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Adzera (also spelled Atzera, Azera, Atsera, Acira) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 30,000 people in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.

Dialects

Holzknecht (1989) lists six Adzera dialects.

• Central dialect chain: 9,950 speakers
• Amari dialect: 5,350 speakers
• Ngarowapum dialect: 1,200 speakers
• Yaros dialect: 2,200 speakers
• Guruf / Ngariawang dialect: 1,550 speakers
• Tsumanggorun dialect: 400 speakers

Sukurum is spoken in the villages of Sukurum (6°16′35″S 146°28′36″E / 6.27629°S 146.476694°E / -6.27629; 146.476694 (Sukurum)), Rumrinan (6°16′40″S 146°28′36″E / 6.277752°S 146.476623°E / -6.277752; 146.476623 (Rumdinan)), Gabagiap (6°17′22″S 146°27′58″E / 6.289357°S 146.465999°E / -6.289357; 146.465999 (Gabagiap)), Gupasa, Waroum (6°17′14″S 146°27′14″E / 6.287214°S 146.453831°E / -6.287214; 146.453831 (Warom)), and Wangat (6°21′11″S 146°25′07″E / 6.35307°S 146.418517°E / -6.35307; 146.418517 (Wangat)) in Wantoat/Leron Rural LLG.

Sarasira is spoken in the villages of Sarasira (6°19′15″S 146°28′59″E / 6.320957°S 146.48297°E / -6.320957; 146.48297 (Sirasira)), Som (6°19′26″S 146°30′27″E / 6.323791°S 146.507495°E / -6.323791; 146.507495 (Som)), Pukpuk, Saseang (6°25′08″S 146°25′01″E / 6.418768°S 146.416931°E / -6.418768; 146.416931 (Sasiang Farm)), and Sisuk in Wantoat/Leron Rural LLG. Sarasira and Som share the same speech variety.

Phonology

Vowels

The diphthongs /ɑi, ɑu/ occur, while other sequences of vowels are split over two syllables.

/o/ does not occur in the Amari and Ngarowapum dialects.

Consonants

h occurs in only one word: the interjection hai "yes".

In the Amari dialect, palato-alveolar affricates /tʃ, ⁿtʃ/ and dʒ, ⁿdʒ are heard as only alveolar sounds and .

The prenasalized consonants tend to lose prenasalization initially and after consonants.

/tʃ ⁿtʃ/ are sometimes realized as , especially in codas.

Writing system

J, o and z are used in some loanwords and names.

The letter ŋ was replaced by the digraph ng in the 2015 orthography.

Grammar

Negation

Simple negation

Simple negation in Adzera is achieved by the word imaʔ 'no'. This word can be used on its own in response to a question, or paired with a negative sentence. For example:

Imaʔ

NEG

Dzi

1SG

i-

REAL

bugin

not.like

biskit

biscuit

Imaʔ Dzi i- bugin biskit

NEG 1SG REAL not.like biscuit

No, I do not like biscuits.

The Amari dialect of Adzera is specifically noted for its use of namu for 'no' where all other Adzera dialects would use imaʔ. however, in Amari both words can be used interchangeably.

Negation of a noun phrase

The simple negative forms above can be used in a noun phrase after the noun to modify it. Such as mamaʔ namu 'No children'. This can also apply to a coordinated noun phrase, such as iyam da ifab 'dog and pig' where iyam da ifab namu would mean that there were no dogs and no pigs.

Negation of a verb phrase

Most negation is done through the verb phrase. For general circumstances, verbal negation is achieved by a verbal prefix anuŋʔ- And an optional negation particle u at the end of the sentence. For example:

dzi

1SG

anuŋʔ-

NEG

i-

REAL

saŋʔ

be.enough

rim

help

-a

PTCP

u

2SG

sib

COMP

u

NEG

dzi anuŋʔ- i- saŋʔ rim -a u sib u

1SG NEG REAL be.enough help PTCP 2SG COMP NEG

I am not able to help you.

