Mali language
Language spoken in Papua New Guinea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mali or Gaktai is a Papuan language spoken in East New Britain Province on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
| Mali | |
|---|---|
| Gaktai | |
| Region | New Britain |
Native speakers | (2,200 cited 1988)[1] |
Baining
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gcc |
| Glottolog | mali1284 |
| Coordinates: 4.970382°S 152.043503°E | |
Dialects
There are two dialects of Mali:[2]
- Arongda dialect (standard dialect; with two groups), spoken in the mountains, including in Marunga village (4.970382°S 152.043503°E) in Sinivit Rural LLG, East New Britain Province[3]
- Abilta dialect, spoken along the coast
Phonology
Noun classes
Mali makes use of noun classes. Below are some Mali noun class paradigms, using the noun root amēng ‘tree’ as an example:[5]: 802
Noun class Singular Dual Plural Gloss Masculine (m) amēng-ka amēng-iom amēng ‘slender tree’ Feminine (f) amēng-ki amēng-vem amēng ‘large full grown tree’ Diminutive (dim) amēng-ini amēng-ithom amēng-ithong ‘stick’ Reduced (rcd) amēng-ēm amēng-vam amēng-vap ‘tree stump’ Flat (flat) ― ― ― ― Excised (exc) amēng-igl amēng-iglem amēng-igleng ‘plank’ Long (long) amēng-vēt amēng-imelēm amēng-imelēk ‘pole’ Extended (ext) amēng-ia amēng-inēm amēng-inēk ‘large log’ Count neutral (cn) amēng ‘wood or trees’
Bibliography
- Stebbins, Tonya N. (2011). Mali (Baining) grammar. ANU, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. p. 415. ISBN 9780858836297.
- Stebbins, Tonya N.; Tayul, Julius (2012). Mali (Baining) dictionary: Mali-Baining Amēthamon Angētha Thēvaik. Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. p. 455. hdl:1885/9273. ISBN 9781922185006.