SAY IT in MOTU an Instant Introduction to the Common Language of Papua by PERCY CHATTERTON

SAY IT IN MOTU an instant introduction to the common language of papua by PERCY CHATTERTON

Robert Brown & Associates (Qld) Pty Ltd 7 Atherton Street. Buranda Qld. 41 02 Australia Contents

INTRODUCTION ...... 5 PRONUNCIATION ...... 6 GREETINGS ...... 7 SOME USEFUL SINGLE WORDS ...... 8 PLEASE AND THANK YOU ...... 8 ASKING QUESTIONS ...... 9 WHO ARE "WE"? ...... 11 "OURS" OR "OURS?"...... 12 NUMBERS ...... 12 ONEORMANY ...... 13 GIMME! ...... 13 WORDORDER ...... 14 SENTENCESHAPE ...... 15 ENGLISH-MOW VOCABULARY ...... 16 MOW-ENGLISH VOCABULARY ...... 22 MAP ...... 28-29 Introduction There are two kinds of Motu.

There is the Motu which is the mother tongue of the people of the Motu villages, strung out along the Papuan coast to the east and west of Port Moresby.

Then there is Hiri Motu, a simpler form of the language. This was the trade language of the people of the south Papuan coast before the coming of the white man. In particular it was the language of the Hiri, the great trading expedition which the Motu people mounted annuall;? and on which they traded earthenware pots for sago with the people of the villages fringing the Papuan Gulf.

In the 1890s it became the lingua franca of Sir William MacGregor's police force, and was for many years known as "Police Motu" on that account. Today it is widely used as a lingua franca throughout the length and breadth of Papua, though not in New Guinea which has its own lingua franca, Pidgin.

Hiri Motu is the common tongue of the streets and markets of Port Moresby, and an acquaintance with it, however slight, will add to the interest of a visit to that city. Pronunciation Greetings The consonants: GREETlNG ONE PERSON: bdghklmnprstvw Oi namo? Are you well? Pronounce these as in English. G is always as in go, never 10, lau namo. Yes, I'm alright. as in George. The vowels: Pronounce GREETING MORE THAN ONE PERSON: a as in father Umui namo? Are you well? e as in ten lo, ai namo. Yes, we're alright. i as in marine u as in rude These are the traditional Motu greetings. But there is a o is a bit more difficult, somewhere between the sound of growing tendency among young Papuans to use literal o in not and the sound of ou in nought. Scots will have no translations of the customary English greetings. trouble with this sound, but English and Australian speakers will find it a bit difficult at first. "Good day", "Good morning", "Good afternoon" and Double vowels: "Good evening". In their Motu dress these are Pronounce Dina namona! Good day! au and ao as ow in cow Daba namona! Good morning! ai and ae as in high Adorahi namona! Good afternoon! oi and oe as oy in boy Hanuaboi namona! Good evening! ou as in though ei as in weigh TO BID SOMEONE GOOD-BYE, SAY For other double vowels - pronounce each vowel Ba mahuta! separately. This is the equivalent of English "Sleep well! ", but is used Actually there is a very slight difference between the in the daytime as well as at night. sounds of au and ao, likewise between those of ai and ae and oi and oe. But it can be ignored for the purposes of this book. Stress; Papuans speak Motu very smoothly and evenly, with no strong stress on any one syllable. Listen to them and try to imitate them. Some useful single words Asking questions means "yes". Daika? Who? Dahaka? What? Sometimes you will hear an alternative word - Oibe. Who's That? Unai be daika? (Literally, That is Who?) Las i means "no". What's This? Inai be dahaka? (Literally, This is Sedira means "Perhaps", what?) "I'm not sure". With the appropriate What's the name of this? lnai gau ena ladana be intonation it can mean dahaka? "I couldn't care less". (This thing its name is Momokani means "That's for sure". what) Dohore means "Wait a bit", "Bye and bye". Now watch it!

Vadaeni means "Stop", "That'll do", What's that boy's name? Unai mero ena ladana be "That's enough". DAIKA?

(That boy his name is WHO?)

Daika ena? Whose?

Please and Thank You Whose pig is this? lnai be daika ena boroma? (This is whose pig?) Please is Mani or Mani emu kara in Motu. But most Papuans have taken over our English word and say Pilisi. Hida? How many? How much?

