Manam is a Kairiru–Manam language spoken mainly on the volcanic Manam Island

Manam

Manam, known locally as Manam Motu, is an island located in the Bismarck Sea across the Stephan Strait from the northeast coast of mainland Papua New Guinea. The island is 10 kilometers wide, and was created by the activity of the Manam Volcano, one of the country’s most active...

, northeast of New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

.

Vowels

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...	Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
High	i		u
Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...	e		o
Low		a

Consonants

	Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...		Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...		Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
Stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...	p	b	t	d	k ~ ʔ ~ q	ɡ
Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...	m		n		ŋ
Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...			(t)s	(d)z
Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....			l
Flap Flap consonant In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:...			ɾ ~ r

Allophony

Some vowels become glides in diphthongs, eg. /u/, /o/ -> [w] and /i/, /e/ → [j]. /i/ and /u/ are 'weaker' than /e/ and /o/, so that the syllable /kuo/ becomes [kwo] and not *[kuw]

According to Turner, /k/ is more and more often realized as [ʔ], while some older speakers have [q].

Syllable structure

The Manam syllable is (C)(V₁)V(V₁)(C₁), the only exception is a syllabic [m̩].

There are some phonotactic restrictions on the prevalent syllable structure. Eg. V₁ cannot be [a], whereas V must be [a] as long as it’s not the syllable’s sole vowel. C can be any consonant, whereas C₁ must be a nasal consonant.

Stress

Stress is phonemic: /ˈsara/ 'palm tree', /saˈra/ 'seagull'. The stress falls on one of the three last syllables of a word, and stressing the penult syllable is the most common: /ˈnatu/ 'child', /maˈlipi/ 'work'. If the last syllable ends in a nasal consonant, it will be stressed instead: /naˈtum/ 'your child'. Some inflections and affixes do not alter the stress of the root word: /iˈto/ 'he learned' (i- is a 3rd person prefix), /siˈŋabalo/ 'in the bush' (-lo is a locative suffix).

In the orthography, stressed vowels can be underlined in order to avoid ambiguities. Ie. /ˈsara/ ⟨sara⟩ 'palm tree', /saˈra/ ⟨sara⟩ 'seagull'.

Syntax

The main word order in Manam is SOV:

tamoata	boro	i-un-i
man	pig	-hit-

"The man hit the pig."

Number

Manam has an unusual, though regionally common, four-way distinction between singular, dual, trial, and plural number. Singular and plural are marked on the verb and sometimes on the adjective, but not on the noun.

Pronouns

Person Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...		Number Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
		Singular Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....	Dual Dual (grammatical number) Dual is a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. When a noun or pronoun appears in dual form, it is interpreted as referring to precisely two of the entities identified by the noun or pronoun...	Trial	Plural Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
1st	Inclusive		kitaru	kitato	kita
	Exclusive	ngau nga	keru	keto	keka
2nd		kaiko kai	kamru	kamto	kam kakaming
3rd		ngai	diaru	diato	di

Reduplication

Reduplication

Reduplication

Reduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....

 can be either leftward (sa-salaga) or rightward (salaga-laga). 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:

moata	snake
moata-moata	worm
malipi	the work
malipi-lipi	worker

Adjectives

Here are two examples of how number can be marked on the adjective through the different kinds of reduplication:

Rightward reduplication (singular)

udi noka-noka	ripe banana
tamoata bia-bia	the big man

Leftward reduplication (plural)

udi no-noka	ripe bananas
tamoata bi-bia	the big men

The verb

The verb always marks the subject and the mood; these are fused together. Optional suffixes includes such things as object, direction, aspectual markers, benefactive and various kinds of intensifiers and quantifiers.
Here’s a schematical overview of the Manam verb:

Outer prefixes	Verb nucleus			Outer suffixes
	Inner prefixes	Root	Inner suffixes
Subject/mood marking	Manner prefix aka- transitive	Verb root	-ak- transitive	Object marking Optional 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

Realis moods

Realis moods are a category of grammatical moods which indicate that something is actually the case ; in other words, the state of which is known...

 and irrealis

Irrealis moods

Irrealis moods are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened as the speaker is talking.Every language has a formula for the unreal...

.

