Kwamera Dictionary Nikukua Sai Nagkiariien Nininife
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PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Series C - No. 95 KWAMERA DICTIONARY NIKUKUA SAl NAGKIARIIEN NININIFE by Lamont Lindstrom Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Lindstrom, L. Kwamera dictionary Nikukua sai nagkiariien nininife. C-95, x + 204 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1986. DOI:10.15144/PL-C95.cover ©1986 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. PACIFIC LINGUISTICS is issued through the Linguistic Circle of Canberra and consists of four series: SERIES A - Occasional Papers SERIES B - Monographs SERIES C - Books SERIES D - Special Publications EDITOR: S.A. Wurm ASSOCIATE EDITORS: D.C. Laycock, C.L. Voorhoeve, D.T. Tryon, T.E. Dutton EDITORIAL ADVISERS: B.W. Bender K.A. McElhanon University of Hawaii Summer Institute of Linguistics David Bradley H.P. McKaughan La Trobe University University of Hawaii A. Capell P. MUhlhiiusler University of Sydney Linacre College, Oxford Michael G. Clyne G.N. O'Grady Monash University University of Victoria, B.C. S.H. Elbert A.K. Pawley University of Hawaii University of Auckland K.J. Franklin K.L. Pike Summer Institute of Linguistics Summer Institute of Linguistics W.W. Glover E.C. Polome Summer Institute of Linguistics University of Texas G.W. Grace Malcolm Ross University of Hawaii Australian National University M.A.K. Halliday Gillian Sankoff University of Sydney University of Pennsylvania E. Haugen W.A.L. Stokhof Harvard University University of Leiden A. Healey B.K. T'sou Summer Institute of Linguistics City Polytechnic of Hong Kong L.A. Hercus E.M. Uhlenbeck Au�tralian National University University of Leiden Nguyen f>ling Liem J.W.M. Verhaar University of Hawaii Divine Word Institute, John Lynch Madang University of Papua New Guinea All correspondence concerning PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, including orders and subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Secretary PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies The Australian National University G.P.O. Box 4, Canberra, A.C.T. 2601 Australia Copyright @ The Author First Published 1986 Typeset by Ling Matsay Maps drawn by Theo Baumann Printed by A. N.U. Printing Service Bound by Adriatic Bookbinders Pty Ltd The editors are indebted to the Australian National University for assistance in the production of this series This publication was made possible by an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund ISSN 0078-7558 ISBN 0 85883 340 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS page LOCATION MAP iv GENERAL INFORMATION v KWAMERA - ENGLISH 1 ENGLISH INDEX 141 BIBLIOGRAPHY 195 iii iv 15' " .,\ \.�. ... VANUATU ' • , 19' Tanna .. 169' • 20' 30' 20' 30' s TANNA uninhabited o, 5, 10, Kilometres 169' 30' E TANNA LAN GUAGES GENERAL INTRODUCTION Kw amera is the language of approximately 2000 people who live on the south-east and south coasts of the island of Tanna , Vanuatu . Nineteenth century mission aries named this language after the site of an early mission station . Speakers of the language today ordinarily call it Nfninffe, or Nffe (saying what, or what). Pioneer missionary linguists produced a body of religious and educa tional material in Kwamera (e.g. A. watt 1890; w. Watt 1880, 1890, 1919) but never attempted a comprehensive dictionary . (Ferguson 1918:22 notes that watt published an English dictionary on Tanna in 1887 but as no copies of this work have been found , it is not known whether this was bilingual .) Kwamera is the most different of five related Tanna languages. The language area extends from Iasur volcano in the east down and around the southern tip of the island to Karimasaga Point , immed iately to the north of Green Point . In an area characterised by dialect chains , it is often mi sleading to map linguistic boundaries . The Tannese themselves, however , concerned with the value and distinctiveness of their languages, recognise geographic bounds which separate Kw amera from White Sands language to the north , and from South-west Tanna language to the west. Tradition situates the northern boundary in the centre of Ipikil village on Sulphur Bay . Two stones lie side-by-side near the sea: the northerly named Narhak (the local name for White Sands language) ; the southerly named N�fe . Karimasaga Point simi larly marks a socially-recognised (if not actual ) linguistic boundary between Kw amera and South-west Tanna (see map ) . This dictionary is a by-product of an initial twenty-two months period of anthropological fieldwork in Vanuatu during 1978 and 1979 . I returned to Tanna in 1982 and again in 1983 for a subsequent six mo nths linguistic