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Revision as of 16:08, 24 December 2024 editNgarrtjapiri (talk | contribs)118 edits Expanded noun sectionTag: Visual edit← Previous edit Revision as of 17:23, 24 December 2024 edit undoNgarrtjapiri (talk | contribs)118 edits Added section on possessionTags: nowiki added Visual editNext edit →
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=== Nouns === === Nouns ===
⚫ Akei has no articles.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371}}

Akei mostly lacks ], although for some relationship nouns the feminine is marked by the prefix ''ve-'' (e.g. ''natuna'' "his son", ''venatuna'' "his daughter"). In other cases, natural sex is indicated by separate words or by ''takuni'' ("male") or ''pita'' ("female") following the noun (e.g. ''tavasao takuni'' "man-servant", ''tavasao pita'' "maid-servant").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|372}} Akei mostly lacks ], although for some relationship nouns the feminine is marked by the prefix ''ve-'' (e.g. ''natuna'' "his son", ''venatuna'' "his daughter"). In other cases, natural sex is indicated by separate words or by ''takuni'' ("male") or ''pita'' ("female") following the noun (e.g. ''tavasao takuni'' "man-servant", ''tavasao pita'' "maid-servant").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|372}}


] are unmarked and are shown only by juxtaposition of an adjective or pronoun (e.g. ''mazi alulusi'' "many animals").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371-372}} ] are unmarked and are shown only by juxtaposition of an adjective or pronoun (e.g. ''mazi alulusi'' "many animals").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371-372}} In enumeration the preceding word ''ravai'' forms the plural of relationship nouns (e.g. ''Isau te vatira pita isina, ravai natuna, ravai venatuna, ravai takuni povi isina'' "Esau took them his wife, his sons, his daughters, all his people").], where Akei is spoken on the southwestern coast]]] are formed by the word ''takuni'' "man" followed by a word indicating the action (e.g. ''takuni veseni'' "teacher", from ''lulusi veseni'' "to teach).<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371}}


⚫ ] are formed by the word ''marai'' preceding the place name (e.g. ''marai Judia'' "Jew"), in both singular and plural. The word ''pita'' ("female") precedes in the feminine (e.g. ''pita marai Sameria'' "woman of Samaria"). The word ''mera'' can also be used (e.g. ''mera 'Ibru'' "Hebrews").
⚫ Akei has no articles.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371}}

⚫ In many cases, the noun is omitted and implied by context.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371}}

==== Possession ====
A noun in the genitive case follows the head noun (e.g. ''vivi ai'' "river's bank", literally "bank river").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|374}}

In regards to possession, there are essentially two classes of noun. Head nouns of the first class are suffixed with ''-ni'' if the genitive noun is also of the first class (e.g. ''<nowiki/>'esani pita'' "name of the woman"). First class nouns suffix the pronoun to show possession (e.g. ''natuku'' "my son"), including when the noun is used as a preposition.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|374}}

If the genitive noun is of the second class, the head noun is suffixed with ''-i'' (e.g. ''venatui takuni'' "daughter of a man"). Connecting a second class head nouns and its genitive are the particles ''<nowiki/>'a'' for food and drink, ''pula'' for property generally and ''no'' for general possession. ''No'' is suffixed ''-ni'' and is placed inbetween the head and its genitive (e.g. ''tetei noni takuni'' "badness of man").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|374}}


A few nouns, including body parts and relationship names, decline to show ] between the noun and its pronoun subject (e.g. ''loeku'' "my voice").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|373}} See the following table: The pronoun is suffixed to these particles, and precedes the noun (e.g. ''noku tano'' "my land").<ref name=":3" />{{rp|374}} See the following table with ''no'' as the example:
{| class="wikitable" {| class="wikitable"
⚫ |+
!Possessive suffixes !Possessive suffixes
!Singular !Singular
Line 47: Line 57:
|- |-
| rowspan="2" |1st | rowspan="2" |1st
| rowspan="2" |ku | rowspan="2" |noku
|'''Inclusive''' |'''Inclusive'''
|noka
⚫ |ka
|- |-
|'''Exclusive''' |'''Exclusive'''
|nomam
|mam
|- |-
|2nd |2nd
|nomu, nom
⚫ |m
| colspan="2" |mim | colspan="2" |nomim
|- |-
|3rd |3rd
|nona
|na
| colspan="2" |ra | colspan="2" |nora
|} |}
The possessive pronouns ''pulaku'', ''pulam'', and ''pulana'' correspond to the English "mine", "thine", "his", etc; they are used without a noun (e.g. ''noku lulusi veseni mo kei pulaku, pulana te tapatapaau'' "my teaching is not mine, (but) his that sent me".<ref name=":3" />{{rp|375}}
], where Akei is spoken on the southwestern coast]]] are formed by the word ''takuni'' "man" followed by a word indicating the action (e.g. ''takuni veseni'' "teacher", from ''lulusi veseni'' "to teach).<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371}}


