Organised Phonology Data
Maiadom Language [MZZ] Milne Bay Province Oceanic; Papuan Tip Cluster; Nuclear Papuan Tip, Bwaidoga Network Population census: 724 (2000 Census) Major villages: Madagowai, Subita, Yavalai, Kubwana, Wasalia, Mekuya, Kalokaloye, Dodobutu, Sigamwana and Niumole. Linguistic work done by: SIL: Data checked by: Nicki Miller and Karla Sligh (March 2001) (Data based on 13 weeks of work in the language and an Alphabet Design Workshop held November 27-29, 2000).
Phonemic and Orthographic Inventory
/ a b b d e i k k l m m n o s t u v w / < a b bw d e g gw i k kw l m mw n o p pw q s t u v w y ' > < A B Bw D E G Gw I K Kw L M Mw N O P Pw Q S T U V W Y ' >
Consonants
Bilab LDent Dental Alveo Post Retrofl Palat Velar Uvul Phary Glott Alveo
Plosive b t d k Nasal m n
Fricative v s Lateral l Approximant
/w/ voiced labio-velar approximant
/b/ voiced labialized bilabial plosive
// voiceless labialized bilabial fricative
/k/ voiceless labialized velar plosive
// voiced labialized velar plosive
/m/ labialized bilabial nasal Maiadom OPD Printed: 09/01/01 Page 2
/b/ bawe ‘pig’ /b/ bwasi ‘water’ gebuka ‘no’ tabwaneye ‘on top of’
/t/ tomoqo ‘man’ /d/ daila ‘pitpit’ mata ‘eye’ kodo ‘neck’
/k/ keda ‘path, road’ /k/ kwaima ‘ant’ saku ‘things’ kwekwe ‘frog’
// gamo ‘stomach’ // gwaitu ‘sugar cane’ dagula ‘feather’ kailegwa ‘to wash’
// tomo’otoqa ‘people’ /m/ mata ‘eye’ waineye’eqa ‘from there’ kemopo ‘leafy green vegetable’
/m/ mwakipo ‘red fruit’ /n/ natu ‘son’ dumwelili ‘mosquito’ vanuqa ‘house’
// pou ‘egg’ // pwepwea ‘baby’ waliopa ‘rat’ tupwaidiavo ‘some’
/v/ vavine ‘woman’ // yato ‘to put’ lovana ‘night’ kaisaya ‘animals’
/s/ saba ‘color’ // qauqau ‘not clear’ mesai ‘like’ iqana ‘fish’
/l/ labia ‘sago’ /w/ waligoa ‘crocodile welavi ‘tree' bawe ‘pig’
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Vowels i u
e o
a
inava ‘kundu drum’ una ‘spear’ i u bikwa ‘taro’ kuta ‘betelnut skin’ boqi ‘yesterday’ ovu ‘cave’
eso ‘mat’ oba ‘green lizard’ e o beno ‘chilli’ kogala ‘post’ dede ‘this’ emo ‘small fish’ akala ‘river’ a base ‘before’ digaba ‘year’
Diphthongs
/ai/ ainaqo ‘I will go’ /au/ umauma ‘to wrap’ baisoa ‘snake’ nau ‘pot’ kai ‘fire’ /ou/ koukou ‘dog’ /ei/ deima ‘digging stick’ pou ‘egg’ kwei ‘rain’
/oi/ goi ‘to perch’
Suprasegmentals
Maiadom is not tonal and stress patterns will require more in depth investigation but do not appear to be lexically significant. Stress is predictable and occurs on the penultimate syllable.
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Syllable Patterns
Observed syllable patterns are V and CV. However, the CV syllable pattern is the most common.
V Syllable Pattern Maiadom English 1 Syllable Word V e ‘yes’ Word Initial V.CV.CV i.na.qo ‘he went’ V.V i.a ‘friend’ Word Medial CV.V.CV qi.u.va ‘nest’ Word Final CV.V me.a ‘tongue’
CV Syllable Pattern Maiadom English 1 Syllable Word CV pou ‘egg’ Word Initial CV.V qi.u ‘tail’ Word Medial CV.CV.CV ka.ka.wa ‘spider’ Word Final V.CV o.vu ‘cave’ *To date we have not found a one syllable CV word in which a single vowel fills the vowel slot.
Maiadom exhibits syncope and apocope in that high vowels are often deleted word medially or finally following a nasal. However, the underlying form still conforms to the CV syllable pattern. ex: kom(u) kan(i) sim(u)sim(u)
Vowel sequences in which the second vowel in the sequence is [+high] represent a single syllabic unit or diphthong as presented in Section 4. All other vowel sequences are analyzed as two syllables.
Examples of vowel sequences which are analyzed as a single V.
/ai/ kai ‘fire’ /ei/ kwei ‘rain’ /oi/ tovoi ‘to stand’ /au/ nau ‘pot’ /ou/ koukou ‘dog’
Examples of vowel sequences which are analyzed as two syllables.
/io/ iolia ‘to carry on the side’ /ia/ ia ‘friend’ /iu/ qiu ‘tail’ /oa/ baisoa ‘snake’ /eu/ gileu ‘stone’
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Phonological Conventions
/, p/ occur in free variation. [p], however, is primarily found in words borrowed from English and is weakened towards the [] found in Maiadom.
[t] and [k] occur as allophones of their unaspirated counterparts only in stressed syllables.
[a] is reduced to [] word finally.
