Jump to content

Ama language (New Guinea)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Ama (Papua New Guinea))
Ama
Sawiyanu
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionEast Sepik Province
Native speakers
490 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3amm
Glottologamap1240
ELPAma
Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

Ama (Sawiyanu) is a Left May language of Papua New Guinea, in East Sepik Province. Former dialects have merged.

Ethnologue reports that it is spoken in Ama (Wopolu I) (4°06′12″S 141°39′54″E / 4.103263°S 141.665012°E / -4.103263; 141.665012 (Ama)), Kauvia (Kawiya) (4°07′24″S 141°39′47″E / 4.123436°S 141.662939°E / -4.123436; 141.662939 (Kavia)), Waniap creek (4°12′57″S 141°43′44″E / 4.215844°S 141.728851°E / -4.215844; 141.728851 (Waniap)), Wopolu II (Nokonufa) (4°04′23″S 141°42′22″E / 4.072957°S 141.706211°E / -4.072957; 141.706211 (Waburu 1&2)), and Yonuwai (4°11′37″S 141°36′14″E / 4.193624°S 141.603848°E / -4.193624; 141.603848 (Yenuai)) villages of Tunap/Hunstein Rural LLG, East Sepik Province.[1][2]

Phonology[edit]

Ama has 12 consonants, which are:[3]: 344 

p t k kʷ
ɸ s h
m n
w ɻ j

Ama has 7 vowels, which are:[3]: 344 

i u
e o
ɔ
a ɒ

Pronouns[edit]

Pronouns are:[3]: 345 

sg du pl
1incl moti moi
1excl yo/ya koti koi
2 nono/na moti moi
3 to/ta toti toi

Grammar[edit]

Ama has four tenses, which are marked by suffixes.

  • remote past (-ki)
  • near past (i. e. yesterday) (-a)
  • present (today) (Ø, unmarked)
  • future (-imoi ~ -i)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ama at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  3. ^ a b c Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ama_language_(New_Guinea)&oldid=1177506539"