Table of contents - sil.org Web viewAn alphabet development worksheet and spelling guide ... 3.1...

Very Tentative Notes on Grammar, Linguistics and

Translationfor the Domung [dev] language

spoken in Madang Province

Written by Phil King with Simon Kwasɨk, Nosingke Gaup and Noel Diru

June 2015

Table of contentsTable of contents...................................................................................................................................1

License...................................................................................................................................................3

Copyright...............................................................................................................................................3

ABBREVIATIONS.....................................................................................................................................4

1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................4

2 WRITING SYSTEM AND SOUNDS.........................................................................................................5

3 NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES.............................................................................................................6

3.1 Pronouns.....................................................................................................................................6

3.1.1 Translation Issues for Pronouns............................................................................................7

3.2 Nouns..........................................................................................................................................7

3.2.1 Singular and Plural Nouns.....................................................................................................7

3.2.2 Translation Issues for Singular and Plural Nouns..................................................................8

3.3 Adjectives....................................................................................................................................8

3.3.1 Normal Adjectives.................................................................................................................8

Size................................................................................................................................................8

Colour............................................................................................................................................9

Other attributes.............................................................................................................................9

3.3.3 Translation Issues for Adjectives...........................................................................................9

3.4 Demonstratives and Articles........................................................................................................9

3.4.1 Articles..................................................................................................................................9

3.4.2 Demonstratives.....................................................................................................................9

3.5 Basic Noun Phrase Structure.....................................................................................................10

3.5.2 Translation Issues for Noun Phrases...................................................................................10

3.6 Possession.................................................................................................................................10

3.6.1 Translation Issues for Possession........................................................................................12

4 PREPOSITIONS / POSTPOSITIONS.....................................................................................................12

5 VERBS...............................................................................................................................................12

5.1 Person and Number Marking.....................................................................................................12

5.1.1 Subject Marking..................................................................................................................12

5.1.2 Object Marking...................................................................................................................13

5.1.2.1 Verbs with no object marking..........................................................................................14

5.1.2.2 Verbs which mark whether the object is singular or plural..............................................14

5.1.2.3 Verbs which mark whether the object is singular or plural, and first, second or third person..........................................................................................................................................16

5.2 Tense.........................................................................................................................................17

5.2.1 Present tense......................................................................................................................17

5.2.2 Recent past tense...............................................................................................................17

5.2.3 (Distant) past tense.............................................................................................................19

5.2.4 Future tense / irrealis.........................................................................................................20

5.2.5 Translation Issues Related to Tense....................................................................................20

5.3 Aspect........................................................................................................................................20

5.4 Medial Verbs..............................................................................................................................21

5.6.2 Translation Issues for Medial Verbs....................................................................................23

6 CLAUSES............................................................................................................................................23

6.1 Transitive clauses.......................................................................................................................23

6.1.1 Examples.............................................................................................................................24

6.1.2 Translation Issues for Transitive Clauses.............................................................................24

6.2 Intransitive clauses....................................................................................................................24

6.2.1 Example..............................................................................................................................24

6.4 Semantic roles...........................................................................................................................24

6.4.5 Location..............................................................................................................................24

6.4.6 Source / destination............................................................................................................25

6.4.7 Instrument..........................................................................................................................26

6.4.8 Accompaniment..................................................................................................................26

7 SENTENCES.......................................................................................................................................26

7.1 Conjunctions..............................................................................................................................26

7.1.1 Examples.............................................................................................................................26

APPENDIX A: Verb tables.....................................................................................................................28

APPENDIX B: Text used for analysis.....................................................................................................32

License(the permissions we give to everyone, in simple English): [choose ‘I’ or ‘we’ as appropriate, and delete the other word]

I/we are doing this work freely, to help my/our language community and others like it. I/we want to make sure that my/our community and others can benefit from my/our work. I/we give this permission for anyone to use this work, but only if they follow the rules of the “Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share Alike License”. In simple English, those rules are 1) My name must appear on any copies of this work, so people know I was the one who did it. 2) No one may use this work for making money in business, without my permission. 3) Anyone may build upon this work, but they must then share the resulting work the same way I am sharing.

Copyright (who can give different permissions)

All my/our contributions to materials listed below are Copyright Phil King, Simon Kwasɨk and Nosingke Gaup. That means if someone wants permission to do something different from what it says above, they must ask this copyright holder.

The following works are covered by this form

Description Contribution Signatures Date

Linguistic and translation notes

Author Phil King

Text collection - written Authors Simon Kwasɨk, Noingke Gaup

ABBREVIATIONS1 First person2 Second person3 Third personDS Different subject markerDU DualIRR IrrealisLOC LocationOBJ ObjectPL PluralPOSS PossessivePRES PresentPST (Distant) past (more than one day ago)REC Recent past (yesterday or today)SBJ SubjectSG SingularSSQ Same subject marker, sequential (‘and then’)SS Same subject marker

1 INTRODUCTIONLanguage name: Domung [dev]

Classification: Trans-New Guinea, Finisterre-Huon, Finisterre, Yupna

Location of Language Group: Finisterre mountains, Madang province close to the border with Morobe province

Name(s) of contributor(s): Simon Kwasɨk, Nosingke Gaup

Period during which this information was collected: May 2015

Location where most data has been collected: Ukarumpa

Text used to help produce this description: See Appendix B

These notes are very tentative, and have been written by Phil King during the five-week long Translators’ Training Course at Ukarumpa, at which the two Domung speakers, Simon Kwasɨk and Nosingke Gaup, were participants. The course itself focused on other assignments, so the data for this grammar was just collected and written up in a very few spare moments between other sessions. The analysis is based on one natural text written by Nosingke Gaup and a selection of elicited sentences. However, it is hoped that this will be a useful starting point for anyone working on translation in the language, or offering consultant help. Wes Reed’s Yopno Grammar Essential, Craig and Pat Spaulding’s Phonology and Grammar of Nankina, and James Slotta’s handout on Coding the nonspatial setting in Yopno (Nian/Nokopo Dialect): Finite verb morphology and nonfinite verb constructions were all incredibly helpful in providing grammatical background for the languages in this area, although I did not have time to study them in detail. I expect this document to contain many errors and inconsistencies, and it has not been checked by a linguistic consultant, yet I hope it is helpful for others to build upon in the future.

2 WRITING SYSTEM AND SOUNDSThe two non-English letters that are used in the writing system are:

<ɨ> a close central vowel, a bit like the vowel sound in English ‘the’ but with your mouth closer together.

<ŋ> a voiced velar nasal, the sound at the end of the English word ‘sing’.

An alphabet development worksheet and spelling guide were written in [xxx], but there are still some difficulties in spelling. Here are a few of them:

a) Whether or not to use an ɨ after another vowel and before some consonants. For example, the words pek / peɨk ‘carried’, peŋ / peɨŋ ‘scraped’, it / iɨt / yiyɨt ‘made’ have been written with or without the ɨ in different places.

b) Whether a <k> or a <g> should be used in certain circumstances, such as between two vowels. For example, the word for ‘garden’ has been written as wago / wako /wakgo in different places.

c) Whether to use of the letter <y> to separate vowels or not. For example, it is a challenge to know whether to write yiyɨk, iyɨk or iɨk for ‘he made’.

Choosing where to make a break between words is also difficult. This is particularly true for the following cases:

a) Little bits that come after words (suffixes or clitics) and have a grammatical meaning, such as da ‘SOURCE’, nɨ ‘3SG.POSSESSIVE’, on ‘LOCATION’. Sometimes these are written as part of the previous word, and sometimes they are written as a separate word.

b) Parts that come before words (prefixes), particularly ɨŋ ‘SINGULAR OBJECT’ and pɨŋ ‘PLURAL OBJECT’. Sometimes these are written as part of the following word, and sometimes they are written as a separate word.

3 NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES

3.1 PronounsDomung pronouns are shown in the chart below.

Pronouns are words like ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘they’, which stand in place of other noun phrases. These are some words that are useful for talking about pronouns and other aspects of Domung grammar.

1st person (1) = the speaker. English ‘I, we’

2nd person (2) = the listener. English ‘you’

3rd person (3) = neither the speaker nor the listener. English ‘he/she/it/they’

Singular (SG) = just one person/thing. English ‘I/he/she/it’

Dual (DU) = two people/things. English ‘we two, you two, they two’

Plural (PL) = more than two. English ‘we/they’

In Domung, there are separate pronouns for talking about one person (me or you) doing something (singular); two people (we-two or you-two) doing something (this is called ‘dual’); and three or more people (we or you) doing something (this is called ‘plural’).

However, there are no normal pronouns for the third person. That is, there is no natural equivalent to the English words ‘he/she/it’ (singular), ‘they two’ (dual) or ‘they’ (plural). Instead, words like no mɨn ‘that person’ or ‘those people’ are used in some situations.1

1 When the subject is marked on the verb, there is also no difference between the 2nd person dual and third person dual forms, nor between 2nd person plural and 3rd person plural. See further discussion in Section 5.

TABLE 1: Pronouns

Normal pronoun

English equivalent

singular 1st person nak ‘I’

2nd person gak ‘you’

3rd person _ ‘he, she ,it’

dual 1st person nit ‘we two’

2nd person din ‘you two’

3rd person _ ‘they two’

plural 1st person nin ‘we’

2nd person dɨ ‘you’ (yupela in Tok Pisin)

3rd person _ ‘they’

These pronouns can be used for the subjects of a sentence (usually the person who is doing the action), as in example (1).

