Ambai language
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The Ambai language is an Austronesian language spoken in Indonesian New Guinea (Papua Province), mostly on the Ambai Islands as well as the southern part of Yapen Island.[1] The number of speakers is estimated to be 10,000. Dialects are Randawaya, Ambai (Wadapi-Laut), and Manawi.[2]
Phonology
Ambai has 19 consonants and 6 vowels, shown on the tables below.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | |
| Mid | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Open | Template:IPA link |
Morphology
Pronouns
All pronouns in Ambai mark for number, person and clusivity (in first person).
The following bound pronouns are obligatorily added as affixes to the verb to stand as the subject of the sentence. Every verb in Ambai takes a subject, even if it is a 'dummy' third-person pronoun.
| Singular | Dual | Trial | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | exclusiveScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". |
| inclusiveScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | ||
| 2nd person | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | |
| 3rd person | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | |
The following pronouns are independent and are more restricted in use. They do not appear as subjects – since the subject is marked already on the verb – but can appear as objects, in prepositional phrases and in subordinate clauses. Some verbs allow the object pronoun to be omitted.
| Singular | Dual | Trial | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | exclusiveScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". |
| inclusiveScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | ||
| 2nd person | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | |
| 3rd person | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | Script error: No such module "Lang". | |
Examples of pronouns used in everyday language: Template:Interlinear
References
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Further reading
- P.J. Silzer Ambai, an Austronesian Language of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, Ph.D. Australian National University, 1983.
External links
- The Ambai Language Documentation Page
- A Short Description of Ambai Grammar, by Ariel Gutman
- A Grammar Sketch of Ambai, by Fannie St-Pierre-Tanguay
Template:Halmahera–Cenderawasih languages Template:Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages Template:Languages of Indonesia