There is no Motu word which specifically means thank- How many are there you. A Papuan would probably say Namo (Good) or Namo altogether? 1 bounai hida? herea (Very good). But again our English word has been taken over in the form Tanikiu. (All-of-them how-many?) How much for this fish? lnai gwarume ena davana hida? Who are "We"? Here are the personal pronouns in Motu: (This fish its price how- much?) lau I oi you (singular) Edena? Which? umui you (plural) Edena negai? When? Edena Bamona? How? ia he, she or it

Which do you want? Oi ura edena? (You want idia they which?) or So far so good. But when we come to "we" it's harder Edena oi ura? (Which you going. In Motu, as in many Pacific languages, there are want?) two words for "we", and their meanings are different. Let us take an incident to make matters clear. When did he come? Edena negai ia mai? (Which time he come?) Two Papuans (we will call them A and B) find that they have nothing to eat. A says to B, "We have nothing to eat. How shall I do it? Edena bamona lau karaia? Let's go to C and ask him to give us some food". So they go (Which like I do-it?) to C. A says to C, "We have nothing to eat. Please give us some food". Edeseni ai? Where? When A said to B, "We have nothing to eat" he meant "You Where is the dancing and I have nothing to eat". The Motu word for "we", here going on? Mavaru gabuna be edeseni is ita. It is called the inclusive "we", because it includes ai? the person spoken to. (Dance place is where?) When A said to C, "We have nothing to eat" he meant "B and I have nothing to eat". The Motu word used for "we" Badina dahaka? Why? here is ai. It is called the exclusive "we", because it excludes the person spoken to. Why hasn't he come? Badina dahaka ia mai lasi? ita we (inclusive) (Reason what he come not?) ai we (exclusive) "Ours" or "OursH? One or Many Here are the possessives in Motu:- In Motu most nouns have the same form irrespective of whether they are singular or plural. Thus vaivai may egu my lau-egu mine mean one mango or many mangoes. Some other word emu your (singular) oi-emu yours (singular) must be used to show which is meant. your (plural) yours (plural) emui umui-emui A mango Vaivai ta (Mango one) ena his, her, its iena his, hers, its edia their idia-edia theirs A lot of mangoes Vaivai mom0 (Mango many) Inai be egu boroma This is my pig Inai boroma be lau-egu This pig is mine But once again we have two forms for "our" - inclusive and exclusive. Bona and Bena Exclusive: emai our ai-emai ours "Bona" means "and". "Bena" means "then". Use these Inclusive: eda our iseda ours words exactly as you would their English counterparts. Inai be eda takisi; ita lao. This is our taxi; let's go. Inai be emai takisi; oi siri. This is OUR taxi; you get lost. Gimme! Give me that fish