(1) nak baŋɨ -no kat Ukarumpa o -gɨmat1SG elder.brother 1SG.POSS with Ukarumpa come.up 2/3DU.PST

I came to Ukarumpa with my elder brother (before yesterday)’́�

They are also used for the object of a sentence, showing who an action happened to, as in example (3).

(2) nak n- ɨ -yak1SG 1SG.OBJ hit 3SG [need to check the verb root here – what is really left?]

he hit me’́�

3.1.1 Translation Issues for PronounsDomung has different pronouns for two people (dual) compared to three or more people (plural) doing something. English does not have this difference. This means translators always need to think when translating words like ‘we’, ‘you’ and ‘they’ in English whether the context says this is two people or more than two people, and then use the correct words in Domung.

3.2 Nouns

3.2.1 Singular and Plural NounsIn English, plural nouns are often shown by the suffix ‘-s’ at the end of the word. We have not found any examples of Domung nouns that change for singular, dual or plural.

For example, yagwan tam ‘tanget leaf’ is the same in example (3), where it refers to one leaf and in example (4), where it refers to two leaves.

(3) yagwan tam rukruk kwa yɨk pen tekyagwan tam rukruk kwa yɨk pen t -e -ktanget leaf red one bilum on stay PRES 3SG’A red tanget leaf is on the bilum’

(4) yagwan tam bɨroŋɨ yɨk bin temɨrakyagwan tam bɨroŋɨ yɨk bin t -e -mɨraktanget leaf two bilum in stay PRES 2/3DU'Two tanget leaves are in the bilum’

However, suffixes at the end of the verb clarify whether a subject noun is singular, dual or plural. In example (3), the –k suffix clarifies that the subject is third person singular (one leaf), and in example (4), the mɨrak suffix clarifies that the subject is dual (two leaves).

3.2.2 Translation Issues for Singular and Plural NounsSince English does make a difference between singular and plural nouns, but Domung does not, translators may need to make sure that the translation communicates in some other way whether a noun is singular or plural if it is important in the source text, such as by using a number with the noun.

3.3 Adjectives

3.3.1 Normal AdjectivesAdjectives are words which describe a noun. Adjectives might describe the size, shape and colour of something, the age or feelings of a person, or the appearance of a place.

Some English Adjectives are: ‘big, small, round, square, triangular, red, blue, green, tall, short, young, old, happy, sad, stressed, relaxed, rocky, wet, dry, hot’ and ‘cold’. There are many more!

Examples (5) – (7) show some adjectives in Domung.

Size(5) yɨrɨ tam moyi kɨtaŋ

yɨrɨ tam moyi kɨtaŋthing leaf small bit‘A fairly small leaf of something’

(6) buwat matep sɨnɨ kwabuwat matep sɨnɨ kwaeel big very one‘a very big eel’

Colour(7) yagwan tam rukruk kwa

yagwan tam rukruk kwatanget leaf red one’A red tanget leaf’

Other attributes(1) yagwan tam sakɨrikɨ kwa

yagwan tam sakɨrikɨ kwatanget leaf smooth one’A smooth tanget leaf’

In all of these examples the adjective comes after the noun it describes, which is the opposite order to English.

In English, words like ‘very’ and ‘a bit’ can be used to describe the strength of an adjective. For example a book may be ‘very interesting’ or a child may be ‘a bit small’.

In Domung, the word sɨnɨ ‘very’ can be used after an adjective to make it stronger, as in example (6).

The word kɨtaŋ ‘bit’ can be used after an adjective to make it less strong, as in example (5).

3.3.3 Translation Issues for AdjectivesIn English adjectives come before the noun they are describing, whereas in Domung they come after the noun they are describing. Translators need to remember to use the natural Domung order for adjectives.

3.4 Demonstratives and ArticlesIn English, an indefinite article tells us that an item is one of a set of things (for example, a car). A definite article tells us that we are supposed to know which member of the set it is (the car) or that it is the only one of its kind (the sun). Many PNG languages do not have articles, but some do. A demonstrative (often called a “pointing” word) points you towards the place where the people or things are. They might be near the person speaking (for example this dog), or somewhere away from the person who is speaking (for example that man), or in some other direction or place.

3.4.1 ArticlesWe have not found a clear example of an article in Domung.

3.4.2 DemonstrativesThe Domung demonstrative no ‘that / those’ refers to things at some distance from the speaker in space or time. Some examples are given in (8) – (9).

(8) no pupthat chicken‘that chicken’

(9) no mɨn sɨrɨpto kanaŋ ɨnɨŋ ɨnɨŋ iyɨtthose people group.to like said said stayed‘those people used to be called like this…’

By contrast, the demonstrative kan ‘this / here’ are used for things that are closer to the speaker, as in examples (10) – (11).

(10) kan yagwan tam matep kwathis tanget leaf big one‘This big tanget leaf’

(11) Naŋ ɨnɨŋ ɨŋ ɨnomɨrak din kan yomen korɨp sɨnɨ yakɨndilike this said and they (2) said you(two) this area quiet very stay‘They said this, and they (2) said, “You (2) stay very quietly in this area”’.

Whereas no and kan come before a noun they are linked to, katon comes after the noun.

3.5 Basic Noun Phrase StructureA noun phrase is a group of words that together describe a particular object, such as ‘those two big noisy dogs’ in English. Usually there is a common order for the different parts of speech in a noun phrase. In English, the order is: DEMONSTRATIVE NUMERAL ADJECTIVE NOUN.

By contrast, in Domung, the usual order is:

DEMONSTRATIVE NOUN ADJECTIVE NUMERAL

This order is shown in example (12):

DEMONSTRATIVE NOUN ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE NUMERAL(12) no yagwan tam matep rukruk bɨroŋɨ

that tanget leaf big red two‘those two big red tanget leaves’

In examples with more than one adjective, different orders for the adjectives are possible. Thus, in example (12) the order of adjectives can be changed to rukruk matep ‘red big’.

3.5.2 Translation Issues for Noun PhrasesThe adjectives and numerals come before the noun in English, but after the noun in Domung. This means that translators need to make sure to change the order of the noun phrase into a natural order for Domung when they are translating.

3.6 PossessionOften people talk about something that belongs to someone else. In linguistics, the word ‘possession’ is used to talk about these kinds of examples.

Some things are very closely related to the person who owns them, such as parts of the body or family relations (these are called inalienable nouns). In Domung, a possessive suffix is added to these nouns to show who they belong to, as shown in Table 2. Notice that the word wago ‘work / garden’ must mean ‘work’ when it takes a possessive suffix (as in wagono ‘my work’), and in order to say ‘my garden’ the phrase nagasin wago is used, as described below the table.

It is significant that the possessive suffix for the 3rd person is the same, -nɨ, whether the object belongs to one, two, or many people.

TABLE 2: Possessive Suffixes

Person Possessive Suffix

Example Gloss Example Gloss

1SG --no baŋɨno ‘my elder brother’

wagono ‘my work’

2SG -go baŋɨgo ‘your elder brother’

wagogo ‘your (sg) work’

3SG/DU/PL -nɨ baŋɨnɨ ‘his / her / their elder

brother’

wagonɨ ‘his / her / their work’

1DUAL -nit baŋɨnit ‘our (2) elder brother’

wagonit ‘our (2) work’

2DUAL -din baŋɨdin ‘your (2) elder brother’

wagodin ‘your (2) work’

1PL -nin baŋɨnin ‘our elder brother’

wagonin ‘our garden’

2PL -dɨ baŋɨdɨ ‘your (plural) elder brother’

wagodin ‘your (pl) garden’

Other objects (such as house, chickens and gardens) are not so closely related to the person who owns them, and these are said to be alienable nouns: they can be separated from the person who owns them.

In Domung, this sort of possession uses a pronoun followed by the possessive word dasin before the possessed noun, as in example (13).

(13) nin dasin yut daironnin dasin yut dair -on1PL POSS house clan.group LOC‘in our village’

Table 3 shows a more complete list for the example of wago, which has to mean ‘garden’ in this kind of phrase. In each case the normal pronoun combines with the word dasin to create a possessive form.

TABLE 3: Indirect possession for alienable nouns

Person Normal pronoun

Example Gloss

1SG nak nagasin wago ‘my garden’2SG gak dagasin wago ‘your (sg) garden’

3SG/DU/PL - nondasin wago / wagonɨ

‘that one’s / those ones’ garden’

1DUAL nit nit dasin wago ‘our (2) garden’2DUAL din din dasin wago ‘your (2) garden’

1PL nin nin dasin wago ‘our garden’2PL dɨ dɨasin wago ‘your (pl) garden’

3.6.1 Translation Issues for PossessionSince Domung does not make a difference between possession for something belonging to ‘him / her’ or ‘them’, but English does, translators may sometimes need to find other ways to make it clear whether something belongs to one person or many people.

4 PREPOSITIONS / POSTPOSITIONSIn English, words like ‘in’, ‘on’, and ‘under’ come before the noun they are related to, so they are called prepositions. In Domung, words like this come after the noun to which they are related, so they are called postpositions.

These are a very few examples of postpositions in Domung: pen ‘on’, bakɨrok ‘under’, bin ‘in’, as shown in examples (14) – (16).