However, for verbs in the imperative or hortative forms, which take a prefix wa- or na- respectively, the negative is achieved by replacing their respective prefixes with a negative form ma- followed at the end of the sentence by a compulsory particle maʔ.

ma-

IMP.NEG

fan

go

maʔ

IMP.NEG

ma- fan maʔ

IMP.NEG go IMP.NEG

Do not go!

Coordinated verb negation

When two negative verbs or phrases are joined by da ‘and’ the first verb takes the negative prefix anuŋʔ-, and the negative particle u comes at the end of the whole sentence.

muŋʔ ugu

a.long.time.ago

da

TIME

sagat

woman

anuŋʔ-

NEG

i-

REAL

ga

eat

was

lime

da

and

i-

REAL

is

hit

pauʔ

tobacco

u

NEG

{muŋʔ ugu} da sagat anuŋʔ- i- ga was da i- is pauʔ u

a.long.time.ago TIME woman NEG REAL eat lime and REAL hit tobacco NEG

A long time ago, women neither chewed betel nut nor smoked tobacco.

Negation with future tense

When negating a sentence in the future tense, the future tense prefix is replaced with the realis prefix. Any future time marking still remains. There is also a preference toward forming negative sentences in the future tense with an auxiliary verb saŋʔ 'be able, be enough' before the main verb of the sentence, suggesting a reluctance toward making negative statements about the future. For example:

tataʔ

tomorrow

da

TIME

u

2SG

anuŋʔ-

NEG

i-

REAL

saŋʔ

be.enough

fa

go

-da

PTCP

taun

town

u

NEG

tataʔ da u anuŋʔ- i- saŋʔ fa -da taun u

tomorrow TIME 2SG NEG REAL be.enough go PTCP town NEG

Tomorrow you will not be able to go to town.

When coordinating two sentences of future tense, the first verb phrase replaces the future prefix with the realis, but all following verb phrases retain their future tense marking.

List of abbreviations

see List of Glossing Abbreviations.

Below is a list of Grammatical abbreviations used throughout this article:

COMP:completive aspect TIME:time marker

References

1. Adzera at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Sukurum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Sarasira at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. ^ Holzknecht, Susanne (1989). The Markham Languages of Papua New Guinea. Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-394-8.
3. Holzknecht (1986), p. 83-93
4. "HIV da AIDS Nan Gan". SIL.org. 15 September 2022.
5. ^ Holzknecht (1986), pp. 137–138
6. ^ Holzknecht (1986), p. 138
7. ^ Holzknecht (1986), pp. 140–141
8. ^ Holzknecht (1986), p. 140
9. ^ Holzknecht (1986), p. 139–140

Further reading

• Cates, Ann R. (1974). "The Atzera Literacy Programme: An Experimental Campaign in Papua New Guinea". Papua New Guinea Journal of Education. 10: 34–38.
• Holzknecht, K. G. (1973a). "The Phonemes of the Adzera Language". In Holzknecht, K.; Phillips, D. (eds.). Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 17. Series A – No. 38. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 1–11. doi:10.15144/PL-A38.1. hdl:1885/145022.
• Holzknecht, K. G. (1973b). "Morphophonemics of the Adzera Language". In Holzknecht, K.; Phillips, D. (eds.). Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 17. Series A – No. 38. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 13–19. doi:10.15144/PL-A38.13. hdl:1885/145022.
• Holzknecht, K. G. (1973c). "A Synopsis of Verb Forms in Adzera". In Holzknecht, K.; Phillips, D. (eds.). Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 17. Series A – No. 38. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 21–28. doi:10.15144/PL-A38.21. hdl:1885/145022.
• Holzknecht, K. G. (1978). Adzera–English Dictionary.
• Holzknecht, S. (1986). "A Morphology and Grammar of Adzera (Amari Dialect), Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 24. Series A – No. 70. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 77–166. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.77. hdl:1885/145029.
• Howard, David Edward (2002). Continuity and Given-New Status of Discourse Referents in Adzera Oral Narrative (PDF) (M.A. thesis). University of Texas at Arlington – via Summer Institute of Linguistics.
• Roke, Ann; Price, Dorothy (1970). A Summary of the Atzera Literacy Programme. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

• Markham languages
• Languages of Morobe Province