edit]Siar-Lak has fifteen consonants and seven vowels.[3]
| Bilabial | Dental- Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | |
| voiced | b | d | g | ||
| Fricative | ɸ | s | |||
| Lateral | l | ||||
| Trill | r | ||||
| Glide | w | j | |||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid-high | e̝ | o̝ | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
The vowel /e̝/ can be thought to be pronounced in between the high vowel /i/ and the mid vowel /e/, as well as /o̝/ being in between the high vowel /u/ and the mid vowel /o/, according to native speakers.[3]
Stress and phonotactics
[edit]Stress is placed on the last syllable in each word. Examples of words broken down into syllables and translated include:[3]
| Siar-Lak | English |
|---|---|
| mam.su.ai | 'sneeze' |
| ar.ngas | 'mountain peak' |
| far.bón | 'praise' |
| fet.rar | 'young woman' |
Syllable structures
[edit]Siar-Lak contains four different types of syllable patterns in its vocabulary: V (vowel), VC (vowel-consonant), CV (consonant-vowel), and CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant). Some examples include:[3]
| Siar Lak | English | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| V | u | 'you' | |
| a.im | 'to plant' | ||
| a.i.nói | 'to fill' | ||
| VC | ep | 'article' | |
| ar.ngas | 'mountain' | ||
| la.un | 'to live' | ||
| CV | ma | 'now' | |
| kó.bót | 'morning' | ||
| ka.bu.suk | 'my nose' | ||
| la.tu | 'tomorrow' | ||
| CVC | póp | 'puddle' | |
| gósgós | 'to dance' | ||
| la.man.tin | 'great' | ||
| ka.kau | 'to crawl' |
Orthography
[edit]Siar-Lak is written in the Latin script. Most letters correspond directly to a single phoneme and vice versa. However, the consonant phoneme /φ/ is spelled ⟨f⟩ at the start of a word, ⟨h⟩ at the end of a syllable, and not spelled at all when it is not pronounced. When a word-final /i/ needs to be distinguished from /j/, it is spelled ⟨ii⟩. /e̝/ and /o̝/ are spelled ⟨é⟩ and ⟨ó⟩ respectively. /w/ and /j/ are spelled ⟨u⟩ and ⟨i⟩ in syllable codas.[3]
Numerical system
[edit]| Siar | English |
|---|---|
| i tik | One |
| i ru | Two |
| i tól | Three |
| i at | Four |
| i lim | Five |
| i won | Six |
| i is | Seven |
| i wol | Eight |
| i siwok | Nine |
| sanguli or i tik ep bónót | Ten |
| Siar | English |
|---|---|
| i tik ep bónót | Ten |
| i ru ru bónót | Twenty |
| i tól ep bónót | Thirty |
| i at ep bónót | Forty |
| i lim ep bónót | Fifty |
| i won ep bónót | Sixty |
| i is ep bónót | Seventy |
| i wol ep bónót | Eighty |
| i siwok ep bónót | Ninety |
| i tik ep mar | One hundred |
Pronouns
[edit]| Singular | Dual | Trial/Paucal | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | exclusive | ya(u)/ a | mara(u) | mató~matól | mét |
| inclusive | dara(u) | datól | dat | ||
| 2nd person | u | aura(u) | amtól | amat | |
| 3rd person | Personal | i | dira(u) | diat | dit |
| Impersonal | di | ||||
| Inanimate, mass | in | ||||
Example sentence:
Verb phrases
[edit] |
Two types of verb phrases include intransitive and transitive verbs. An intransitive verb is used when there is no direct object, while a transitive verb is used when there is a direct object action taking place. An intransitive verb for 'eat' would be angan, while a transitive verb for 'eat' would be yan.
References
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Rowe, Karen (2005). Siar-Lak Grammar Essentials. Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages 50. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- Lean, G. A. (1991). Counting systems of Papua New Guinea: Volume 1: New Ireland Province (2nd ed., Vol. 1). Lae, Papua New Guinea: Department of Mathematics and Statistics Papua New Guinea University of Technology.
- Frowein, Friedel Martin (2011). A grammar of Siar, an Oceanic language of New Ireland province, Papua New Guinea (Ph.D. thesis). La Trobe University. hdl:1959.9/529829.