Minigir language
Encyclopedia
Minigir is spoken by a small number of the Tolai
people of Papua New Guinea
, who live on the Gazelle Peninsula
in East New Britain
Province. It is often referred to in the linguistics
literature as the Tolai "dialect" with an /s/. However, it is not one of the Patpatar–Tolai languages.
ic branch of the Austronesian
language family
. The most immediate subgroup is the Patpatar–Tolai group of languages which also includes Kuanua (also spoken on the Gazelle Peninsula) and Patpatar (spoken on New Ireland
).
, in the villages of Lungalunga, Kabaira and Vunamarita, located on the Gazelle Peninsula in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.
distinctions (singular, dual, trial and plural) and three person
distinctions (first, second and third) as well as an inclusive/exclusive distinction. There are no gender
distinctions.
Tolai
The Tolai are the indigenous people of the Gazelle Peninsula and the Duke of York Islands of East New Britain in the New Guinea Islands region of Papua New Guinea...
people of 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...
, who live on the Gazelle Peninsula
Gazelle Peninsula
Gazelle Peninsula is a large peninsula in northeastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at ....
in East New Britain
East New Britain
East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, on the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and it also includes the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely destroyed in the 1994 volcanic eruption...
Province. It is often referred to in the linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
literature as the Tolai "dialect" with an /s/. However, it is not one of the Patpatar–Tolai languages.
Classification
Minigir belongs to the OceanOcean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
ic branch of the Austronesian
Austronesian languages
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia that are spoken by about 386 million people. It is on par with Indo-European, Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic and Uralic as one of the...
language family
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
. The most immediate subgroup is the Patpatar–Tolai group of languages which also includes Kuanua (also spoken on the Gazelle Peninsula) and Patpatar (spoken on New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
).
Geographic distribution
Minigir is spoken on Ataliklikun BayAtaliklikun Bay
Ataliklikun Bay is a bay of East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, opening into the Bismarck Sea. It is located in the northern part of New Britain, southwest of Lassul Bay and to the west of Cape Lambert and Rabaul. Urara Island is located in the northern part of the bay. The Raulavat...
, in the villages of Lungalunga, Kabaira and Vunamarita, located on the Gazelle Peninsula in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.
Independent Pronouns
Minigir pronouns have four numberGrammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
distinctions (singular, dual, trial and plural) and three 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...
distinctions (first, second and third) as well as an inclusive/exclusive distinction. There are no gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
distinctions.
| Singular | Dual | Trial | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st exclusive | iau (I) |
iamiru (he/she and I) |
iamitalu (both of them, and I) |
iamamami (all of them, and I) |
| 1st inclusive | - | iadori (thou and I) |
iadatalu (both of you, and I) |
iada (all of you, and I) |
| 2nd | iavau (thou) |
iamuru (you two) |
iamutalu (you three) |
iamui (you guys) |
| 3rd | ia (he/she) |
idiru (they two) |
iditalu (they three) |
idi (they) |