(14) yagwantam rukruk kwa yɨk pen tekyagwan tam rukruk kwa yɨk pen t -e -ktanget leaf red one bilum on stay PRES 3SG‘A red tanget leaf is on the bilum’

(15) yɨrɨ tam moyi kɨtaŋ kwa yɨk bakɨrok tekyɨrɨ tam moyi kɨtaŋ kwa yɨk bakɨrok t -e -kthing leaf small bit one bilum under stay PRES 3SG‘a small leaf is under the bilum’

(16) yagwantam bɨroŋɨ yɨk bin temɨrakyagwan tam bɨroŋɨ yɨk bin t -e -mɨraktanget leaf two bilum in stay PRES 2/3DU

5 VERBS

5.1 Person and Number Marking

5.1.1 Subject MarkingMany languages have markers on the verb to show who or what the subject is. The subject is usually the person doing the action of the verb.

In Domung, there are suffixes on the verb which give information both about the subject and the tense or aspect of the action (see sections 5.2 and 5.3). These suffixes are given in more detail under the sections about tense and aspect. Here, there are just some examples of verbs in the present tense (something that is happening now), showing the suffixes that are used. More complete verb tables are given in Appendix A. In Domung, there are many changes to the subject endings based on the particular verb, and these need to be documented more carefully.

It is important to note that in Domung the same markers are used for ‘you-two’ and ‘they-two’ doing something (second and third person dual), and for ‘you (plural)’ and ‘they’ doing something (second and third person plural). Because of this, only one row is given for second and third person dual, and for second and third person plural.

TABLE 4: Subject suffixes for the present tense

Subject marker (in the present tense)

Example

singular 1st person -et kwet‘I am going’

2nd person -en kwen‘you are going’

3rd person -ek kwek‘he is going’

dual 1st person -emat kwemat‘we (2) are going’

2nd / 3rd person -emɨrak kwemɨrak‘you/they (2) are going’

plural 1st person inclusive

-eman kweman‘we are going’

2nd/3rd person -eŋ kweŋ‘you/they are going’

5.1.2 Object MarkingMany languages also have markers on the verb to show who or what the object is.

Domung has at least three types of verbs.

i. Verbs that do not tell you anything about the objectii. Verbs with a prefix that tells you whether the object is singular or plural

iii. Verbs with a prefix that tells you whether the object is singular or plural, and whether it is first, second or third person

The following sections show examples of the object marking for these three types of verbs in Domung.

5.1.2.1 Verbs with no object markingTable 5 shows the pattern for the verb wase ‘touch’ which does not mark the object at all, and is typical for other verbs which do not mark the object.

TABLE 5: Type 1 verbs, with no object marking

Example of verb with no object marking

singular 1st person nak wase -yak1SG touch 3SG.REC‘he touched me’

2nd person gak wase -yak2SG touch 3SG.REC‘he touched you’

3rd person no wase -yakDEM touch 3SG.REC‘he touched him’

dual 1st person nit wase -yak1DU touch 3SG.REC‘he touched us two’

2nd person din wase -yak2DU touch 3SG.REC‘he touched you two’

3rd person _

plural 1st person nin wase -yak1PL touch 3SG.REC‘he touched us’

2nd person dɨ wase -yak2PL touch 3SG.REC‘he touched you (plural)’

3rd person noma wase -yakDEM touch 3SG.REC‘he touched them’

5.1.2.2 Verbs which mark whether the object is singular or pluralTable 6 shows the pattern for verbs which just mark whether the object is singular or plural, using the example of apt ‘hold’.

TABLE 6: Type 2 verbs, object prefixes only show whether the object is singular or plural

Type 2: Object prefix only shows singular or plural object

singular 1st person nak apt -ak1SG held 3SG.REC‘he held me’

2nd person gak apt -ak1SG held 3SG.REC‘he held you’

3rd person no apt -akDEM held 3SG.REC‘he held him’

dual 1st person nit p- apt -ak1DU PL.OBJ held 3SG.REC‘he held us two’

2nd person din p- apt -ak2DU PL.OBJ held 3SG.REC‘he held you two’

3rd person

plural 1st person nin p- apt -ak1PL PL.OBJ held 3SG.REC‘he held us’

2nd person dɨ p- apt -ak2PL PL.OBJ held 3SG.REC‘he held you (plural)’

3rd person noma p- apt -akDEM PL.OBJ held 3SG.REC‘he held them’

In this example, the singular object is marked by having no prefix on the verb, and the plural object with the prefix p- ‘PLURAL OBJECT’. However, in natural texts, the object marking is more typically with the prefixes ɨŋ for ‘SINGULAR OBJECT’ and pɨŋ for ‘PLURAL OBJECT’, as in the following examples. In (17), the pɨŋ refers to the galip nuts (kɨŋaye) which are the plural object of the verb yɨpgiyit ‘they put’. We are still unsure whether this should be written as part of the same word as the verb (as in Nankina) or as a separate word. In example (18), the subject is a married couple and their children who have just dug up a big eel. The eel is referred to by the prefix ɨŋ when it is the singular object of the verb sɨŋ ‘cook’, and again by the prefix ɨŋ when it is the object of the verb pɨtak ‘go up’.

(17) Kɨŋaye pɨŋ yɨpgiyit tɨtaŋ yɨwata…kɨŋaye pɨŋ yɨpgiyit tɨta -ŋ yɨwa -tagalip nut PL.OBJ they put crack SS left them SSQ‘They (would) put galip nuts and crack them and leave them and then…’

(18) Kɨsɨŋ iyɨt kɨtat nayeŋ ɨŋ sɨŋ sakɨrɨk ɨŋ pɨtak patot pen…kɨsɨŋ iyɨt kɨtat nayeŋ ɨŋ sɨŋ sakɨrɨk ɨŋ pɨtak patot penhappy stayed rested relaxed OBJ cook heated OBJ got up ledge on‘They were happy and stayed and relaxed and cooked it and heated and lifted it onto the ledge above the fireplace’

In example (18), the two uses of ɨŋ are slightly different. In the first one, it marks the straightforward object of the transitive verb sɨŋ ‘cook’. However, in the second example, ɨŋpɨtak ‘they lifted it’, the ɨŋ prefix both marks the eel as the singular object of the verb, and changes the verb from the intransitive meaning ‘got up’ to the causative meaning ‘made it get up’, or more simply ‘lifted it’.

The prefixes ɨŋ and pɨŋ can have this function with other verbs too, as shown in Table 7.

TABLE 7: The causative function of ɨŋ and pɨŋ

Intransitive verb English gloss Causative verb English glossko ‘go’ pɨŋgo ‘caused them to go /

took themwapdo ‘will come’ pɨŋgwapdo ‘will cause them to

come / bring them’

5.1.2.3 Verbs which mark whether the object is singular or plural, and first, second or third personFinally, there are some verbs which take a prefix that tells us whether the object is singular or plural, and also whether it is first, second, or third person. Some examples are given in Table 8. It is not clear exactly where the object marker ends in each word, because it changes depending on the verb that follows it. More research is needed to investigate this, but two examples are given here, both using the recent past tense.

TABLE 8: Type 3 verbs, marking object as singular or plural and first, second or third person.

Beginning of object marker

Example 1 Example 2

singular 1st person n- nanɨk‘he said to me’

nɨyak‘he hit me’

2nd person g- ganɨk‘he said to you’

gɨyak‘he hit you’

3rd person y- ɨnɨk‘he said to him’

yɨyak‘he hit him’

dual / plural

1st person n- nɨnɨk‘he said to us’

nawak‘he hit us’

2nd / 3rd person

d- danɨk‘he said to you / them’

dawak‘he hit you / them ’

5.2 TenseDomung has at least three tenses, a present tense, a recent past tense used for events that happened today or yesterday, and a (distant) past tense, used for events that happened the day before yesterday and earlier. There is also a verb form that is used for events either in the future or that have not happened yet.

5.2.1 Present tenseThe present tense is used for events that are happening now. Table 9 shows the paradigm for one verb in the present tense, although it is slightly different for other verbs (see Appendix A).

TABLE 9: Present tense forms

Person Present tense Gloss1SG (‘I’) net

n -e -teat PRES 1SG

‘I am eating’

2SG (‘you’) nenn -e -neat PRES 2SG

‘you are eating’

3SG (‘he/she’) nekn -e -keat PRES 3SG

‘he/she is eating’

1DU (‘we two’) nematn -e -mateat PRES 1DU

‘we (2) are eating’

2/3DU (‘you two’ / ‘they two’)

nemɨrakn -e -mɨrakeat PRES 2/3DU

‘you / they (2) are eating’

1PL (‘we’) nemann -e -maneat PRES 1PL

‘we are eating’

2/3PL (‘you all / they’)

neŋn -e -ŋeat PRES 2/3PL

‘you / they are eating’

In this example, the suffix –e is a clear marker of the present tense, and comes before the marker which tells who the subject is.

5.2.2 Recent past tenseThe recent past tense is used or events that happened earlier today or yesterday. Table 10 shows the forms that are used for the recent past for the same verb, na ‘eat’.

TABLE 10: Recent past tense forms

Person Recent past tense Gloss1SG (‘I’) nat

n -a -teat REC 1SG

‘I ate (recently)’

2SG (‘you’) nann -a -neat REC 2SG

‘you ate (recently)’

3SG (‘he/she’) nakn -a -keat REC 3SG

‘he/she ate (recently)’

1DU (‘we two’) namatn -a -mateat REC 1DU

‘we (2) ate (recently)’


namɨrakn -a -mɨrakeat REC 2/3DU

‘you / they (2) ate (recently)’

1PL (‘we’) namann -a -maneat REC 1PL

‘we ate (recently)’


naŋn -a -ŋeat REC 2/3PL

‘you / they ate (recently)’

In this example, the suffix –a is a clear marker for the recent past tense, before the subject suffix. However, in other verbs the pattern is not so straightforward, because of the way the suffix attaches to the root of the verb. For example, the pattern for verb ko ‘go’ is shown in Table 11.

