Organised Phonology Data

Waris (Walsa) Language [WRS] Wasengla – Sandaun Province Trans Phylum; Border-Tor-Lake Plain Subphylum; Border Stock; Waris Family Population census: 3200 (1981) Major villages: Dauatindi, Ivmi, Wainda, Kwek, Namolla Linguistic work done by: SIL Data checked by: Robert Brown October 2001

Phonemic and Orthographic Inventory

 æ   e i   u b d  x k l m n p r s t a ae e e ei i o o u b,mb d,nd g,ng h k l m n p r s t A Ae E E Ei I O O U B D G H K L M N P R S T

 w j v w y V W Y

Consonants

Bilab LabDen Dental Alveo Postalv Retro Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn Glottal p t k Nasal m n Trill r Tap/Flap  s x Lateral Fricative Approx j Lateral l Approx Ejective Stop Implos

/w/ voiced labial-velar

/b/ prenasalized bilabial plosive

/d/ prenasalized alveolar plosive

// prenasalized velar plosive Waris (Walsa) OPD Printed: September 21, 2004 Page 2

si 'later, not today' p panda 'pitpit type' s nopo 'eye' osa 'garden' av 'he sits' yes 'sago pudding' prav 'wasp' shav 'people are asleep' puptana 'freshly killed game' hesnal 'something fist' peps 'fern sp.' wuls 'spear'

- b banda 'snake sp.' r tombol 'dry' aral 'father' amb 'greens type' - brava 'snake sp.' prov 'to come' embv 'people come' andral 'a strong working man' m manda 'tree sp.' k kao 'tree sp.' wama 'cassowary' okala 'distant' am 'bat sp.' kuak 'tree sp' tralmokna 'barren' khui 'unused' avramnav 'to take as a wife' ekla 'jungle' aunilm 'last' hekw 'to cut foot-holds'

gao 'go!'  vah 'shoulder'  novol 'to look' engala 'hand' sev 'bird sp.' kuang 'bow type' vlis 'they take out' glalowolal 'dead tree' mevho 'pig manure' gingha 'tree sp.' deuvs 'empty house' inongv 'dream'

hao 'eat!' w wel 'pitpit type' x awal 'namesake' sahai 'tobacco' - wah 'knot' - hvev 'to get dull' hrahra 'water weed' lohv 'he stands' t tata 'meat' ata 'will today' lot 'banana type' j yung 'tree sp.' tralmokna 'barren' ayam 'chicken' atha 'sugar cane' - desuitv 'people trick others' l lol 'seed' d damba 'tree sp.' ola 'mountain' panda 'pitpit type' mal 'millipede' wand 'pitpit grass' - dla 'sound of moving' alphov 'to dig a hole' andha 'wild yam type' elhulp 'a big stream' endv 'to hang, slope away' n noi 'that one' sanoko 'wasp' kan 'tree sp.' nnol 'mother's brother' nenvuing 'tree sp.' ank 'a tiny lorikeet' inne 'food'

Waris (Walsa) OPD Printed: September 21, 2004 Page 3

Vowels

i u

e    æ   i iv 'breadfruit'  singeo 'yam type' kin 'heavy' hi 'where?' euhumb 'sweet potato' amiuv 'an old traditional dance' u keu 'chin' e peil 'area around a house' i aivol 'a lazy man' kueilv 'many people lay down logs' hoambavai 'tree sp.' Waiv 'personal name'

 ev 'wart' pel 'tree type'  kaometind 'tree sp.' he 'snake type' prao 'come!' kuelv 'one person lays down logs' i loi 'he shot it'  . nemet 'new' i noi 'that one' neme 'wild pig'

 boalngal 'corner post of a house' . æ anganoa 'Palm cockatoo' naeng 'digging stick' - i hoaival 'scar' hoail 'sago pounding axe' und 'heart' u pul 'betel nut' silu 'yam type' ui huiombo 'vine sp.' ivtopui 'edible pitpit cultivar'

 om 'yesterday' som 'banana type' u kuethav 'to lean against' sanoko 'wasp' kue 'stinging nettle'

 av 'he sits' uu pueuv 'ton tree' kan 'tree type' ilpa 'roach' u duang 'white man'

vua 'bird sp.'  ov 'sky' soh 'banana type' u tuovo 'bird sp.' lo 'tooth' - i kiakia 'kingfisher sp.' Wiah 'personal name'

/i/ // /u/ Waris (Walsa) OPD Printed: September 21, 2004 Page 4

/i/ // /i/ /i/ // /ui/ /u/ /u/ /u/ /i/ /uu/

Suprasegmentals (tone, stress, length) Stress is phonemic. 'aval 'ant sp.' 'sagal 'singsing' a'val 'mother' sa'gal 'rat sp.'