The preposition ''isi'' "with" is used with a suffixed pronoun as a possessive (e.g. ''pita isim'' "thy wife", literally "woman with thee").
⚫ ] are formed by the word ''marai'' preceding the place name (e.g. ''marai Judia'' "Jew"), in both singular and plural. The word ''pita'' ("female") precedes in the feminine (e.g. ''pita marai Sameria'' "woman of Samaria"). The word ''mera'' can also be used (e.g. ''mera 'Ibru'' "Hebrews").

⚫ In many cases, the noun is omitted and implied by context.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|371}}


==== Pronouns ==== ==== Pronouns ====
Line 98: Line 106:
(they) (they)
|} |}
{| class="wikitable"
!Short forms used as subject
!Singular
! colspan="2" |Plural
⚫ |-
| rowspan="2" |1st
| rowspan="2" |na
|'''Inclusive'''
⚫ |ka
⚫ |-
|'''Exclusive'''
|koma
|-
|2nd
|ko
| colspan="2" |komi
|-
|3rd
|i
| colspan="2" |ra
|}
{| class="wikitable"
!Short forms used as object
!Singular
! colspan="2" |Plural
|-
| rowspan="2" |1st
| rowspan="2" |au
|'''Inclusive'''
|ka
|-
|'''Exclusive'''
|n/a
|-
|2nd
|ko
| colspan="2" |n/a
|-
|3rd
|a
| colspan="2" |ra
|}
In the objective second person plural and first person exclusive plural, the full pronoun is used (e.g. ''ka'ika'' ask us, but ''ka'i komim'' ask you).<ref name=":3" />{{rp|372}}

Akei has a ] distinction, a grammatical difference between inclusive and exclusive first person pronouns. The inclusive form is used when including the addressee, whereas the exclusive form excludes them.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|372}} Akei has a ] distinction, a grammatical difference between inclusive and exclusive first person pronouns. The inclusive form is used when including the addressee, whereas the exclusive form excludes them.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|372}}


Revision as of 17:23, 24 December 2024

Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu
Akei
Tasiriki
Native toVanuatu
RegionEspiritu Santo
Native speakers(650 cited 1981)
Language familyAustronesian
Language codes
ISO 639-3tsr
Glottologakei1237
Akei is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Akei, or Tasiriki, is an Oceanic language or dialect spoken in southwestern coastal Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu, centred in the village of Tasiriki as well as to its north and east. In 1981, it had around 650 speakers. The alternate name Tasiriki literally means "small water" (tasi "water", riki "small").

Classification

Akei is generally described as a language, but also as a dialect of the proposed, lexicostastically defined Southwest Santo language along with Araki, Tangoa, and Wailapa.

Phonology

Akei's vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. Its consonants are r, l, k, ', j, t, n, p, mp, b, mb, m, v, s and z. However, the precise phonemes these letters represent are uncertain.

Grammar

Nouns

Akei has no articles.

Akei mostly lacks grammatical gender, although for some relationship nouns the feminine is marked by the prefix ve- (e.g. natuna "his son", venatuna "his daughter"). In other cases, natural sex is indicated by separate words or by takuni ("male") or pita ("female") following the noun (e.g. tavasao takuni "man-servant", tavasao pita "maid-servant").

Plurals are unmarked and are shown only by juxtaposition of an adjective or pronoun (e.g. mazi alulusi "many animals"). In enumeration the preceding word ravai forms the plural of relationship nouns (e.g. Isau te vatira pita isina, ravai natuna, ravai venatuna, ravai takuni povi isina "Esau took them his wife, his sons, his daughters, all his people").

Espiritu Santo, where Akei is spoken on the southwestern coast

Agent nouns are formed by the word takuni "man" followed by a word indicating the action (e.g. takuni veseni "teacher", from lulusi veseni "to teach).

