Manam is a Kairiru–Manam language spoken mainly on the volcanic Manam Island, northeast of New Guinea.
Phonology
Vowels Front Central Back High Mid Low
Consonants BilabialAlveolarVelar Stop ~ ~ Nasal Fricative () () Lateral Flap ~
Allophony Some vowels become glides in diphthongs, e.g. , > and , > . and are 'weaker' than and , so that the syllable becomes and not
According to Turner, is more and more often realized as , while some older speakers have .
Syllable structure The Manam syllable is (C)(V1)V(V1)(C1), the only exception is a syllabic .
There are some phonotactic restrictions on the prevalent syllable structure. E.g. V1 cannot be , whereas V must be as long as it is not the syllable's sole vowel. C can be any consonant, whereas C1 must be a nasal consonant.
Stress Stress is phonemic: 'palm tree', 'seagull'. The stress falls on one of the three last syllables of a word, and stressing the penult syllable is the most common: 'child', 'work'. If the last syllable ends in a nasal consonant, it will be stressed instead: 'your child'. Some inflections and affixes do not alter the stress of the root word: 'he learned' (i- is a 3rd person prefix), 'in the bush' (-lo is a locative suffix).
In the orthography, stressed vowels can be underlined in order to avoid ambiguities. Ie. 'palm tree', 'seagull'.
Syntax
Word order The basic, unmarked word order in Manam is SOV:
Predicator Lichtenberk defines the predicator as the primary element within a clause. The predicator of a Manam clause can be realised in a variety of different ways, such as verb phrases Ex. (1), noun phrases Ex. (2), postpositional phrases Ex. (3), numbers Ex. (4), etc.
Ex. (1): verb phrase predicator
Ex. (2): noun phrase predicator
Ex. (3): postpositional phrase predicator
Ex. (4): numeral predicator
Negation Negation in Manam is primarily expressed using one of two negative markers: and . is used exclusively in direct speech prohibitions; whilst is used for all other cases.
Scope of negation The use of is primarily categorised by its scope of negation, which further indicates the focus of the clause. The spectrum of scope runs from negating one or more elements within a single clause, to negating an entire clause. The concept of scope of negation can be demonstrated in English: 'I did not go to the party' is an example of a broad scope of negation, i.e. the verb phrase (VP) is negated; therefore, the act of going to the party is negated; 'not one person went to the party' is an example of a narrow scope of negation, i.e. the subject is negated, not the act of going to the party.
Broad scope A broad scope of negation is expressed in Manam by negating the predicator—this is done so by placing the negative marker before the predicator, as demonstrated in the following examples:
Ex. (5): broad scope negation–1 element
Ex. (6): broad scope negation–2 elements
Ex. (7): broad scope negation–3 elements
Additionally, the negative marker can also function as a predicator of existential and possessive clauses. Compare the following examples:
Ex. (8): negative existential sentence
Ex. (9): negative possessive sentence
Narrow scope As a general rule, Manam primarily expresses narrow scope negation by placing before the element which is being negated i.e. the object of focused negation within the clause.
Ex. (10): narrow scope negation
In example (10), it is not the act of coming that is being negated; rather the negation is narrowly focused in negating the presence of the brother.
Ex. (11): narrow scope negation
Similarly, in example (11), it is not the act of calling one's name that is being negated, rather the negation focuses the fact that someone was called, but by some other name that was not their own.
Negative quantifiers Additionally, the negative marker can be used in conjunction with the quantifiers 'one' and 'some' to produce the negative expressions, 'no, not any' and 'no, not any'. These expressions function as attributes within the noun phrases that they modify, as seen in the following examples (NP are enclosed within brackets):
Ex. (12): negation using
Ex. (13): negation using
More specifically, is used to modify noun phrases whose head are mass nouns; comparatively modifies count nouns. Compare the following two examples:
Ex. (14): negative quantifier mass noun
Ex. (15): negative quantifier count noun
Intensified negation Negation in Manam can be intensified by appending the buffer element –na and the intensifier suffix to , as seen in the following example:
Ex. (16): intensifier suffix
The buffer element , however, is not included when acts as the predicator of a clause, as seen in the following example:
Ex. (17): intensified predicator
Additionally, negation in Manam can be intensified using 'little', as seen in the following example:
Ex. (18): intensifier
Moreover, 'little' can be used in conjunction with within the same clause, as seen in the following example:
Ex. (19): intensifier + suffix
Furthermore, the suffix may be appended to the prohibitive marker (with the presence of the buffer ), as seen in the following example:
Ex. (20): suffix + prohibitive marker
Prohibitions Manam expresses prohibitions in two basic ways: using finite verbs—defined as verb (phrase) forms that can occur on their own in a main clause; using gerunds and verbal nouns. Lichtenberk defines gerunds as verb nuclei used to indicate 'non-specific' events, whereas verbal nouns are used to indicate ‘specific’ events. Compare the following examples:
Ex. (21): gerund
Ex. (22): verbal noun
Prohibitive constructions with finite verbs The basic structure of prohibitive constructions using finite verbs is followed by a verb with a realis subject/mood prefix, as seen in the following examples:
Ex. (23): prohibitive construction finite verb
Ex. (24): prohibitive construction finite verb w/ subject NP
Ex. (25): prohibitive construction finite verb w/ direct object NP
Sometimes, however—the subject or direct object NP may occur between and the verb, as in the following example:
Ex. (26): prohibitive construction finite verb
Prohibitive constructions with gerunds and verbal nouns Prohibitive constructions using gerunds or verbal nouns are formed by placing the prohibitive/negative marker after the gerund or verbal noun, demonstrated in the following example:
Ex. (27): prohibitive construction using gerund/verbal noun
The distinction between using a gerund or a verbal noun is determined by whether the source verb is transitive (verbal noun) or intransitive (gerund).