TABLE 11: Recent past paradigm for ko

Person Recent past tense Gloss1SG (‘I’) kɨt ‘I went

(recently)’2SG (‘you’) kɨn ‘you went

(recently)’3SG (‘he/she’) kɨk ‘he/she went

(recently)’1DU (‘we two’) kɨmat ‘we (2) went

(recently)’2/3DU (‘you

two’ / ‘they two’)kɨmɨrak ‘you / they (2)

went (recently)’1PL (‘we’) kɨman ‘we went

(recently)’2/3PL (‘you all /

they’)kɨyɨŋ ‘you / they went

(recently)’

5.2.3 (Distant) past tenseAnother past tense is used for events that happened the day before yesterday or longer ago. Sometimes this may be called a far past tense or distant past tense, but since these events may have happened quite recently, we have called it the (distant) past tense. Table 12 shows the forms that are used for the (distant) past for the same verb, na ‘eat’. In this tense it is harder to see any part of the verb that corresponds just to the (distant) past. Instead, the suffixes show both the tense and the person who is the subject. However, many of the suffixes do contain the letter <o>.

TABLE 12: (Distant) past tense forms

Person (Distant) past tense Gloss1SG (‘I’) naom

n -aomeat PST.1SG

‘I ate’

2SG (‘you’) naonn -aoneat PST.2SG

‘you ate’

3SG (‘he/she’) naotn -aoteat PST.3SG

‘he/she ate’

1DU (‘we two’) naomatn -aomateat PST.1DU

‘we (2) ate’


naomɨrakn -aomɨrakeat PST.2/3DU

‘you / they (2) ate’

1PL (‘we’) naomann -aomaneat PST.1PL

‘we ate’


nayitn -ayiteat PST.2/3PL

‘you / they ate’

The suffixes are mostly somewhat similar for other verbs (see Appendix A), although some verbs have a <g> appearing in the 3rd person forms, as in the examples in Table 14. We have not had time to study this enough to explain the forms.

TABLE 13: Some unusual forms for the (distant) past

Recent past Gloss (Distant) past Meaningiyak ‘he sat (recently)’ igɨt ‘he sat’iyaŋ ‘they sat (recently)’ igɨt ‘they sat’

wawak ‘he came (recently)’ wabgɨt ‘he came’wawaŋ ‘they came (recently)’ wabgit ‘they came’puwak ‘he slept (recently)’ pagɨt ‘he slept’puwaŋ ‘they slept (recently)’ pagit ‘they slept’

5.2.4 Future tense / irrealisThere are another set of verb forms in Domung that are used for events happening in the future. BY comparison with Yopno and Nankina, it is probably best to describe these as irrealis rather than future. That is they are used for things that have not happened yet, and may or may not happen in the future. The verb forms here are even more variable than in the other tenses, so examples are just given for the verb na ‘eat’, in Table 14.

TABLE 14: Irrealis forms

Person Irrealis Gloss1SG (‘I’) ninyat

n -inyateat IRR.1SG

‘I may eat’

2SG (‘you’) ninyann -inyaneat IRR.2SG

‘you may eat’

3SG (‘he/she’) ninyakn -inyakeat IRR.3SG

‘he/she may eat’

1DU (‘we two’) nondinyamatn -ondinyamateat IRR.1DU

‘we (2) may eat’


nondiyamɨrakn -ondiyamɨrakeat IRR.2/3DU

‘you / they (2) may eat’

1PL (‘we’) noninyamann -oninyamaneat IRR.1PL

‘we may eat’


noniyaŋn -oniyaŋeat IRR.2/3PL

‘you / they may eat’

5.2.5 Translation Issues Related to TenseDomung has two different past tenses, whereas English only has one. This means that translators will need to decide carefully which tense to use in every context, based on whether the event happened the previous day or longer ago. Sometimes it will be very difficult to make this decision for biblical texts where it is not explicit how long ago something happened.

5.3 AspectAspect has to do with the timing of an action or event itself, for example if it is continuing, completed, repeated, and so on. We have not had much time to investigate aspect in Domung, but we have observed a way to describe habitual actions in the past, by repeating a verb.

Some examples are given in (19) and (20). In long sentences with many different verbs in them, the verb is just repeated in the final verb but can give habitual aspect to the whole sentence. In (19) the

repetition of the verb ko ‘go’ means that the whole sentence is talking about something that used to happen habitually in the distant past.

(19) no mɨn sɨrɨpto kanaŋ ɨnɨŋ ɨnɨŋ iyɨtno mɨn sɨrɨpto kanaŋ ɨnɨŋ ɨnɨŋ iyɨtthose people group.to like said said stayed.PST.3PL‘Those people used to be called like this…’

(20) Ɨŋ yamak mɨn yɨrɨ gɨyan kwim kwimɨ dɨ iyɨkɨŋ yamak mɨn yɨrɨ gɨyan kwim kwimɨ dɨ iyɨ -kand banana also thing bunch different.kind.its hang SS

uwi a gɨroŋ gɨroŋ yaŋ ko ko iyɨtuwi a gɨroŋ gɨroŋ yaŋ ko ko iyɨ -ttrunk became? bent like.that go go hang 2/3PL.PST‘The bananas also used to hang in a different way, the bunch used to hang and make the trunk bend like that’

5.4 Medial VerbsMany PNG languages with Actor, Patient, Verb (APV) (also known as subject, object, verb (SOV)) word order have two kinds of verbs. Final verbs almost always come at the end of a sentence and have their own set of markers for person, tense etc. Medial verbs are used earlier in the sentence and have their own markers that do not come on the final verbs. In this section we will discuss medial verbs.

Medial verbs are very common in the Domung test that was the main basis for these grammar notes. We did not have time to study these medial verbs in detail, but we have noticed that often they are short verbs and end in <ŋ> or <k> (or have no suffix at all) to show that the next verb has the same subject (SS). Sometimes the medial verb ends in –ta, which we think means that the next verb has the same subject but happens a little later. Example (21) shows a long sentence with each medial verb highlighted in bold. Notice again (as in example (20)) that the repetition of naŋ ‘eat’ at the end of the whole sentence means that all the actions described are habitual actions in the past.

(21) Kɨre yamak bamɨnɨ ɨŋgwɨra no yɨrɨ naŋgin,kɨre yamak bamɨnɨ ɨŋgwɨra no yɨrɨ naŋginOK banana ready it became those thing same

kɨŋaye tɨtaŋ yɨwata kɨŋaye tɨta -ŋ y- ɨwa -tagalip nut cracked SS them left SSQ

ko wagen yamak pɨŋ yɨk pɨŋ mandok pɨŋ go yɨwatako wag -en yamak pɨŋ yɨk pɨŋ mandok pɨŋ go yɨwa -tago garden LOC banana PL.OBJ put in bilum PL.OBJ carried PL.OBJ go left them SSQ

kayep pɨŋ tuwaŋ peɨk pɨŋ yusɨŋ sa daŋ ɨwɨrak ɨŋgwɨra ,kayep pɨŋ tuwa -ŋ peɨk pɨŋ yusɨ -ŋ sa da -ŋ ɨwɨrak ɨŋgwɨrafirewood PL.OBJ cut SS carried PL.OBJ builtSS lit flamed SS embers it became

yamak sɨŋ gɨwɨkyamak sɨ -ŋ gɨwɨ -kbanana cook SS peel SS

nongat kɨŋaye kat waruŋ ɨŋ naŋ naŋ iyɨtnongat kɨŋaye kat waru -ŋ ɨŋ naŋ naŋ iyɨtwith.that galip nut with pound SS and eat eat stayed

‘OK, when the banana was ready they did the same thing, they used to crack galip nuts and leave them and go to the garden and put bananas in a bilum and carry them (in a bilum) and bring them and leave them, and then they got and cut and tied firewood and carried it and built a fire and set fire to it and it lit and became hot embers and they cooked the bananas and peeled them, pounded them with the galip nuts and would eat them’

In Yopno there are other markers which are used to show that the subject of the next verb is different from the subject of the current verb, so we expect that Domung would have similar markers. However, we did not have enough time to explore this fully. However, the sentence given in (22) does have a change of subject half way through, so it is possible that the –an (or –ran) suffix is a ‘different subject’ marker, showing that the subject of the verb panyiran ‘chase them’ is 3rd person singular (the father) and that the next verb has a different subject, the children. This helps the hearer understand that the first three verbs, ɨnɨŋ ‘spoke’, dawaŋ ‘hit’ and panyiran ‘chased them’ all have the father as subject, whereas the last two verbs, parak ‘went out’ and komɨrak ‘went’ have the two children as subject, even though neither the father nor the children are mentioned in this sentence.

SUBJECT: FATHER FATHER FATHER CHILDREN CHILDREN

(22) Yaŋ ɨnɨŋ dawaŋ panyiran paraŋ komɨrakyaŋ ɨnɨ -ŋ dawa -ŋ p- anyi -ran para -ŋ k -omɨraklike.that say SS hit SS PL.OBJ chase DS.3SG go out SS go 2/3DU.PST‘(He) said like that and hit and chased them, and (they both) went outside and went’

The suffix –kwɨran also looks like it may be a ‘different subject’ marker, when the current subject is 3rd person dual, as in example (23).