Denonyms are formed by the word marai preceding the place name (e.g. marai Judia "Jew"), in both singular and plural. The word pita ("female") precedes in the feminine (e.g. pita marai Sameria "woman of Samaria"). The word mera can also be used (e.g. mera 'Ibru "Hebrews").

In many cases, the noun is omitted and implied by context.

Possession

A noun in the genitive case follows the head noun (e.g. vivi ai "river's bank", literally "bank river").

In regards to possession, there are essentially two classes of noun. Head nouns of the first class are suffixed with -ni if the genitive noun is also of the first class (e.g. 'esani pita "name of the woman"). First class nouns suffix the pronoun to show possession (e.g. natuku "my son"), including when the noun is used as a preposition.

If the genitive noun is of the second class, the head noun is suffixed with -i (e.g. venatui takuni "daughter of a man"). Connecting a second class head nouns and its genitive are the particles 'a for food and drink, pula for property generally and no for general possession. No is suffixed -ni and is placed inbetween the head and its genitive (e.g. tetei noni takuni "badness of man").

The pronoun is suffixed to these particles, and precedes the noun (e.g. noku tano "my land"). See the following table with no as the example:

Possessive suffixes Singular Plural
1st noku Inclusive noka
Exclusive nomam
2nd nomu, nom nomim
3rd nona nora

The possessive pronouns pulaku, pulam, and pulana correspond to the English "mine", "thine", "his", etc; they are used without a noun (e.g. noku lulusi veseni mo kei pulaku, pulana te tapatapaau "my teaching is not mine, (but) his that sent me".

The preposition isi "with" is used with a suffixed pronoun as a possessive (e.g. pita isim "thy wife", literally "woman with thee").

Pronouns

The following table contains Akei's personal pronouns.

Singular Plural
1st inau

(I)

Inclusive inika

(we, when including the addressee)

Exclusive komam

(we, when excluding the addressee)

2nd iniko

(singular 'you')

komim

(plural 'you')

3rd inia

(he/she/it)

inira

(they)

Short forms used as subject Singular Plural
1st na Inclusive ka
Exclusive koma
2nd ko komi
3rd i ra
Short forms used as object Singular Plural
1st au Inclusive ka
Exclusive n/a
2nd ko n/a
3rd a ra

In the objective second person plural and first person exclusive plural, the full pronoun is used (e.g. ka'ika ask us, but ka'i komim ask you).

Akei has a clusivity distinction, a grammatical difference between inclusive and exclusive first person pronouns. The inclusive form is used when including the addressee, whereas the exclusive form excludes them.

There is a single demonstrative pronoun, nake, meaning "this" or "that". This may be preceded by the third person pronouns inia and inira to mark singularity or plurality: inia nake "this", "that"; inira nake "these", "those". The interrogative pronouns are isei "who", sava "what" and savai "what is". Indefinite pronouns include te "any", tese'ese "anyone", povi "all, every", and inira povi "everyone".

The reflexive pronoun is 'ase followed by a suffixed possessive pronoun (e.g. ra te 'asera varaira "they told one another"). See the following table:

Reflexive pronouns Singular Plural
1st 'aseku Inclusive n/a
Exclusive 'asemam
2nd 'asem 'asemim
3rd 'asena 'asera

Adjectives

Adjectives can be a single morpheme, a compound (e.g. takuni epevuluvulura'a "hairy man", from epe "body" and vulu "hair") or prefixed with ma (e.g. malum "soft"). A noun or verb may be used as an adjective without change to its form (e.g. uro ai "water pot" from ai "water). Adjectives follow their noun (e.g. takuni vure 'a "good man", literally "man good").

Verbs

Verbs are conjugated for their subject with a prefix.

Subject prefixes Singular Plural
1st na Inclusive ka
Exclusive koma
2nd ko komi
3rd i ra

Numbers

Akei uses a quinary numeral system, with a distinct word for ten.

Akei English
mo 'ese one
mo rua two
mo tolu three
mo vati four
mo lima five
mo 'a'ese six
mo ravu 'arua seven
mo ravu 'atolu eight
mo ravu 'a vati nine
mo sanavulu ten

Selected vocabulary

The list below is a selected sample of words in Akei.