Additionally, the form 'never mind' may also be used in forming prohibitive constructions using gerunds and verbal nouns. The location of within the clause is more dynamic than the prohibitive/negative marker , as may occur both following or preceding the verbal noun or gerund. Compare the following two examples:
Ex. (28): prohibitive construction using (following)
Ex. (29): prohibitive construction using (preceding)
Indirect prohibitive constructions The negative marker is used when expressing prohibitions in indirect speech—its behaviour is identical as in its regular usage: is placed before the element which is being negated, as seen in the following example:
Ex. (30): indirect prohibitive construction
Morphology
Number Manam has an unusual, though regionally common, four-way distinction between singular, dual, paucal, and plural number. Singular and plural are marked on the verb and sometimes on the adjective, but not on the noun.
Pronouns Person NumberSingularDualPaucalPlural 1stInclusive Exclusive 2nd 3rd
Reduplication Reduplication can be either leftward () or rightward (). There is no point in distinguishing 'partial' and 'total' reduplication, since at most two syllables are reduplicated.
Nouns Rightwards reduplicated nouns can either take on a meaning related to the original word, or function as an agentive marker:
{| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="border-collapse:collapse" |- |||snake |- |||worm |- |colspan="3"| |- |||the work |- |||worker
Adjectives Here are two examples of how number can be marked on the adjective through the different kinds of reduplication:
Rightward reduplication (singular) {| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="border-collapse:collapse" |- |||ripe banana |- |||the big man
Leftward reduplication (plural) {| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="border-collapse:collapse" |- |||ripe bananas |- |||the big men
Verb aspects
The verb The verb always marks the subject and the mood; these are fused together. Optional suffixes include such things as object, direction, aspectual markers, benefactive and various kinds of intensifiers and quantifiers. Here is a schematical overview of the Manam verb:
Outer prefixesVerb nucleusOuter suffixesInner prefixesRootInner suffixesSubject/mood markingManner prefix transitiveVerb root transitiveObject markingOptional suffixes
Subject marking The marking of subject is obligatory. In addition to expressing number and person, the pronouns have fused with the mood markers (see below) called realis and irrealis.
PersonSingularPluralRealIrrRealIrr1stInclusiveta-Exclusive2nd3rd
Mood The realis mood () is used for actual events of the past or present, i.e. things that are certain to have happened, things that are "real". Accordingly, the irrealis () mood describes anticipated events in the future, or events that the speaker wishes were real.
Manner prefixes Manner prefixes are found between the subject/mood marker and the verb root. The manner prefixes describe in what manner the verb action was done, such as 'biting', 'cutting', 'throwing' etc.
Object marking
PersonSingularPlural1stInclusive Exclusive 2nd 3rd -Ø
Transitivization There are three different morphologically overt methods for turning intransitive verbs into transitive ones: The prefix can occur between the person/mood marker and the verb root. The suffix can occur between the verb root and the outer suffixes. The so-called "transitive consonant" (TC) can occur between the verb root and the outer suffixes.
These methods can be combined.
Optional suffixes The object suffixes are also optional, but rather common. Here are a few examples of some of the more unusual suffix types:
Direction
Spreading
Intensifying
Benefactive
Adjectives Most adjectives are derived by reduplication from a verb or a noun. As seen above, some reduplicated adjectives have a number distinction, but some others do not, e.g. 'small' (singular and plural). Some adjectives use the possessive pronouns to mark person and number, e.g. 'selfish' (singular) and 'selfish' (plural).
Possession As in many other Austronesian languages Manam expresses different degrees of possession. In addition to the most common differentiation between alienable and inalienable possession, Manam uses a particular morphological processes to describe belongings that are edible or associated with eating.
Possessive pronouns Person NumberSingularDualPaucalPlural 1stInclusive Exclusive 2nd 3rd -Ø
Inalienable possession In this class are 'belongings' that are involuntary, such as body parts, family members and different kinds of necessary 'parts of a whole'. This class is characterized by simply a possessive suffix attached to the word in question:
Edible possession In this class are things that are edible and 'used to obtain, prepare or store food'. This class is characterized by the word , which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:
Alienable possession In this class are belongings that are voluntary; things that one can cease to own, unlike body parts or family. This class is characterized by the word , which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:
Cross-class possession