(23) Kokwɨran yumnɨ kareŋ buwat katon ɨŋ paraŋ yɨnɨŋ kwɨran,ko -kwɨran yumnɨ kare -ŋ buwat katon ɨŋ para -ŋ yɨnɨ -ŋ kwɨrango DS.2/3DU he left them see SS eel this OBJ go out SS cut up SS and.DS

matnɨ a yɨrɨ saweyan bɨtɨpon somɨrakmat -nɨ a yɨrɨ sawey -an bɨtɨp-on s -omɨrakwife 3.POSS ? food peel DS.3SG clay pot LOC cook 2/3DU.PST‘(They (2)) went and (different subject) he ignored them and got the eel out and cut it up and (different subject) his wife peeled food and (different subject) they (2) cooked (it) in a clay pot’

The full paradigm for the ‘different subject’ markers that look like this is given in Table 15. The different subject marker shows who is the subject of the current verb, and that the next verb will have a different subject.

TABLE 15: Medial verb ‘different subject’ suffixes

Person Different subject marker Example1SG -kwɨro kokwɨro naot

ko -kwɨro n -aotgo 1SG.DS eat 3SG.PST‘I went and he ate’

2SG -kwɨre kokwɨre naotko -kwɨre n -aotgo 2SG.DS eat 3SG.PST‘You went and he ate’

3SG -kwɨran kokwɨran naotko -kwɨran n -aotgo 3SG.DS eat 3SG.PST

‘He went and he (someone else) ate’1DU -kɨndo kokɨndo naot

ko -kɨndo n -aotgo 1DU.DS eat 3SG.PST‘We (2) went and he ate’

2/3DU -kwɨran kokwɨran naotko -kwɨran n -aotgo 2/3DU.DS eat 3SG.PST‘You / they (2) went and he ate’

1PL -kɨno kokɨno naotko -kɨno n -aotgo 1PL.DS eat 3SG.PST‘We went and he ate’

2/3PL -kwɨra kokwɨra naotko -kwɨra n -aotgo 3PL.DS eat 3SG.PST‘They went and he ate’

I suspect from looking at the text that there are also other ‘different subject’ markers without kwɨ in them, but I have not had time to study them any further.

5.6.2 Translation Issues for Medial VerbsNatural Domung text use lots of medial verbs one after the other to tell a story. They use ‘same subject’ or ‘different subject’ markers on the verbs to tell who is doing the action, rather than using pronouns or names of the actors. In English, stories tend to have much shorter sentences with fewer verbs in them and use a lot of pronouns or names to say who is doing the action. Translators need to be careful to use the normal Domung style not just translating word for word from English. This might mean reading a whole paragraph in English to get the meaning, and then seeing how to say it all naturally in Domung using the appropriate medial and final verbs.

6 CLAUSES

6.1 Transitive clausesTransitive clauses include a subject, a verb and an object.

6.1.1 ExamplesThe usual word order for a transitive clause in Domung is (S)(O)V. That is, the verb is always after the subject and the object if they are mentioned, and often at the end of the sentence. If there is an object it occurs before the verb. Often the subject is not mentioned because it is clear from the verb itself, but if the subject is mentioned, it comes before the object.

Example (23) shows a sentence with all three elements: subject; object; and verb.

SUBJECT OBJECT VERB

(23) Nak yamak gau yonda yɨnɨtnak yamak gau yonda yɨn -ɨt

I banana knife with cut up 1SG.REC‘I cut up the banana with a knife’

6.1.2 Translation Issues for Transitive ClausesSince Domung has the verb at the end of the sentence whereas English has the verb in the middle of the sentence, it is important for translators to remember to put the verb at the end of the sentence when translating. Also, English almost always uses a noun or pronoun for the subject of a sentence, whereas Domung does not usually need to say who the subject is. So, if English words are translated literally word-for-word into Domung, it will be unnatural with too many pronouns and nouns for the subject of sentences. Translators need to read and listen to what they have translated to make sure it sounds like natural Domung.

6.2 Intransitive clausesIntransitive clauses contain a verb that usually cannot take an object. For example, he walked, he laughed, he jumped in English.

6.2.1 ExampleIn intransitive clauses, the subject is not usually mentioned, but if it is mentioned it comes before the verb.

Here is an example of an intransitive clause:

SUBJECT VERB

(24) nak Madang kida Ukarumpa ogɨmnak Madang kida Ukarumpa o -gɨmI Madang from Ukarumpa come 1SG.PST

6.4 Semantic rolesThe following sections show some ways that Domung expresses certain semantic roles for nouns or noun phrases in a sentence.

6.4.5 LocationA location is where an action or event takes place. E.g. ‘Eli slept in his bed’, ‘She found the coin under the table’

Locations in Domung are often marked with the suffix –on, as in examples (25) – (26)

(25) nin dasin yut daironnin dasin yut dair -on1PL POSS house clan.group LOC‘in our village’

(26) …matnɨ a yɨrɨ saweyan bɨtɨpon somɨrakmat -nɨ a yɨrɨ sawey -an bɨtɨp -on s -omɨrakwife 3.POSS ? food peel DS.3SG clay pot LOC cook 2/3DU.PST‘…his wife peeled food and they (2) cooked it in a clay pot’

Sometimes this suffix looks like –en instead, as in (27).

(27) …ko wagen mup piyɨt pɨrɨk pɨŋgo yɨwata…ko wag -en mup piyɨt pɨrɨ -k pɨŋ- go yɨwa -tago garden LOC taro planted pull up SS PL.OBJ go left them SSQ‘(they would) go to the garden and pull up the taro they had planted and bring it and leave it and…’

6.4.6 Source / destinationA source is where something moves from, a destination is where something moves to. E.g. ‘Abraham travelled from Ur (source) to Haran (destination)’

In Domung, sources can be marked by the postposition kida ‘from’ as in (28).

(28) nak Madang kida Ukarumpa ogɨmnak Madang kida Ukarumpa o -gɨmI Madang from Ukarumpa come 1SG.PST‘I came from Madan to Ukarumpa (more than two days ago)’

Elsewhere the postposition gitda was used, as in (29).

(29) …Ɨŋkwɨran nunɨ pinɨ yɨrɨ waken gɨtda waɨŋ -kwɨran nunɨ pinɨ yɨrɨ wak -en gɨtda waand DS.2/3DU mother.3POSS father.3POSS thing garden LOC from come

yɨk kukaŋ yɨwaŋ iyɨkwɨran…yɨk kuka -ŋ yɨwa -ŋ iyɨ -kwɨranbilum remove SS left them SS stay DS.2/3DU‘…and (different subject) their mother and their father came from the garden and (same subject) removed their bilum and left them and stayed, and (different subject)…’

Sometimes just the word da ‘SOURCE’ is used after the locative suffix –on, to show that something is coming from a location, as in (30).

(30) No sɨp pɨsɨk onda bɨt kaman ɨroko ɨroko eyitno sɨp pɨsɨk -on da bɨt kaman ɨroko ɨroko eyitthat stone hole LOC SOURCE pig appeared came.out came.out made.3PL‘Pigs used to keep coming out of that stone hole’

Destinations do not appear to have any special marking, as in (31).

(31) nak Madang kida Ukarumpa utnak Madang kida Ukarumpa utI Madang from Ukarumpa came.1SG.REC‘I came (to) Ukarumpa from Madang (yesterday or today)’

6.4.7 InstrumentAn instrument is used by someone to make something happen. E.g. ‘Jael killed Sisera with a tent peg’ ‘Saul attacked David with a spear’

One way to show an instrument in Domung is to use the postposition yonda, something like ‘with’, as in (32).

(32) Nak yamak gau yonda yɨnɨtnak yamak gau yonda yɨn -ɨtI banana knife with cut up 1SG.REC‘I cut up the banana with a knife’

6.4.8 AccompanimentAn accompaniment is someone who does something with someone else. E.g. ‘Moses went to Pharaoh with his brother’

In Domung, this is shown with the word kat ‘with’, as in (33).