research . Tannese languages all subsume a number of village and area microdialects . In the main , dialectal difference is lexical rather than phonological or gramma tical . A set of key dialectical cognates serves to identify or situate a speaker as resident of a particular village or place within his language area. Speakers of each microdialect judge their own linguistic style to be mo st correct and pleasing. I collected the greater part of the data on which this dictionary is based from the vil lage of Samaria (Iankahar) . I include , however , those alternate forms which people ordinarily remark as having mo st symbolic value in demonstrating a person 's affiliation with one of four other regions in the language area. These are Port Resolution , Imaki , Kw amera (the southern coast) , and what is here called the 'mountain area ' (villages situated in the hills west of Samaria). The dictionary is in no sense dialectically complete , however . Because of the accident of research site selection , it must be considered Samaria-centric. v vi The dictionary is organised to complement the recent , more detailed and exten sive linguistic research and description of Tanna languages by Lynch (1977, 1978a, 1982) and Tryon (1976) . Kw amera grammar is substantially similar to that of the Lenakel and South-west Tanna languages ; this dictionary may be used in conj unction with Lynch 's grammars of these two languages . I mean this dictionary partially to repay the welcome , friendship , and assist ance given me by the people of South-east Tanna . This is only a preliminary accounting of Kwamera. I expect linguistically trained Kw amera speakers, in the very near future , to record in more accurate detail the breadth and complexity of their language . I hope that this dictionary might provide them a starting point in their task . ORGAN ISATION This dictionary takes as its model Lynch 's Lenakel (1977) and South-west Tanna (1982) lexicons . As such , it contains two sections . The first lists Kw amera words with English glosses and the gross grammatical categories to which they belong . A number of phrases , idioms , and sentences illustrate range of meaning and usage for many of these words . Illustrative sentences , in so far as this was possible, were taken from everyday conversational interaction . A second section serves as an English index to the first. ORTHOGRAPHY The Kwamera alphabet contains the following 21 letters : a, e, f, fw, g, h, i, i, k, kw, m, mw, n, 0, p, pw, r, 5, t, U, V. Kwamera phonology is generally similar to that of South-west Tanna and Lenakel. Readers may refer to Lynch (1978a, 1982) for the details of phonological rules . The following pronunci ation guide , however , represents the basics of the Kwamera phonological system . a sounds like a in English fa ther. e sounds like e in English pet . f sounds like f in English foot. fw sounds like fw in English of wh ich. 9 sounds like ng in English ring. h sounds like h in English house. When h comes after g, m, mw, n, r, or v, the preceding sound is devoiced (whispered) . between consonants sounds like i in English win; next to a vowel sounds like y in English yet. i sounds like e in English fa ther. k at the beginning or end of a word sounds like k in English ki ll; in the middle of words sounds like 9 in English ago . kw at the beginning or end of a word sounds like kw in English back way; in the middle of words sounds like gw in English dogwood. m sounds like m in English mother . mw sounds like mw in English tramway . n sounds like n in English net . o sounds like 0 in English open . p at the beginning or end of a word sounds like p in English pi g; in the middle of words sounds like b in English table . vii pw at the beginning or end of a word sounds like pw in English up wi th; in the middle of words sounds like bw in English bobwhi te. r is flapped at the beginning and middle of words and trilled at the end . s sounds like s in English sea . t at the beginning or end of a word sounds like t in English tablet; in the middle of words sounds like d in English ladder. U between consonants sounds like u in English push; next to a vowel sounds like w in English west. v has no corresponding sound in English ; similar to w but with the lips spread rather than rounded . The above orthographic system is based for comparison on earlier work by Lynch . A Tanna orthographic commi ttee is presently devising an alphabet to be used primarily for educational material . The committee has made a number of preli minary decisions and the following substitutions may be made for the above symbols : , e e + e , fw f mw m 9 ng pw p y (when next to a vowe l) u w (next to a vowel) Stress generally occurs on the second last syllable of a word .