There are several ways of saying this in Motu. The best Numbers way requires more understanding of Motu grammar than I can give you in this book. A simple way which can be ta one used is rua two Unai gwarume oi henia lau dekenai toi three hani four (That fish you give-it me to) ima five Put a Pilisi on the front for politeness, of course! The Motu number system goes all the way up to 100,000, but is little used nowadays, perhaps because some of the number names are pretty polysyllabic. For instance, 99 is taurahanita ahui taurahanita! Papuans are familiar with the English numbers, and use them in preference to their own. But the five given above may be useful to you. Word order Sentence shape You can't just string words together in Motu in the same In English the shape of the sentence is usually order as you would in English. Subject - verb - object Occasionally the order is the same, as in:- In Motu it is generally I know you Lau diba oi Subject - object - verb I want fish Lau ura gwarume but it may even be Object - subject - verb but this doesn't often happen. The object-subject-verb order is used especiaily when the In Motu, adjectives of quantity and quality come after the subject is a pronoun: - noun, not in front of it:- I bought this basket lnai bosea lau hoia Five pigs Boroma ima (Pigs five) This basket I bought-it A big fish Gwarume badana ta (Fish big When the subject is a noun the order is generally (though one) not always) subject-object-verb: - Very good bananas Biku namo herea (Bananas good very) That boy killed a pig Unai mero boroma ta ia alaia That boy pig one he killed-it Prepositions also come after the noun, not in front of it:- I am going to the village Lau lao hanua dekenai But as the object-subject-verb order is always a possibil- I go village to ity, and as ia can mean either "he" or "it", this sentence is Put it in the basket Bosea lalonai oi atoa ambiguous. It could mean "A pig killed this boy". Basket in you put-it To get over this difficulty we use a "subject marker" to My father is behind the make clear which is the subject of the sentence. house Egu tamana be ruma murinai In Motu, the subject marker is ese, and it immediately My father is house behind t' follows the subject. So: - But demonstratives and possessives come in front of the Unai mero ese boroma ta ia alaia noun, as in English:- That boy (s.m.) pig one he killed-it That man Unai tau but: - My house Egu ruma Unai mero boroma ta ese ia alaia That boy pig one (s.m.) it killed-him. Now go right ahead and say it in Motu! dance mavaru fish gwarume English - Motu vocabulary darkness dibura fish-hook kimai day dina fishing net reke die mase five ima above ataiai broken makohi different idau floor reirei afternoon adorahi brother tadina, dirty miro fly (verb) ro ho all ibounai kakana, ditch dadaira, fly (noun) lao also danu taihuna koupa food aniani another ma ta (see Motu - do karaia foot aena answer haere English dog sisia forget laloa boio arm imana section) door iduara four bani arrive ginidae burn doua down diho, henuai friend turana ascend daekau bush udu drink inua fruit huahua ask henanadaia buy hoia drop hamorua full honu dry kaukau back doruna dust kahu, gahu garden uma bad dika call boiria, boiboi gate ikoukou bag puse canoe vanagi, get abia banana biku lakatoi each ta ta girl kekeni basket bosea carefully namonamo ear taiana give henia beach kone carry huaia eat ania go lao beat kwadia chair helai gauna edge isena good namo begin hamatamaia chest kemena egg gatoi grandchild tubuna bell gaba chief lohia end dokona grandparent tubuna below henuai church dubu eye matana grass rei betel nut buatau clean goevagoeva green gadoka- big bada clock dina gauna gndoka bite koria cloth, clothes dabua face vairana grow vara, tubu black korema cloud ori fall keto, moru ground tan0 blue vaiuri coconut niu father tamana guide hakaua blood rarana cold keru, keruma fear gari body tau-anina come mai fence magu, ara bone t uria cook nadua fight heatu hair huina borrow abitorehai cotton varo fill hahonua happy moale bottle kavabu cough hua find davaria hard auka boy mero count duahia finger kwaki- hat kwara gauna box maua crooked gageva kwakina hate inai henia break hamakohia cry taitai finish haorea he ia bring mailaia cut utua, ivaia finished ore head kwarna fire lahi hear kamonai heavy metau leave nail ikoko quick help durua (behind) rakatania name ladana her ena lie down he kure neck aiona here inai, iniseniai lie (untrue) koi koi new matamata rain medu hers iena lift (up) abia isi night hanuaboi rat bita hide hunia light noise read duahia hill ororo (not dark) diari (people) helogohelogo real momokani, his ena, iena light noise (things) regena, korikori hole