(33) Nak baŋɨno kat Ukarumpa ogɨmatnak baŋɨ -no kat Ukarumpa ogɨmatI elder.brother 1SG.POSS with Ukarumpa came.up.2DU.PST‘I came to Ukarumpa with my older brother’

7 SENTENCES

7.1 Conjunctions

7.1.1 ExamplesTable 16 lists some of the examples of conjunctions that we have found.

TABLE 16: Conjunctions

Conjunction Gloss More informationne ‘but’ɨŋ ‘and’

kat ‘and / with’ Joins nouns togetherto ‘to’ Introduces a reason for

somethingkɨra ‘OK…’ Something like ‘this happened,

and then…’

APPENDIX A: Verb tablesVerb: speak

Person Present tense Recent past tense

(Distant) past tense

Future / Irrealis Imperative

1SG (‘I’) yet yat yaom NOT RESEARCHED

2SG (‘you’) yen yan yaon NOT RESEARCHED

yaŋ

3SG (‘he/she’) yek yak yawut NOT RESEARCHED

1DU (‘we two’) yemat yamat yaomat NOT RESEARCHED

2/3DU (‘you two’ / ‘they

two’)

yemɨrak yamɨrak yaomɨrak NOT RESEARCHED

yorak

1PL (‘we’) yeman yaman yaoman NOT RESEARCHED


yeŋ yaŋ yayit NOT RESEARCHED

yot

Verb: stay




1SG (‘I’) yakwet yakɨt yakom NOT RESEARCHED

2SG (‘you’) yakwen yakɨn yakon NOT RESEARCHED

yiyɨk

3SG (‘he/she’) yakwek yakɨk yakot NOT RESEARCHED

1DU (‘we two’) yakwemat yakɨmat yakomat NOT RESEARCHED


two’)

yakwemɨrak yakɨmɨrak yakomɨrak NOT RESEARCHED

yakɨn

1PL (‘we’) yakweman yakɨman yakoman NOT RESEARCHED


yakweŋ yakɨyiŋ yakɨyit NOT RESEARCHED

yakɨt

Verb: go




1SG (‘I’) kwet kɨt kom kwinyat

2SG (‘you’) kwen kɨn kon kwinyan ko

3SG (‘he/she’) kwek kɨk kot kwinyak

1DU (‘we two’) kwemat kɨmat komat kɨndinyamat kɨndo


two’)

kwemɨrak kɨmɨrak komɨrak kɨndiyamɨrak kɨrak

1PL (‘we’) kweman kɨman koman kɨndinyaman


kweŋ kɨyɨŋ kɨyɨt kɨniyaŋ kɨt

Verb: eat




1SG (‘I’) net nat naom ninyat

2SG (‘you’) nen nan naon ninyan naŋ

3SG (‘he/she’) nek nak naot ninyak

1DU (‘we two’) nemat namat naomat nondinyamat


two’)

nemɨrak namɨrak naomɨrak nondiyamɨrak norak

1PL (‘we’) neman naman naoman noninyaman


neŋ naŋ nayit noniyaŋ not

APPENDIX B: Text used for analysis(Due to time limitations this text is only partially analysed into separate morphemes, and many glosses are tentative or inaccurate)

(2) wako asɨn mekanɨ

story about making a garden

1.1 Sunam ɨ sunam ɨ In.the.past

s ɨ n ɨ s ɨ n ɨ very

m ɨ n m ɨ n men/people

s ɨ r ɨ w ɨ s ɨ r ɨ w ɨ group

kwa kwa one

yakiy ɨ t yakiy ɨ t they were

, no no that/those


s ɨ r ɨ pto s ɨ r ɨ pto group.to

kana ŋ kana ŋ like

ɨ n ɨŋ ɨ n ɨŋ said


iy ɨ t iy ɨ t stayed

.

In the distant past, there was one group of people, and those people were called like this

1.2 Mor ɨ tma mor ɨ t ma hot.place people

ya ŋ ya ŋ like.that

ɨ n ɨŋ ɨ n ɨ - ŋ say 2/3PL

kw ɨ ra kw ɨ ra (like that?)


.

Hot place people, they called them like that

1.3 No no that/those

mor ɨ t mor ɨ t hot.place


s ɨ r ɨ p s ɨ r ɨ p group

mup mup taro

, asuk asuk yam

, yamak yamak banana

ɨ ruk ɨ ruk ɨ ruk ɨ ruk very good / beautiful / narakain

wako wako garden/work

akakma akak ma gardening people


.

That group of hot place people were very good gardeners of taro, yam and banana

1.4 Mup mup taro

, asuk asuk yam


wako wako garden/work


no no that/those

mup mup taro

pit pit they planted

y ɨ r ɨ y ɨ r ɨ thing

g ɨ yan g ɨ yan round

kwim kwim ɨ d ɨ kwim kwim ɨ d ɨ different.kind.its

sak ɨ rik ɨ sak ɨ rik ɨ smooth

wayi wayi very

b ɨ t ɨ p b ɨ t ɨ p clay pot

g ɨ yan g ɨ yan round

bem bem like

d ɨ d ɨ it's

.

They made a taro yam and banana garden, and that taro they planted was round, big and a different kind and very smooth like a round clay pot

1.5 Asuk asuk yam

m ɨ n m ɨ n also


sak ɨ rik sak ɨ rik smooth

ki ŋ ki ŋ long and big of the yam

m ɨ rak m ɨ rak long.it's


ɨ ndu ŋ yon ɨ ndu ŋ -yon skin LOC

paptot paptot hold/touch

papte papte hold/touch

m ɨ nid ɨ m ɨ nid ɨ not able to

.

The yam was also long and very smooth it was not possible to touch it, it was so smooth

1.6 Ɨŋ ɨŋ and

yamak yamak banana

m ɨ n m ɨ n also


g ɨ yan g ɨ yan bunch


iy ɨ k iy ɨ -k hang SS

uwi uwi trunk

a a became?

g ɨ ro ŋ g ɨ roŋ g ɨ roŋ g ɨ ro ŋ bent


ko ko go

ko ko go

iy ɨ t iy ɨ -t hang 2/3PL.PST

.

The bunch of bananas was also a different kind, it was so heavy it would bend the trunk

2.1 Ɨŋ ɨŋ and

k ɨŋ aye k ɨŋaye galip nut

b ɨ sawon b ɨ saw -on time LOC

, k ɨŋ aye k ɨŋaye galip nut

p ɨŋ y ɨ wa ŋɨŋ p ɨŋ y ɨ wa ŋɨŋ left them to dry

batam batam smashed banana and galip together

s ɨŋ s ɨ - ŋ cook SS

na ŋ na - ŋ eat SS

yiy ɨ k yiy ɨ k ɨŋ iy ɨ t ¿ .

And at the time of galip nuts, they used to take the galip nuts and dry them , cook them mashed up with mashed bananas, eat them, and they used to be (ol i save stap)

2.2 K ɨŋaye k ɨŋaye galip nut

p ɨŋ p ɨŋ PL.OBJ

y ɨ pgiyit y ɨ pgiyit they put

t ɨ ta ŋ t ɨ ta - ŋ crack SS

y ɨ wata y ɨ wa -ta left them SSQ

, ko ko go

wagen wag -en garden LOC

mup mup taro

piy ɨ t piy ɨ t they had planted

p ɨ r ɨ k p ɨ r ɨ -k pull up SS

p ɨŋgo p ɨŋ - go PL.OBJ go


, ko ko go

kayep kayep firewood


tuwa ŋ tuwa -ŋ cut and tie together SS

pe ɨ k pe ɨ -k carry 3SG

p ɨŋgo p ɨŋ - go PL.OBJ go

yus ɨŋ yus ɨ - ŋ build SS

sa sa light (fire)

da ŋ da - ŋ burn SS

ɨ w ɨ rak ɨ w ɨ rak hot embers

ɨŋkw ɨ ra ɨŋ kw ɨ ra it became

, mup mup taro

sa sa cooked in fire

da da it was cooked

pe ɨŋ pe ɨŋ scraped

banya ŋ banya -ŋ hit SS

p ɨ ra ŋɨŋ p ɨ ra ŋɨŋ became soft


t ɨ ta ŋ t ɨ ta - ŋ crack SS

y ɨ pgiyit y ɨ pgiyit they put

waru ŋ waru ŋ put in wooden pot (tong tong) and pounded together with a stick

ɨŋ ɨŋ and

, nongat nongat with.that

mup mup taro

kat kat with (accompaniment)


ɨŋ ɨŋ and

na ŋ na ŋ eat

na ŋ na ŋ eat


.

They used to take galip nuts, put them, crack them and leave them, they went to the garden and pulled up and brought the taro they had planted and left them, went and got and cut and tied firewood and carried and brought it and built a fire and set fire to it and it lit and turned to hot embers, they cooked the taro in the fire until it was done and scraped (off the burnt bits) then

tenderised it with a knife (hit it with a knife to make it soft) then put it in a wooden pot (tong tong) with the galip nuts they cracked and would eat it (check the end of this sentence)

2.3 Mup mup taro





a a became?


warak warak oil

da da SOURCE

kwim kwim kwim kwim different kind


ɨŋkw ɨ ra ɨŋ kw ɨ ra it became

na ŋ na ŋ eat

warak warak oil

banya ŋ banyaŋ running down hands and mouth and body

yiy ɨ k yiy ɨ k stayed



.

They pounded the taro with galip nut and the galip oil made it become very different (delicious) and .covered and ran down their hands and mouths

3.1 K ɨ re k ɨ re OK

yamak yamak banana

bam ɨ n ɨ bam ɨ n ɨ ready

ɨŋgw ɨ ra ɨŋgw ɨ ra it became

no no that/those


na ŋ gin na ŋgin same


t ɨ ta ŋ t ɨ ta ŋ cracked

y ɨ wata y ɨ wata left them

ko ko go


yamak yamak banana

p ɨŋ y ɨ k p ɨŋ y ɨ k put them in bilum

p ɨŋ mandok p ɨŋ mandok carried them in a bilum

p ɨŋgo p ɨŋgo brought them


, kayep kayep firewood


tuwa ŋ tuwa ŋ got and cut and tied

pe ɨ k pe ɨ k carried


yus ɨŋ yus ɨŋ built fire

sa sa cooked in fire

da ŋ daŋ it flamed

ɨ w ɨ rak ɨ w ɨ rak hot embers



s ɨŋ s ɨŋ cook

g ɨ w ɨ k g ɨ w ɨ k peeled

,

nongat nongat with.that




ɨŋ ɨŋ and

na ŋ na ŋ eat

na ŋ na ŋ eat


.

