Woisika language

Woisika
Woisika
Kamang
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Alor Island
Native speakers	6,000 (2014)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea ? West Bomberai ? Timor–Alor–Pantar Alor–Pantar Alor Woisika; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	woi
Glottolog	kama1365
ELP	Kamang

Woisika, also known as Kamang, is a Papuan language of Alor Island of Indonesia. The three main dialects are Western Kamang, Lowland Kamang, and Upland Kamang. Dialects also include Lembur, Sibo, Kamang, Tiayai, Watang, Kamana-Kamang. They may constitute more than one language. Kamang is an endangered language, since children usually only have passive competence of the language, and instead are shifting to Malay.^[2]

Speakers may prefer the term Kamang to refer to the speech community as a whole; Woisika is a village name.^[3]

Phonology

Consonants

Woisika consonant phonemes
		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	(ʔ) ⟨'⟩
Plosive	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Fricative		ɸ ⟨f⟩	s			(h)
Semivowel		w		j ⟨y⟩
Lateral			l

/h/ and /ʔ/ are marginal. /r/ is rare in initial and final position. Word-final /s/ is only in loan words.

The consonant /ŋ/ is not found word-initially, and /f/ is not found word-finally.^[4]

Vowels

Woisika vowel phonemes
	Front		Central		Back
Close	i	iː ⟨ii⟩			u	uː ⟨uu⟩
Mid	e	eː ⟨ee⟩			o	oː ⟨oo⟩
Open			a	aː ⟨aa⟩

Grammar

Serial verb constructions

Kamang has serial verb constructions.

Mooi

banana

bong

tree

nok

one

kok

fall.down

silang

descend

dii

lie

'A banana tree came falling down.'^[2]^: 345

Afunaa

a-funaa

3.PAT-face

yakii

ga-kii

3.PAT-turn

me

come

noowaai.

noo-waai.

3.AST-face

'Turn and face me.'^[2]^: 348 Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);

Valence

Examples with avalent, monovalent, bivalent, and trivalent verbs are shown below.^[2]

Avalent

Itunma

itun-ma

late.afternoon-PFV

'It's late afternoon.'^[2]^: 300

Monovalent

Markus

gamanteima

ga-mantei-ma

3.PAT-thirst-PFV

'Markus is thirsty already.'^[2]^: 301

Bivalent

Na

na

1SG.AGT

Markus

gatakma.

ga-tak-ma

3.PAT-see-PFV

'I have seen Markus'^[2]^: 301

Trivalent

Markus

patei

corn

me

TAKE

dumma

dum=a

child=SPEC

wotulen.

go-tulen

3.LOC-divide

'Markus divides corn amongst the children.'^[2]^: 301 Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);

Riddles

Woisika riddles relate to animals, the human body, human artifacts, natural phenomena, crops and other foods, among others.^[5]

References

^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Schapper, Antoinette (2014). "Kamang". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1: Sketch Grammars. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 287–349.
^ Grimes, Charles (1997). A guide to the people and languages of Nusa Tenggara (PDF). Kupang: Artha Wacana Press.
^ Stokhof, W.A.L. (1979). Woisika II Phonemics (PDF). Australian National University.
^ Stokhof, W.A.L. (1982). Woisika Riddles (PDF). Australian National University.

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[1] "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-06-06.

[Schapper-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Schapper, Antoinette (2014). "Kamang". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1: Sketch Grammars. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 287–349.

[3] Grimes, Charles (1997). A guide to the people and languages of Nusa Tenggara (PDF). Kupang: Artha Wacana Press.

[Phonemics-4] Stokhof, W.A.L. (1979). Woisika II Phonemics (PDF). Australian National University.

[Riddles-5] Stokhof, W.A.L. (1982). Woisika Riddles (PDF). Australian National University.

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