Akei English
maci fish
biriu dog
utu louse
laiau tree
rauna leaf
benubenu skin
kae blood
sui bone
kalina ear
mata eye
lanisu nose
ako tooth
meme tongue
pau knee
lima hand
susu breast
mape liver
unu drink
talesia see
ronoa hear
mate die
mae come
mata alo sun
macoe star
wae water
sule stone
apu fire
sala path
patibuti mountain
poni night
abuni new
isa name

Sample text

Genesis 1.1-5 in Akei:

  1. Na muri God te veia tuka, tano.
  2. Tano tele'e ozo tanopilo; pon tumbumalate te le'e na bua'a: talumen God te Vovi na ului ai.
  3. Talena God, I pai mamara: te mamara.
  4. God te lesia mamara, inia mo vure'a: God te sinkalai mamara, koko'a.
  5. Mamara God te tia 'esana rani, koko'a te tia 'esana poni. Mataravi uluirani, pon mo 'ese.
  6. Talena God, Zara vitinana i pai le'e na valibu'ira ai, i pai sinkalara ai.
  7. God te veia zara vitinana, te sinkalara ai ram le'e atano 'inia zara vitinana, ram le 'e na uluna: inia se'ena.
  8. Zara vitinana God te tia 'esana tuka. Mataravi uluirani, pon ruana.

Genesis 1.1-5 in English:

  1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
  2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
  3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
  4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
  5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
  6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
  7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
  8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

References

  1. ^ "Akei | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  2. ^ "Glottolog 5.1 - Akei". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  3. ^ Lynch, John; Crowley, Terry (2001). Languages of Vanuatu: A New Survey and Bibliography. p. 52. Archived from the original on 19 July 2024.
  4. "Akei | Ethnologue". 2016-10-26. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  5. Lynch, John (2019). "The Bilabial-to-Linguolabial Shift in Southern Oceanic: A Subgrouping Diagnostic?". Oceanic Linguistics. 58 (2): 292–323. doi:10.1353/ol.2019.0010. ISSN 0029-8115. JSTOR 26905160.
  6. ^ Ray, Sidney Herbert (1978). A comparative study of the Melanesian Island languages. Internet Archive. New York : AMS Press. ISBN 978-0-404-14166-0.
  7. "The ASJP Database - Wordlist Akei". asjp.clld.org. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
  8. Jeneses: Jona. The Long Now Foundation. London: British and Foreign Society. 1912.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. "Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 1 - King James Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
Languages of Vanuatu
Official languages
Indigenous
languages
(Southern
Oceanic
and Polynesian)
North
Vanuatu
Torres–Banks
Penama
Espiritu Santo
Central
Vanuatu
Epi
Malakula
South Vanuatu
Polynesian
Southern Oceanic languages
North
Vanuatu
Torres–Banks
Maewo–Ambae–
North Pentecost
South Pentecost
Espiritu Santo
Nuclear
Southern
Oceanic
Central Vanuatu
South Vanuatu
Erromango
Tanna
Loyalties–
New Caledonia
Loyalty Islands
New Caledonian
Southern
Northern
  • * indicates proposed status
  • ? indicates classification dispute
  • † indicates extinct status
Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages
SHWNG
Halmahera Sea
Ambel–Biga
Maya–Matbat
Maden
As
South Halmahera
Cenderawasih
Biakic
Yapen
Southwest
Oceanic
Admiralty
Eastern
Western
Saint Matthias
Temotu
Utupua
Vanikoro
Reefs–Santa Cruz
Southeast
Solomonic
Gela–Guadalcanal
Malaita–
San Cristobal
Western
Oceanic
Meso–Melanesian
Kimbe
New Ireland–
Northwest
Solomonic
Tungag–Nalik
Tabar
Madak
St. George
Northwest
Solomonic
North New Guinea
Sarmi–
Jayapura ?
Schouten
Huon Gulf
Ngero–Vitiaz
Papuan Tip
Nuclear
Kilivila–Misima
Nimoa–Sudest
Southern
Oceanic
North Vanuatu
Torres–Banks
Maewo–Ambae–
North Pentecost
South Pentecost
Espiritu Santo
Nuclear
Southern
Oceanic
Central Vanuatu
South Vanuatu
Erromango
Tanna
Loyalties–
New Caledonia
Loyalty Islands
New Caledonian
Southern
Northern
Micronesian
Nuclear
Micronesian
Chuukic–
Pohnpeic
Chuukic
Pohnpeic
Central Pacific
West
East
Polynesian
Nuclear
Polynesian
Samoic
Eastern
Futunic
Tongic
  • * indicates proposed status
  • ? indicates classification dispute
  • † indicates extinct status


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