Anêm language
Encyclopedia
The Anêm language is a language isolate
spoken in five main villages along the northwestern coast of New Britain
island, Papua New Guinea
: Malasoŋo (where it is spoken alongside Bariai), Karaiai, Mosiliki, Pudêlîŋ, Atiatu (where it is spoken alongside Lusi) and Bolo (where it is spoken alongside a version of Aria). It is also spoken by small numbers of people, mostly of Anêm descent, scattered among the surrounding villages. There are two main dialects. Akiblîk, the dialect of Bolo was near functional extinction in 1982, the youngest speaker being about 35 years of age then. The main dialect is spoken in the other villages named above. There are about 550 speakers.
Anêm has been restructured
under the influence of Lusi, the local inter-community language.
Anêm is an accusative language with unmarked subject–verb–object word order in plain statements. Yes/no questions are indicated with an intonation contour rather than alterations in word order. Negation (not, not yet, don't) and completive aspect (already) are indicated by modality markers which occur in clause-final position. Tense is not indicated directly. There are three distinctions of mood (realis, irrealis and hortative). Realis refers to something that has happened or is happening; irrealis refers to future tense and hypotheticals; and hortative (only in third persons) is used in commands.
Anêm nouns are distinguished syntactically for gender, masculine or feminine. Masculine nouns are followed by demonstratives or relative pronouns that begin with /l/ while feminine nouns are followed by demonstratives or relative pronouns that begin with /s/. In addition, both subject prefixes and some object suffixes agree in gender with the noun they refer to:
It may be related to the Ata
and Yélî Dnye
isolates in a tentative Yele-West New Britain family
.
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
spoken in five main villages along the northwestern coast of New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
island, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
: Malasoŋo (where it is spoken alongside Bariai), Karaiai, Mosiliki, Pudêlîŋ, Atiatu (where it is spoken alongside Lusi) and Bolo (where it is spoken alongside a version of Aria). It is also spoken by small numbers of people, mostly of Anêm descent, scattered among the surrounding villages. There are two main dialects. Akiblîk, the dialect of Bolo was near functional extinction in 1982, the youngest speaker being about 35 years of age then. The main dialect is spoken in the other villages named above. There are about 550 speakers.
Anêm has been restructured
Metatypy
Metatypy is a type of morphosyntactic and semantic language change brought about by language contact involving multilingual speakers. The term was coined by linguist Malcolm Ross.Malcolm Ross gives the following definition:...
under the influence of Lusi, the local inter-community language.
Anêm is an accusative language with unmarked subject–verb–object word order in plain statements. Yes/no questions are indicated with an intonation contour rather than alterations in word order. Negation (not, not yet, don't) and completive aspect (already) are indicated by modality markers which occur in clause-final position. Tense is not indicated directly. There are three distinctions of mood (realis, irrealis and hortative). Realis refers to something that has happened or is happening; irrealis refers to future tense and hypotheticals; and hortative (only in third persons) is used in commands.
- Transitive clauses showing subject–verb–object order:
Tita-nae u-b-î aba niak.
father-my realis.he-kill-them pig two
'My father killed two pigs.'
Aia-nae i-sama-dî uas.
mother-my realis.she-seek-it tobacco
'My mother is looking for some tobacco.'
- Negative markers are clause final:
U-k a-xî nan?
realis.he-go to-it garden
'Did he go to the garden?'
U-k a-xî nan mantu.
realis.he-go to-it garden not
'He didn't go to the garden.'
U-k a-xî nan pmaga.
realis.he-go to-it garden not.yet
'He hasn't gone to the garden yet.'
Na-k a-xî nan êbêl.
realis.you-go to-it garden don't
'Don't go to the garden.'
- Hortative mood:
o-k a-xî nan!
hortative.he-go to-it garden
"Let him go to the garden!'
Anêm nouns are distinguished syntactically for gender, masculine or feminine. Masculine nouns are followed by demonstratives or relative pronouns that begin with /l/ while feminine nouns are followed by demonstratives or relative pronouns that begin with /s/. In addition, both subject prefixes and some object suffixes agree in gender with the noun they refer to:
- Masculine and feminine gender forms of demonstratives:
Doxa lê u-ko-lo.
person the.m realis.he-see-him
'The man saw him.'
Doxa sê i-ko-lo.
person the.f realis.she-see-him.
'The woman saw him.'
- Gender agreement by subject prefix and object suffix:
Onu lê i-kê-lêm.
people the.m realis.they-see-her.
'The people saw her.'
It may be related to the Ata
Ata language
The Ata language, also known as Pele-Ata or Wasi, is a language isolate spoken on New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. It may be related to the Anêm and Yélî Dnye isolates in a tentative Yele-West New Britain family. There are about 2000 speakers....
and Yélî Dnye
Yélî Dnye language
The Yélî Dnye language, also known as Yele, is the language of Rossel island, the easternmost island in the Louisiade Archipelago off the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. For now it is best considered a language isolate, but it may turn out to be related to the Anêm and Ata language isolates of New...
isolates in a tentative Yele-West New Britain family
East Papuan languages
*Baining family*North Bougainville family — Bougainville*South Bougainville family — Bougainville*Central Solomon family...
.
Further information
- East Papuan languagesEast Papuan languages*Baining family*North Bougainville family — Bougainville*South Bougainville family — Bougainville*Central Solomon family...
- Ethnologue report on Anêm