matu (not heavy) haraga regerege red kakakaka hole live noho, mauri nose udu relative varavarana (in ground) gun long lata baubauna right hold dogoa tao look itaia now harihari (not wrong) maoro hot siahu look after naria right house ruina look for tahua (not left) idiba how? edena lose haboioa old (people) buruka ring (bell) toua bamona? lost boio old (things) gunana river sinavai how many? hida? love lalokau, one ta, tamona roof guhi hunt labana ura henia only sibona room daiutu open kehoa root ramuna our rope kwanau I lau (inclusive) eda run heau iron auri mainland tanobada our island motumotu make karaia (exclusive) emai man tau ours sad lalohisihisi many mom0 (inclusive) iseda sail journey laolao marry headava ours (of canoe) lara, palai jump ro ho mast au tubua (exclusive) ai-emai salt damena master biaguna owner biaguna salt water tadi meat vamu same hegeregere kill alaia meet hedavari =?' gwau, hereva mid-day dina tubua pain hisihisi scissors pa kos i milk rata parents tama sina sea davara laugh kin mine lauegu path dala see itaia law taravatu month hua people taunimanima sell hoia lazy lahedo moon hua pig boroma shame hemarai lead morning daba place gabuna share haria (show way) hakaua mosquito namo play gadara she ia leaf au rauna mother sinana pole au, aivara shoes tamaka leg aena mouth uduna Pot uro shoot pidia letter revareva my egu short kwadogi sugar cane tohu torn hedare weak manoka shout lo10 sweep daroa touch daua toho weeds ava shut koua sweet potato kaema tree au well namo, goeva sick gorere swim nahu trousers piribou well (water) guri sing ane abia true momokani wet paripari sister see table pata tly karaia toho what? dahaka? "brother" take abia turn giroa when? edena negai? sit helai take away laohaia twine varo where? edeseniai? skin kopina talk hereva- two rua which? edena? skirt rami hereva white kurokuro sky guba taste mamina untrue koikoi who? daika? sleep mahuta teach hadibaia UP dae, ataiai whole ibounai, slow metaira- tear use (verb) gaukaralaia idoinai metaira (paper, etc.) darea whose? daika ena? small maragi tell hamaoroa wind lai smell bonana that unai verandah dehe woman hahine smoke kwalahu their edia very herea write torea snake gaigai theirs idia-edia village hanua wrong kerere soft manoka- there unai, why? badina manoka unuseniai wallaby magani dahaka ? some haida these inai wait naria song ane they idia wake noga speak hereva thick uduna waken haoa, yam maho, taitu stand gini thin severa- hanogaia year lagani severa walk ra ka yellow labora-labora stand up toreisi thing gau wall haba yesterday varani star hisiu think laloa want ura YOU stay noho this inai wash huria (singular) oi steal henaoa those unai watch naria, you (plural) umui steps three toi gimaia your (building) vadavada throw tahoa water ranu (singular) emu stick au throw away negea waves hurehure your (plural) emui stomach bogana time nega we yours stone nadi tobacco kuku (inclusive) ita (singular) oiemu stop doko, today hari dina we yours hadokoa toe ae kwaki- (exclusive) ai (plural) umui-emui story sivarai kwakina straight maoromaoro tomorrow kerukeru strike botaia tongue malana strong goada tooth isena doap Dluowq Jew P'4 uraaq DID1 ay~us umop -DUDIDU~ wnp ssauyaep 11a1 DOlODtuq 'YJ~P YmJq ~~yoyowq payoo.13 (YJEP 10U) (qJah) P-I D"D4t-Y 1wQI awos DP!W uaaa% qepueaah In3 D"Uoyotl dqd PU!J UBUIOM au!yq (unou) a3qd Bas spaam DAD ua$q%pj DUDS~mrup 'Ilaq q3no~ UOJ! !lnD JaMSUB alaq daams ISEUI Dnqnl nu dop 01 sq 'aaq 's!q (31a 'aaded) jea1 Dunul no asnm 'dop ooyopoy (p3.In1d) mod aeaj poomaqj ny nlny ul nu q3m1 DTD~TPW (aqnaurs) osIe Paeq DynD as01 Dotoqml mod nwa qes a~od neM ~q~y(aA!snpxa) y3EJl yqs 'aaal no ano !DWa 'q1ed 'peoa ~nd DOID aaepap '11aj D?D~~D& d~ nSa (asnoq 30) dn 'aAOqe IDIDID dm nD& J!aql DtPa UI0o.I amaj DAD V!J awlu~& jaaaqh jlD!uaSapa jasOqM PoOJ ?UD?UD (aa1em 30) juaqm i!D8au Duapa ioVM 1- D!UD 11am jDUOUlDq i1eqM %UIS DlqD aUD (punoa8 u!) i MorI Duapa pua3se 'dn 0% %UOS aUD a1oq un8 iq3!qM i Duapa dn II!y DlDlD PI0 mDun8 (ah!snpu!) rl3l!P y3au DUOID 3- ?YM ano saqlo13 'qlo13 (ah~snpxa) 4s %u!u.IoUI SJ~O IDWa ID Y3!S a~a~o8 dlaq ;ah!snpxa) u€?a15 onaoS~nao8 q~1nq3 sn 'am !D qPuaa~s luno:, 'peaa $00~'%a1 DUaD '%UOJJS mo8 Wnq aol DU~DM~ uaruaa ?DU DO^@ (dp0q 30) -1yDMy aD Wru Dola 'I3eq uoouaalj e ~VDAO~D ahyae aop!u@ Pus MOJJOq !DyalOl?qD PUWs ?up do~s dn y31d '13!1 Is! DlqD paen2 'q3pm DtDlu$ PIoq aye1 'la% D?qD (qaah) asn D?DIDID~~D~ L~PP!