Английская Википедия:Avava language
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Nf Шаблон:Infobox language
Avava (Navava), also known as Katbol, Tembimbe-Katbol, or Bangsa’ is an Oceanic language of central Malekula, Vanuatu. It has nasalized fricatives and a bilabial trill.
The four Avava-speaking villages speak or spoke, distinct dialects. Timbembe and Nevaar (Nɨviar) are still spoken. The Nivat (Nevat) and Bangasa (Umbrul) dialects are extinct. Bangasa/Bangsa', or more correctly Bangasak, was known as Numbuwul by its neighbors to the north; the endonym is Umbbuul Шаблон:IPA-all.
Phonology
When the final syllable is light (CV), stress tends to be penultimate. When the final syllable is heavy (CVC, CVV, CVː), stress tends to be final.
Vowels
There are a total of eight vowel quantities in Avava: five short vowels and three long vowels. The five short Avava vowel qualities, Шаблон:IPA. Шаблон:IPA is pronounced Шаблон:IPA between a bilabial trill and an alveolar and, in final syllables, between a bilabial trill and Шаблон:IPA. About 2% of vowels are long. Long Шаблон:IPA is not attested, and long Шаблон:IPA is marginal. This is a pattern shared with Naman. At the end of a prosodic unit – in citation form, utterance-finally and when speaking slowly – word-final vowels other than Шаблон:IPA tend to be replaced with "diphthongs" Шаблон:IPA. Word-initial vowels present in citation form tend to be lost when the word is linked to others, e.g. when the subject of a verb or possessed by a pronoun. This is the reason for the alternative form of the name of the language, vava.
front back high Шаблон:IPA link Шаблон:IPA link mid Шаблон:IPA link Шаблон:IPA link low Шаблон:IPA link
A notable variant of the same phoneme shown with short vowels is when /u/ undergoes centralisation to [ʉ] in two different settings: in closed syllables between a bilabial trill and a following alveolar consonant, and Шаблон:Clarify.
The three long vowels in Avava are /i:/, /u:/, and /a:/. Though there is evidence for the long /o:/, the vowel is only shown in three words throughout the entire lexicon of Avava.
Consonants
Шаблон:IPA is post-alveolar. The voiceless stops are lightly aspirated. Otherwise, the consonants have the values their IPA transcriptions suggest.
Шаблон:IPA does not occur at the beginning of a word. Labialized consonants are only found before Шаблон:IPA. There are some grammatical contexts and perhaps random situations when word-initial Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA are replaced by Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA. Шаблон:IPA is known from only a single word. Word-final Шаблон:IPA is lost when the word is suffixed or followed by a modifier.
The prenasalized trills may be described as Шаблон:IPA, with the quite audible stop analyzed as excrescent, or as Шаблон:IPA, with the representation common in the area of prenasalized voiced stops as simply voiced stops. Шаблон:IPA is quite common in the language. It is generally rounded, Шаблон:IPA, and word-finally the trilled release is at least partially devoiced, Шаблон:IPA. It may occur in word-final position after any vowel, but in CV position the following vowel is overwhelmingly Шаблон:IPA, though other vowels do occur, e.g. Шаблон:IPA 'coral'. It is generated grammatically when the 3sg-irrealis Шаблон:IPA is prefixed to a verb root beginning with Шаблон:IPA, as in Шаблон:IPA > Шаблон:IPA 's/he will come'.
Consonant allophones
Prenasalization is maintained after oral consonants, e.g. Шаблон:IPA 'earthquake', but is lost after a nasal, e.g. Шаблон:IPA 'bamboo roof pins'. Prenasalized stops are occasionally devoiced word finally, e.g. Шаблон:IPA 'mud'.
Шаблон:IPA occasionally has a trilled release when followed by Шаблон:IPA: Шаблон:IPA 'spit'.
Nasals and liquids are syllabified in word-final CN, CL clusters and in medial CNC, CLC clusters: Шаблон:IPA 'we (paucal inclusive)', Шаблон:IPA 'we (paucal exclusive)'.
Шаблон:IPA is Шаблон:IPA word-initially, word-finally, before another consonant, and between front vowels; it is also the more common allophone between front and non-front vowels. It is Шаблон:IPA between identical non-front vowels, and this is the more common allophone between non-identical non-front vowels.
Шаблон:IPA are generally Шаблон:IPA word-initially.
Nouns and Noun Phrases
Pronouns
The use of pronouns in Avava refer to what person the subject is in, the number of speakers, and the inclusivity, as shown in the table below
| singular | dual | paucal | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | Шаблон:Small | na | kopmdru | kopmtl | kopm |
| Шаблон:Small | gitdru | gitntl | git | ||
| 2nd person | ong | kamdru | kamtl | kam | |
| 3rd person | e | ierdru | iertl | ier | |
The paucal form of a word vs the plural form of the word is generally characterized by the number of subjects. The paucal pronouns include a small number, greater than two but less than ten. The paucal and plural forms also differ systemically as they differ in the suffixes -dur and -tl.
Nominalization
The Avava language utilizes the process of nominalization to create words from pre-existing ones. Verbal nominalization of words involve the addition of the suffix -ian.
In some cases, the nominalized form of a reduplicated verb contains the unreduplicated root.
Another pattern of nominalization involves the addition of the suffix -ian as well as the addition of the first vowel of the word to the beginning of the word to create a noun from a verb.
Place of origin
The prefix, ma-, when added to the name of a place, refers to a person that is from that specified area.
Possession
Nouns in Avava can be divided into two categories: directly possessed nouns and indirectly possessed nouns.
Directly possessed nouns
The following generalizations can be given on the subject of these types of nouns:
- most external body parts
- many internal organs, though some do not fall under this category
- some bodily products (saliva), though many do not fall under this category
- many body parts and products associated with these animals
- some kin terms (son/daughter)
- many parts of trees and plants
References
- Crowley, Terry (2006). The Avava language of central Malakula (Vanuatu). Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University.
External links
- PARADISEC open-access archive of Avava language recordings
Шаблон:Languages of Vanuatu Шаблон:Southern Oceanic languages Шаблон:Austronesian languages Шаблон:Authority control