OK, when the banana was ready they did the same thing, they used to crack galip nuts and leave them and go to the garden and put bananas in a bilum and carry them (in a bilum) and bring them and leave them, they got and cut and tied firewood and carried it and built a fire and set fire to it and it lit and became hot embers and they cooked the bananas and peeled them, pounded them with galip nuts and would eat them

3.2 K ɨŋaye k ɨŋaye galip nut


yamak yamak banana



a a became?


warak warak oil

da da SOURCE

kwim kwim kwim kwim different kind


a a became?


na ŋ na ŋ eat

warak warak oil

banya ŋ banyaŋ running down hands and mouth and body




.

They pounded the banana with galip nut and the galip oil made it become very different (delicious) and covered and ran down their hands and mouths


asuk asuk yam

pit pit they planted

m ɨ n m ɨ n also

kare ŋ kare ŋ they saw

yakwa yakwa they were and

gurum gurum plant with leaves becoming many and twisted around some kind of support (sign there is food underneath)

ɨŋ ta ŋ ɨŋ ta ŋ did like this and

p ɨ kdaga p ɨ kdaga dry

kare ŋɨŋ kare ŋɨŋ they saw and

.

THey also looked and saw that the yams they planted had shoots that had grown up a tree and become big and they saw they were dry and


no no that/those

bam ɨ n ɨ bam ɨ n ɨ ready


kare ŋɨŋ kare ŋɨŋ they saw and

ko ko go

ni ɨŋ ni ɨ - ŋ

tuwa ŋ tuwa ŋ tied

p ɨŋ buyaŋ p ɨŋ buya ŋ carried on shoulder


y ɨ wa y ɨ wa left them

pakgw ɨ ra pakgw ɨ ra laid them down

, ko ko go

suwa suwa coconut

kor ɨ k ɨ kor ɨ k ɨ dry coconut with a shoot coming out of it (Kru kokonas)

warak ɨ warak ɨ oil

ges ɨ n ɨ ges ɨ n ɨ very


g ɨ w ɨ k g ɨ w ɨ k husked


, y ɨ n ɨŋ y ɨ n ɨŋ cut up

pe ɨŋ pe ɨŋ scraped

damb ɨ k damb ɨ k extract milk

ɨŋ ɨŋ and

asuk asuk yam


b ɨ t ɨ pon b ɨ t ɨ pon clay pot. in

s ɨŋ s ɨŋ cook

na ŋ na ŋ eat




.

OK, when they saw they were ready ike that, they went and dug and tied them and carried them on the shoulder and brought them and left them and laid them, they went and saw a dry coconut with a new shoot and lots of grease and husked them and brought them, cut them and scraped them and extracted the milk and cooked them in a clay pot with the yam and would eat and stay.

5.1 No no that/those

b ɨ sawon b ɨ saw -on time LOC

m ɨ nteyi n ɨ mit m ɨ nteyi n ɨ mit married couple

k ɨ ta ŋ k ɨ ta ŋ demonstrative? focus particle?

kwa kwa one


no no that/those

monyi monyi son

boyi boyi daughter


b ɨ ro ŋɨ b ɨ ro ŋɨ two

, k ɨ ta ŋ n ɨ k ɨ ta ŋ n ɨ those two? poss

b ɨ ro ŋɨ b ɨ ro ŋɨ two



.

At that time, there was a married couple, they had two children a boy and a girl, they lived with those two children

5.2 Yiy ɨ k yiy ɨ k stayed

g ɨ ndat di ŋɨ g ɨ ndat di ŋɨ day

kwa kwa one

k ɨ rap k ɨ rap water

uwa uwa bank

k ɨ keyo k ɨ keyo they wanted to follow

ɨŋ ɨŋ and

monyi monyi son

boyi boyi daughter


ɨ nom ɨ rak ɨ nom ɨ rak they (2) said

din din you(two)

kan kan this

yomen yomen area

kor ɨ p kor ɨ p quiet / still / wait


yak ɨ ndi yak ɨ ndi stay

, ɨŋkw ɨ ran ɨŋ kw ɨ ran and then

nit nit we(two)


uwa uwa bank

k ɨ ndo k ɨ ndo let us two go

yo yo INCEPTIVE (about to do something)

.

They stayed and one day they wanted to follow the river bank, so they (2) told their son and daughter "you two wait very quietly here in this area and we (2) are about to go along this riverbank"

5.3 Na ŋ na ŋ like this


ɨŋ ɨŋ and


uwa uwa bank

kom ɨ rak k -om ɨ rak go 2/3DU.PST

, ko ko go


kum kum round

kwa kwa one

kw ɨ yak kw ɨ yak bail

kw ɨ yak kw ɨ yak bail

ta ŋ ta ŋ and

buwat buwat eel

matep matep big


kwa kwa one

ɨg ɨ m ɨ rak ɨ g ɨ m ɨ rak they (2) killed

.

They said like this and the two of them wnet along the river bank, they came to a lake/ puddle? (raunwara - round area of water), they worked on bailing out the lake (in order to find fish or eels) and they killed a very big eel

6.1 Ɨ k ɨ k they (2) killed

tuwa ŋ tuwa ŋ carried

ɨŋgwawan ɨŋgwawan made it come (brought it)

monyi monyi child

nitso ŋ i nitso ŋ i brother and sister

k ɨ ta ŋ n ɨ k ɨ ta ŋ n ɨ those two? poss

ka ŋ ka ŋ look

tamtam tamtam happy


yawom ɨ rak yawom ɨ rak they (2) talked happily / excitedly

.

They killed it and carried it and brought it to their children, those siblings,. They (2) looked and were very happy and talked (excitedly)

6.2 Yan yan They (2) talked

nun ɨ nun ɨ mother their

pin ɨ pin ɨ father their



moyi moyi small

d ɨ mo d ɨ mo NEG


k ɨ sit k ɨ sit they were happy

.

They talked like this with their mother nad father and they were realy happy (lit. not a little bit happy / ol i no isi long amamas / amamas nogut tru)

6.3 K ɨ s ɨŋ k ɨ s ɨŋ happy and


k ɨ tat k ɨ tat they rested

naye ŋ naye ŋ they relaxed

ɨŋ ɨŋ OBJ

s ɨŋ s ɨŋ cook

sak ɨ r ɨ k sak ɨ r ɨ k heated

ɨŋ p ɨ tak ɨŋ p ɨ tak OBJ got up

patot patot ledge above fireplace

pen pen on

ɨ wa ŋɨŋ ɨ wa ŋɨŋ put it

monyi monyi son

boyi boyi daughter



nitda nitda we (2)


ko ko go

y ɨ r ɨ y ɨ r ɨ food

d ɨ d ɨ some


p ɨŋgwapdo p ɨŋ gwapdo get and bring them

to to to

s ɨŋ s ɨŋ cook

nono nono we eat

.

They were happy and sata nd rested and relaxed, they cooked and heated it and lifted it and put it on the ledge above the fireplace and they said to their son and daughter, we are going to the garden to get some food and we will cook it and eat it



ɨŋ ɨŋ and


din din you(two)

kan kan this

yomen yomen area

kor ɨ p kor ɨ p quiet / still / wait


yak ɨ ndi yak ɨ ndi stay

.

THey said like this and they said you(2) stay here very quietly



ɨŋ ɨŋ and

kokw ɨ ran kokw ɨ ran they (2 ) went

nit so ŋ i nit so ŋi brother and sister


katon katon this

yon yon house. in



kw ɨ ran kw ɨ ran while

, buwat buwat eel

katon katon this

patotonda patotonda fireplace ledge.from


k ɨ rakon k ɨ rakon ashes.on

ma ŋg ɨ t ma ŋ g ɨ t fell down


no no that/those


s ɨ n ɨ s ɨ n ɨ real

kwa kwa one

y ɨ k y ɨ k bilum

monyin ɨ monyin ɨ small.its

ke ke with

a a became?

ma ŋgwan ma ŋ gwan it fell down

sotneyan sotneyan they surprised

yumn ɨ yumn ɨ he left them

kare ŋ kare ŋ he saw

p ɨŋgo p ɨŋgo went

koyon koy -on bed LOC

ig ɨ t ig ɨ t sat

.

They said like this and they (2) went, and while the brother and sister stayed sitting in the house, this eel fell down from the ledge on to the ashes. that one was a real man with a small bilum. They were suprised but he saw them and ignored them and went and sat on the bed.

6.6 Iy ɨ k iy ɨ k they sat

ɨŋ ɨŋ and

y ɨ k y ɨ k bilum

monyin monyin small.in

n ɨ yon n ɨ yon his

gwi gwi tobacco

kwas ɨ n ɨ kwas ɨ n ɨ betelnut.his

de ŋ de ŋ he got out

, kwas ɨ pn ɨ kwas ɨ pn ɨ his betelnut

na ŋ na ŋ eat

gwin ɨ gwin ɨ his tobacco

s ɨŋɨ s ɨŋɨ smoked


ɨŋ ɨŋ and

ɨ yan ɨ yan sat

, ka ŋ ka ŋ look

kwim kwim frightened

ɨŋ ɨŋ and

ɨ yan ɨ yan sat

ɨ not ɨ not he told them

.

They sat and he took out tobacco and betelnut from his small bilum, he chewed his betelnut and smoked his tobacco like that and sat, they looked and were very figthened and sat down and he told them

6.7 Mamdin mam -din mother 2DU.POSS

datdin dat -din father 2DU.POSS


wawan wawan come

ka ŋ gu ka ŋgu when

ɨ n ɨ ndi ɨ n ɨ ndi you two tell them

,

buwat buwat eel

kan kan this


s ɨ n ɨ s ɨ n ɨ real

kwayo kwayo one

d ɨ mo d ɨ mo NEG

s ɨŋ s ɨŋ cook

nono nono we eat


ɨ n ɨ ndi ɨ n ɨ ndi you two tell them

.

