The Ata language, also known as Pele-Ata after its two dialects, or Wasi, is a Papuan language spoken on New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. It appears to be related to neighboring Anêm, and possibly also to Yélî Dnye in a proposed Yele-West New Britain family. There are about 2000 speakers.
Ata is spoken in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province, and in Talasea District, West New Britain Province.
Dialects According to Yanagida (2004), there are two dialects of Ata, a Lower dialect spoken in the lowlands and an Upper dialect spoken in the mountains.Yanagida, Tatsuya. 2004. Socio-historic overview of the Ata language, an endangered Papuan language in New Britain, Papua New Guinea. In Shibata Norio and Shionoya, Toru (eds.), Kan minami Taiheiyoo no gengo 3 [Languages of the South Pacific Rim 3], 61-94. Suita: Faculty of Informatics, Osaka Gakuin University. The Lower dialect is spoken in Bialla Rural LLG, West New Britain Province, while the Upper dialect is spoken mostly in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province:
Lower dialect (in Bialla Rural LLG, West New Britain Province): Kiava (Old Kiava) () Korovasi Malasi () Milikina (Elobe) () Mulusi Ole Sale (Gogosi) () Sege () Silanga [settlement] ()
Upper dialect (in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province, unless noted otherwise): Sipa (Bauka), West New Britain () Uasilau [settlement], West New Britain () Kaikou () Lavugi () Luge, West New Britain () Ti () Yauyau () Kukulu ()
Both the lower and upper dialects are spoken in the settlement of Silanga.
There are some lexical differences between the dialects. Some examples are listed below.
! gloss !! Upper Ata !! Lower Ata |- | rain || uali || laʔiua |- | sweet potato || totoʔo || kelatu |- | cassava || mio || mio, mioxa |- | throw something || paxele || pei |- | yes || iou || ani |- | the day before yesterday || malakaumei || malaʔo |- | 2nd person dual independent pronoun || ngolou || ngongou |- | 3rd person dual independent pronoun || olou || ilou
Phonology Phonology of the Ata language: + Consonant sounds Labial Alveolar Velar GlottalNasalPlosiveFricativeApproximant /s/ is pronounced as alveolo-palatal [ɕ] before /i/, /x/ is voiced as [ɣ] when occurring intervocalically.
A word-initial /i/ is realized as a [j], and a word-initial /u/ becomes a [w] when preceding /o/ or /ɑ/. +Vowel soundsFrontBackHigh Mid Low
Noun classes Ata makes use of noun classes, some of which are: Class 1 nouns: stationary and function in a state of relative stagnancy Class 2 nouns: portable and function in a state of relative motion Class 3 nouns: relating to the body's internal needs
Below are some Ata noun class paradigms, using the noun roots lavo'o 'stone' and lexe 'song' as examples:
! root !! lavo'o !! /stone/ !! 'stone' |- | Class 1 || lavo'o-silo || /stone-my/ || 'my stone to be used for a house' |- | Class 2 || lavo'o-xeni || /stone-my/ || 'my stone to be used for breaking nuts' |- | Class 3 || lavo'o-xo || /stone-my/ || 'my stone for a stone oven'
! root !! lexe !! /song/ !! 'song' |- | Class 1 || lexe-silo || /song-my/ || 'a song to be sung for me' |- | Class 2 || lexe-xeni || /song-my/ || 'the song I sing' |- | Class 3 || lexe-xo || /song-my/ || 'the song about me'
Vocabulary Selected basic vocabulary items in Ata:
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Ata |- | bird || ngiala |- | blood || sialuxu |- | bone || xine |- | breast || susu |- | ear || sangalie |- | eat || 'ie |- | egg || atolu |- | eye || iei |- | fire || navu |- | give || iti; losie |- | go || lai |- | ground || lia |- | leg || tava'a |- | louse || meni |- | man || aliko |- | moon || so'io |- | name || uala |- | one || vile |- | road, path || vote'i |- | see || maisou |- | sky || loxotolo |- | stone || lavo'o |- | sun || aso |- | tongue || levexe |- | teeth || anaxu ilaanu (anaxu = 'mouth') |- | tree || aiinu; ovu |- | two || tamei |- | water || lexa |- | woman || sema
See also East Papuan languages
References
Further reading