Person Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...		Singular Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....		Plural Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
		Real Realis moods Realis moods are a category of grammatical moods which indicate that something is actually the case ; in other words, the state of which is known...	Irr Irrealis moods Irrealis moods are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened as the speaker is talking.Every language has a formula for the unreal...	Real Realis moods Realis moods are a category of grammatical moods which indicate that something is actually the case ; in other words, the state of which is known...	Irr Irrealis moods Irrealis moods are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened as the speaker is talking.Every language has a formula for the unreal...
1st	Inclusive Clusivity In linguistics, clusivity is a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person pronouns and verbal morphology, also called inclusive "we" and exclusive "we"...			ta-
	Exclusive Clusivity In linguistics, clusivity is a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person pronouns and verbal morphology, also called inclusive "we" and exclusive "we"...	u-	m-	ki-	ga-
2nd		ku-	go-	ka-	kama-
3rd		i-	nga-	di-	da-

Mood

The realis mood is used for actual events of the past or present, ie. 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.

ura	nga-pura
rain	-come

"it will rain"

u-noku

-jump

"I jumped"

nga-pile	i-bebe
-say	-unable

"he will say that he is unable" (he still hasn’t said anything, but when he does, his inability will be stated as actual)

tama-gu	i-rere	zama	go-pura
father-	-want	tomorrow	-come

"my father wants you to come tomorrow" (the father’s wanting is real, whereas the anticipated coming is still unreal)

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.

boro	u-tara-paka-i
pig	-spearing-miss-

"I speared at the pig but missed it"

Object marking

Person Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...		Singular Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....	Plural Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
1st	Inclusive		-kita
	Exclusive	-a	-kama
2nd		-(i)ko	-kaming
3rd		-i	-di
		-Ø

mi-ang-ko

-give-

"I will give (it) to you"

niu	u-sing-Ø
coconut	-drink-

"I drank a coconut"

go-ang-kama

-give-

"give it to us"

Transitivization

There are three different morphologically overt methods for turning intransitive verbs into transitive

Transitive verb

In syntax, a transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects. The term is used to contrast intransitive verbs, which do not have objects.-Examples:Some examples of sentences with transitive verbs:...

 ones:

• The preffix -aka- can occur between the person/mood marker and the verb root.
• The suffix -ka- 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.

dang	i-aka-gita-i
water	--be_hot-

"he heated the water"

aka-tukura--ng-ak-i

-be_short-TC--

"to shorten it"

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

go-dok-a-mai

-bring--hither

"bring it here"

Spreading

pipia	i-rokaki-ramoi
rubbish	-throw_away-all_over

"he throws rubbish all over the place"

Intensifying

u-rere-tina

-like-very

"I like it very much"

Benefactive

go-moasi-n-a

-sing--

"sing for me"

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 don’t, eg. siki-siki 'small' (singular and plural). Some adjectives use the possessive pronouns to mark person and number, eg. kapisa-Ø 'selfish' (singular) and kapisa-di 'selfish' (plural).

Possession

As in many other Austronesian languages, Manam expresses different degrees of possession

Possession (linguistics)

Possession, in the context of linguistics, is an asymmetric relationship between two constituents, the referent of one of which possesses the referent of the other ....

. In addition to the most common differentitation between alienable and inalienable possession, Manam uses a particular morphological processes to describe belongings that are edible or associated with eating.

Possessive pronouns

Person

Grammatical person

Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...

Number Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
Singular Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....	Dual Dual (grammatical number) Dual is a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. When a noun or pronoun appears in dual form, it is interpreted as referring to precisely two of the entities identified by the noun or pronoun...	Trial	Plural Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
1st	Inclusive		-da-ru	-da-to	-da
	Exclusive	-gu	-ma-i-ru	-ma-i-to	-ma
2nd		-m / -ng	-ming-ru	-ming-to	-ming
3rd		-Ø	-di-a-ru	-di-a-to	-di

Inalienable possession

In this class, we find '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:

mata-gu

eye-

"my eye"

niu	labu-di
coconut	base-

"the bases of the coconut trees"

Edible possession

In this class, we find things that are edible and 'used to obtain, prepare or store food'. This class is characterized by the word kana, which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:

udi	kana-gu
banana	-

"my banana"

Alienable possession

In this class, we find belongings that are voluntary; things that we can cease to own, unlike body parts or family. This class is characterized by the word ne, which is placed after the possessed thing and to which the possessive suffix is attached:

kati	ne-gu
canoe	-

"my canoe"

natu	keu	ne-di
child	dog	-

"the children’s dogs"

Cross-class possession

One fascinating thing is that the same word can occur in all three possession classes, and then of course its meaning will differ. Here are two examples:

	boro-gu	my pig (as part of one’s wealth)
	boro kana-gu	my pork (which I am going to eat)
	boro ne-gu	my pig (which I may or may not eat later)

	dang-i-gu	my water (or rather 'body fluids')
	dang kana-gu	my water (to drink)
	dang ne-gu	my water (to wash with)

Resources

• Ethnologue: Manam
• Lichtenberk, Frantisek (1983) A grammar of Manam. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 18. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press. (Available in JSTOR
  JSTOR
  JSTOR is an online system for archiving academic journals, founded in 1995. It provides its member institutions full-text searches of digitized back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665 in the case of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society...
  
  .)
• Turner, Blaine (1986) A teaching grammar of the Manam language
• Short description of Manam culture

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