When your mother and father come, you two tell them this eel is a man and you can#t cook it


ɨ n ɨŋɨ ɨ n ɨŋɨ he told them

tow ɨ n tow ɨ n returned back

p ɨŋogo p ɨŋogo went back up

patot patot ledge above fireplace

pen pen on

patg ɨ t patg ɨ t lay down

.

He said like this and returned and went back up on to the ledge over the fireplace and lay down

6.9 Ɨŋkw ɨ ran ɨŋ -kw ɨ ran and DS.2/3DU




waken wak -en garden LOC

g ɨ tda g ɨ tda from the

wa wa come

y ɨ k y ɨ k bilum

kuka ŋ kuka -ŋ remove SS

y ɨ wa ŋ y ɨ wa - ŋ left them SS

iy ɨ kw ɨ ran iy ɨ -kw ɨ ran stay DS.2/3DU

, no no that/those

m ɨ nda m ɨ n da men/people SOURCE

ɨ not ɨ n -ot say 3SG.PST

na ŋ na ŋ like this




inomirak inomirak they (2) told those two

,

yaŋ ya ŋ they two said

ɨ yan ɨ y -an sit DS.2/3DU

pin ɨ a pin ɨ a their (2) father

p ɨ tak p ɨ tak got up

ɨ not ɨ n -ot say 2PL.IMP

dinda din da you(two) SOURCE

an an caused

ma ŋ ma ŋ fell down

k ɨ rak ɨ k ɨ rak ɨ ashes

teyi teyi covered / stuck to it

an an caused

ɨŋpitak ɨŋ pitak OBJ got up

ɨ wa ŋ ɨ wa - ŋ put SS

yiy ɨ k ɨŋ yiy ɨ k ɨŋ you sat down

ya ŋ ya - ŋ

k ɨ s ɨŋ k ɨ s ɨ - ŋ be happy SS

ɨ yem ɨ rak ɨ y -e -m ɨ rak sit PRES 2/3DU

?

And then their mother and father came back from the garden and took off their bilum and left it and sat down, and the two of them told their mother and father what the man had told them, they sat

like that and their father got up and he told them ' you two made it fall down and the ashes covered it, you lifeted it up and put it back and sat down and talked and were happy and sat down

6.10 Ya ŋ ya ŋ like.that

ɨ n ɨŋ ɨ n ɨ - ŋ say SS

dawa ŋ dawa - ŋ hit SS

panyiran p- anyi -ran PL.OBJ chase DS.3SG

para ŋ para - ŋ go out SS


.

He said like that and hit them and chased them and they went outside and went

6.11 Kokw ɨ ran ko -kw ɨ ran go DS.2/3DU


kare ŋ kare - ŋ see SS

buwat buwat eel

katon katon this

ɨŋ para ŋ ɨŋ para -ŋ OBJ go out SS

y ɨ n ɨŋ y ɨ n ɨ - ŋ cut up SS


, matn ɨ mat -n ɨ wife 3.POSS

a a became?


saweyan sawey -an peel DS.3SG

b ɨ t ɨ pon b ɨ t ɨ p -on clay pot LOC

som ɨ rak s -om ɨ rak cook 2/3DU.PST

.

They went and he left them (ignored them?) and took down the eel and cut it up, while his wife peeled food and they (2) cooked it in a clay pot.

6.12 San san They cooked

da ŋ da ŋ cook

bor ɨ kgwan bor ɨ kgwan finished

ankwan ankwan took it off fire

d ɨ r ɨ k d ɨ r ɨ k shared / divided

iy ɨ kw ɨ ra iy ɨ kw ɨ ra sat down


n ɨ mit n ɨ mit married

kwa kwa one

og ɨ m ɨ rak og ɨ m ɨ rak came up

, wan wan came


yawom ɨ rak yawom ɨ rak they said

, kerak kerak beach





s ɨŋ s ɨŋ cook

d ɨ r ɨ kdeŋ d ɨ r ɨ kde ŋ while sharing

yaŋ ya ŋ like.that

nuk gu nuk gu you know

ɨ rokwe ŋ ɨ rokwe ŋ you come up

.

THey cooked and when it had finished cooking they took it off the fire and divided it and sat down, and another married couple came up. They came and they (original couple?) looked and they said you are like beach people, because you know when people are cookign and dividing food and then you come'


yaŋɨŋ ya ŋɨŋ said


somirak somirak they cooked

d ɨ r ɨ k d ɨ r ɨ k shared / divided



niyo niyo themselves

na ŋ na ŋ eat

ɨŋ ɨŋ and

yumn ɨ kareg ɨ m ɨ rak yumn ɨ kareg ɨ m ɨ rak they ignored them

.

They said like this, and they cooked the food and divided it and ignored them and they ate themselves and ignored them

6.14 Ɨŋkw ɨ ran ɨŋkw ɨ ran and then



t ɨ m ɨ d ɨ t ɨ m ɨ d ɨ sit a bit


iy ɨ k iy ɨ k they sat

p ɨ re ŋ p ɨ reŋ not?

yutdakat yutdakat behind the house

ɨ rokom ɨ rak ɨ rokom ɨ rak they (2) went out

.

And then this married couple stayed a bit and saw that not (they didn't get any food) and so they sat behind the house

6.15 Ɨ roko ɨ roko came.out



katon katon this



, din din you(two)

ɨ wikgin ɨ wikgin now


e ŋ e ŋ up

dom ɨŋ dom ɨŋ Domung

sat ɨ m sat ɨ m place

kas ɨ n ɨ yon kas ɨ n ɨ yon cold


,

k ɨ wap k ɨ wap very cold climate

k ɨ ya ŋ k ɨ ya ŋ pandanus sp.

tamon tamon leaf

din din you(two)

k ɨ rak k - ɨ rak go 2DU.IMP

, ya ŋ ya ŋ like.that

ɨ nan ɨ nan they said to them


.

They came out and they saw the brother and sister and they said to them 'you two go right now to Domung, a very cold place where the leaves of the cold species of pandanus are' they said like that to them and they (2) went.

6.16 Kokw ɨ ran kokw ɨ ran they (2 ) went

m ɨ n teyi n ɨ m ɨ n teyi n ɨ her husband

a a became?

wipn ɨ wipn ɨ bow. his

tet tet rope

kw ɨ ra ŋ kw ɨ ra ŋ took off

, wip wip bow

garasam garasam bun bilong bunara

ɨŋ ɨŋ and

kup kup ground

ni ŋ ni ŋ dug


matn ɨ matn ɨ wife.his

a a became?

y ɨ kn ɨ yon y ɨ kn ɨ yon inside her bilum

,

a ŋ gw ɨ ra k ɨ yaton a ŋgw ɨ ra k ɨ yaton water container that beach people use made from shell coconut

, k ɨ rap k ɨ rap water

ka ŋ ka ŋ look

pot pot put in

de ŋ de ŋ he got out

ɨ yam ɨ yam lid

p ɨ r ɨ k p ɨ r ɨ k they pulled up

ɨŋ tak ɨ ran ɨŋ tak ɨ ran poured it

no no that/those

m ɨ n teyn ɨ m ɨ n teyn ɨ her husband

a a became?

kup kup ground

ni ŋg ɨ ton ni ŋ g ɨ ton he had dug

ma ŋgit ma ŋgit poured it down

ɨŋk ɨ ran ɨŋ ɨŋ k ɨ ran ɨŋ she did this and

bot p ɨŋ bot pɨŋ landslide appeared


katon katon this


dapg ɨ t dapg ɨ t killed them

.

They (2) went, and her husband (of the new married couple) took the rope off his bow and used the 'bone' of his bow to dig the ground, while his wife got out the water container from her bilum in which she had filled water, and poured it down on the ground that her husband had dug. They did this and a landslide came and killed this married couple (that killed the eel)

7 Ɨŋkw ɨ ran ɨŋkw ɨ ran and then

monyi monyi child



katon katon this

e ŋ e ŋ up

k ɨ wap k ɨ wap very cold climate

k ɨ ya ŋ k ɨ ya ŋ pandanus sp.

tamon tamon leaf

ɨ kom ɨ rak ɨ kom ɨ rak they (2) went up


so ŋ i soŋ i brother.her

or ɨŋ or ɨŋ bird sp.

m ɨ nam ɨ m ɨ nam ɨ bird

dakot dakot changed into

, ɨŋkw ɨ ra ɨŋ kw ɨ ra it became

boyi boyi daughter


daw ɨŋ gaman daw ɨŋ gaman bird sp

m ɨ nam ɨ m ɨ nam ɨ bird

dakot dakot changed into

.

And then the cildren brother and sister went up to the place where the cold climate pandaus leaves are and her brother turned into an Oring bird and his sister changed into a Dawing Gaman bird

8 Na ŋ na ŋ like this

gin gin still

mekan ɨ mekan ɨ story

wa wa come

non non there

na ŋ na ŋ like this

dakek dakek finish

Like this, this story finishes like this.

Table of contents - sil.org Web viewAn alphabet development worksheet and spelling guide ... 3.1...

Documents

Transcript of Table of contents - sil.org Web viewAn alphabet development worksheet and spelling guide ... 3.1...