Syllable Patterns V e 'stomach' a.val 'mother' tu.a.wa 'bird' mbu.a 'sound of hitting' CV ne 'sago palm' te.lal 'husband' es.pe.ta 'a small amount' da.ti 'today' CVC sis 'roof' put.ha 'dirt' la.kam.da 'centipede' kwai.hov 'fern sp.' CCV psa 'tree sp' bra.va 'snake sp.' a.kli.ha evev 'holding hands' pund.psa 'tree sp.' CCVC psil 'rock type' al.phov 'to dig a hole' CVCC musk 'anger' pu.volv 'to wait' VC iv 'breadfruit' il.pa 'roach' CVV nai 'woman's skirt' sai.hu.la 'snake' ta.la.hui 'single woman' CVVC wais 'moon' boam.kel 'scraper' a.miuv 'a dance' VCC asv 'she washes sago' VVCC aisv 'he shakes' CCVV khui 'unused' CVVV Koai 'personal name' CVVVC pueuv 'ton tree' CCVVC braol 'rotten' CVVCC put.raohv 'to give a round thing'

Conventions: Phonological

// is raised.

/æ/ occurs only in stressed syllables with bilabials and is rare; some phonetical [æ] are the result of // raised by nearby /u/.

The contrasts between /l/ and /r/, /d/ and /r/ are neutralized word initially and finally, because /r/ occurs only word medially.

Prenasalized / b d / are lenis word initially and voiceless word finally and medially before /x, w/.

/t/ is pronounced with flat friction [t] in all positions.

/l/ is pronounced with flat friction [l ] word finally.

/p/ and / k/ are pronounced rounded next to rounded vowels.

/x/ is pronounced backed initially and finally in relation to non-rounded vowels, rounded [x] initially and finally in relation to rounded vowels, but not before /w/, and it is a voiced lax back velar fricative intervocalically. Waris (Walsa) OPD Printed: September 21, 2004 Page 5

Conventions: Orthographic Phonetic prenasalization is written medially and finally. Stress is not written.

Both // and // are written < e >, and // and // are written < o >.

It has not been decided yet what is the best way to write [æ]; alternative symbols < á >, < ai > or < ae > have been tried. The phonetic rounding after consonants is analysed as a vowel and is written < u > or < o >: xoail 'sago pounding axe', pueuv 'ton tree'.

Phonetic schwa [] occurring in unstressed syllables is written as < a > or < e > according to insight gained from affixed forms as to what the underlying vowel is: sa [s] 'coconut' but samba [sb] 'coconut + focus'. Where it is not clear whether the underlying form is // or /e/, it is arbitrarily taken to be //.

Transcription of a recorded passage / b xllm j km | jm k m isxmn || w munsi k kn dum jm umnin  | km wo jnkirm || w kmisrm tl sibiln kb wn | k idkubi kusn b | d t mndklir | t nb s u | bs || bsr k sixipinb | bp k k en t | d k pinb | j t spir n | d k b enb kinntur || ki nntur knb | w lnb mur m /

< Bov hellevm yeoa kam, yem kava moa ishomnav. Wo mungnasiva kava kavna duangm Yevm umnina, " Kam wongao Yonkirame" . Wo kamisram tangal simbilan kamba wongana, kav indkumbi angakusonamba, doa oto mendeklira, otova nomba os uv, bas. Basra kava sihipianamba, Bovpa kava kav enganata, doa kav vongopianamba, Yev otova spir vevna, doa kav ambo venamba Kainantura. Kainantura kovvnamba, wo angolavnamba mura evama. >

'Bob, listen to me. I'm telling you about something. One day we said to our white man Jeff: "Take us to Yonki." Thursday the tenth he took us, we all gathered and went. At that time it was in a big auto called a "bus" . We all got into a bus, Bob and I went , too. We all climbed in and Jeff drove. We were going along and passed through Kainantu, going along well, it was a long way.'

Bibliography Brown, Robert. 1981. 'Semantic aspects of some Waris predications.' In Syntax and semantics in New Guinea languages, edited by Karl J. Franklin, pp. 93-123. ___. 1981. 'A sociolinguistic survey of Pagi and Kilmeri.' Workpapers in languages 29:193-206. ___. 1988. 'Waris case system and verb classification.' Language and Linguistics in Melanesia 19:37-80. ___. 1977-1990. Manuscripts. SIL, Ukarumpa. Brown, Robert, and Honoratus Wai, compilers. 1986. Diksenari: Walsana Moa Pisinna Moa Englisna Moa (A short dictionary of the Walsa (Waris) language, and English). 143 pp. (125) ISBN 0-9980-0- 0337-5 [CIDA]. Seiler, Walter. 1985. Imonda, a Papuan Language. Pacific Linguistics Series B - No. 93.