~ %u!ql no8 q31em 'y3op %%a tolo8 Lep 'uns hani four hoia buy, sell kaema sweet potato labana hunt hanua village honu full kahu ashes, dust labora- hanuaboi night hua moon, month kakakaka red labora yellow haoa waken hua cough ka kana elder brotherladana name ha-orea finish huahua fruit or sister lagani year haraga light huaia carry (same sex) lahedo lazy (not heavy), huina hair kumonai hear, listen lahi fire quick hunia hide karaia do, make lai wind haraga- hurehure waves kuraia toho try lakatoi multi-hulled ha raga quick huria wash kaukau dry canoe haria share, divide kuvabu bottle laloa think, hari dina today ia he, she, him, kehoa open ' consider harihari now her, it krkeni girl laloa boio forget harihari ibounai all krmena chest laloa tao remember gauna gift idau, (human) lalo-hisihisi sad headava marry idau-idau different kt.re re wrong lalokau love, beloved heatu fight idia they, them krru, keruma cold lao go heau run, speed idia edia theirs krrukeru tomorrow lao fly (noun) hedare torn idiba right keto fall laohaia take away hedavari meet (not left) kimui fish hook laolao journey hegeregere same, equal idoinai whole kin laugh lara sail hekure lie-down iduara door koikoi untrue, lata long helai sit iena his, hers, its deceitful lau I, me helai gauna chair ikoko nail kone beach, shore lauegu mine helogo- noise Ikoukou gate kopina skin lohia chief, helogo (people) ima five korema black headman hemarai shame imana hand, arm koria bite lo10 shout henanadai ask, question inai this, these, korikori real, true henaoa steal here koua shut heniu give inai henia hate koupa ditch ma ta another henuai below, down iniseniai here kuku tobacco magani wallaby herlunai underneath inua drink kurokuro white magu fence, wall hereu very iseda ours kwadia hit, beat maho Yam hereva speak, say (inclusive) kwadogi short mahuta sleep hereva- isena tooth, edge kwaki- mai come hereva conversation ita we, us kwakina finger mailaia bring hida? how many? (inclusive) kwalahu smoke makohi broken hisihisi pain itaia see, look kwanau rope malana tongue hisiu star ivaia cut kwara gaunahat mamina taste kwarana head manoka soft. weak maoro right noga wake bevera- torea write (not wrong) noho stay, live severa thin toreisi stand up rnaoromaoro straight .sluhu hot toua ring bell, rnaragi small oi YOU si bona only, alone beat drum rnaragi- (singular) slnana mother tubu grow rnaragi tiny oiernu yours sinavai river tubuna grandparent, rnase die (singular) sisiu dog grandchild rnatarnata new ore finished s i vurai story turana friend rnatana eye, point on cloud turiana bone matu hole ororo hill, moun- 1 u one rnaua box tain tu tu each, uda b,ush, forest rnauri life pakosi scissc rs one by one udu rnavaru dance palai sail, tent tod1 salt water baubauna nose rnedu rain paripari wet fc~dlna younger uduna mouth rnero boy pata table, shelf brother or uduna thick metaira- pidia shoot sister urna garden metairu slow, slowly piribou shorts, (same sex) urnui you (plural) metau heavy trousers t ol~ou throw urnui ernui yours (plural) t(:tluu see, look for miro dirty puse bag unai that, those, tc~~unu ear there moale glad, happy f(lrhunu mom0 many, much raka walk brother or unuseniai there momokani true, certain rakatania leave sister u ra want moru fall (from (behind) (opposite ura henia love height) rakuraku firewood sex) uro cooking pot tclltul cry utua cut motumotu island rarni grass skirt ttlltu yam rarnuna root to rnu ka shoes, sandals nutii stone, rock ranu water vadavada steps furnuna father (of building) nudua cook, boil rarana blood tclrnasina parents nuhu swim rata milk vairana face 1 (1rr~ona only one vairanai in front of numo good, weli rauna leaf tono ground, land namo mosquito regena, vaiuri blue namonarno carefully regerege noise, (things) t clnobada mainland, varnu meat world vanagi outrigger nariu wait, rei grass toruvatu law, floor boards canoe look after, reirei prohibition watch, re ke fishing net vara born, grow tclrc man varani yesterday take care of revareva letter, writing tuu-anina body nega, negana time ro ho fly, jump varavarana relative, fuunimanima people relation negeu throw away rua two tohu sugar cane niu coconut rurna house varo cotton, to1 three thread Other Papua New Guinea titles available

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Balus - The Aeroplane in Papua New Guinea James Sinclair Volume I: The Early Years Volume II: The Rise of Talair Volume Ill: Wings of a Nation

A Pictorial History of New Guinea Noel Cash & June Whiftaker

From Inside the Women's House Enga Women's Lives and Traditions Alome Kyakas & Polly Wiessner

Kiap-Australia's Patrol Officers in Papua New Guinea James Sinclair

Volcano Town The 1937-43 Rabaul Eruptions R W. Johnson & N.A. Threfall

Take Necessary Action Chris & Louise Harkness Papua New Guinea Highlands Fiction

For more information write to: Robert Brown & Associates (Qld) Pty Ltd 7 Atherton Street, Buranda Qld 4102 Australia Telephone (07) 391 3704 Facsimile (07) 891 1638