[g] and [] contrast in all environments so was chosen to represent the voiced velar fricative.
ex. gaugau ‘cold’ kailugu ‘mustard’ qauqau ‘not clear’ kailuqa ‘two’
The voiced labio-velar approximant /w/ contrasts with its labial and velar counterparts in all environments. There is no clear contrast with /u/, however, so it could be argued that phonemically the /w/ is a /u/ which functions as a consonant when it occurs in the syllable initial position. Due to sociolinguistic pressures within the language group, however, we have chosen to represent this sound with the grapheme
All labialized consonants have been analyzed as a single C. They will be written as Cw because, like many other Milne Bay languages, this is the way the people are accustomed to writing them.
Orthographic Conventions
Problem: The language group wanted to designate the voiced dental fricative [] with the grapheme
Problem: Debate on whether to represent the voiceless bilabial fricative [] with . Solution: A vote was taken among the participants attending the workshop since we needed a way to represent this sound for the spelling guide. The majority chose . A community meeting will be held in the near future to make the final decision. Reasons: People who have attended community schools were more apt to write . Some felt that was Dobu and not Maiadom. Maiadom OPD Printed: 09/01/01 Page 6 Problem: The voiced velar fricative [] and the voiced velar plosive [] were represented by the same grapheme <>. Solution: Use Problem: Some speakers were representing both the transitional glide [y] and the dental fricative [] with the grapheme Problem: How to represent the glottal stop [] which occurs between two vowels which are the same. Solution: Represent [ with an apostrophe <’> Reasons: The apostrophe <’> is used to represent the glottal stop [ in other Milne Bay languages—Dobu, Iamelele and Molima Sample Text tauniu uaasa vesiusiuu tutua base au ibwaiiuwe. mwelimwelie kamiamia au aaasa. avo, “au kao maiboi boudi adakanidi.” avuu ivo, “kom kamusala?” we au avo, “kausala aaasa.” we avuu auuasa inoaia enuana idavulua. tamo tutua kanao tobwatobwa kamatamataona. lovane au akenokeno avuu ibodaboda maiboi. we eidaauadia. vanua ikawananaai au atovoi ivoneu. ivo, “kaikulaukaoi maiboi taikaniabu. kakaniabu ikakava au kaumaiboi ivelaua ikakava.” ivoneu ivo, “ia base uaasa. kaokikani kakavadi we kaebuka aikwasimu.” we au eadakani kakavadia. itovoi ikwasikwasiu we au ataitaia. ikakava kataua vanue. Maiadom OPD Printed: 09/01/01 Page 7 Taunigu Gugagasa Vesipusipupu Tutuya base yau gibwaigiuwe. Mwelimweliqe kamiamia yau agagasa. Avo, “Yau kago maiboqi boudi adakanidi.” Avugu ivo, “Kom kamusala?” We yau avo, “Kagusala agagasa.” We avugu agugugasa inoqaiqa genuana idavuluqa. Tamo tutuya kanago tobwatobwa kamatamataqona. Lovane yau akenokeno avugu ibodaboda maiboqi. We geidayauadiqa. Vanuqa ikawananaqai yau atovoi ivonegu. Ivo, “Kaikulaukaoqi maiboqi taikanigabu. Kakanigabu ikakava yau kagumaiboqi ivelaguya ikakava.” Ivonegu ivo, “Ia base gugagasa. Kagokikani kakavadi we kagebuka aikwasimu. We yau geadakani kakavadiqa. Itovoi ikwasikwasigu we yau ataitaiqa. Ikakava katauya vanuqe. The Story of My Pride When I was small and we went to Mwelimweliqe, I was proud. I said, “I can eat many flying foxes.” My uncle said, “Are you fit to do this?” I said, “I’m fit. I’m proud and I can do it.” My uncle never forgot that he heard me say that I was proud. One day we went to Tobwatobwa to catch flying foxes. We didn’t carry many things. At daybreak, I woke up. He said to me, “Light a fire and we will roast flying foxes.” After we finished roasting them, he put a heap of flying foxes in front of me. He said, “My friend, before you were proud. Now you will finish eating these; and if not, I’ll smear them on you.” And, I couldn’t finish them. He stood up, smeared them on me, and I started crying. After he finished, we went into the house. Maiadom OPD Printed: 09/01/01 Page 8 Orthography Chart Maiadom Iamelele Dobu Molima Minaveha Phon Orth Phon Orth Phon Orth Phon Orth Phon Orth p p p p p p b b b b b b b b b b t t t t t t t t t t d d d d d d d d d d k k k k k k k k k k g g g g g ’ ’ ’ ’ pw pw pw pw bw bw bw bw bw bw bu bw bw bw kw kw kw kw kw kw ku kw kw kw w gw w gw u gw w gw w ’w w ’w u ’w m m m m m m m m m m n n n n n n n n n n mw mw mw mw mw mw mu mw mw mw y y y p f f f f v v v v v v v v s s s s s s s s s s w pw fw fw fu fw q q h h h l l l l l l l l w w w w w w w w w w j y i i i i i i i i i i e e e e e e e e e e u u u u u u u u u u o o o o o o o o o o a a a a a a a a a a Bibliography Grimes, Barbara. (1996), Ethnologue. SIL. Dallas. Wurm, Stephen A. (ed. 1975). New Guinea Area Languages & Language Study Vol. 1. Papuan Languages and the New Guinea Linguistic Scene. Pacific Linguistics, C-38. to represent the voiced velar fricative []. Reasons: [] is not an allophone of []. These sounds contrast in all environments. Other Fergusson Island languages have made the same distinction between these two sounds.