| Woisika | |
|---|---|
| Kamang | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Alor Island |
Native speakers | 6,000 (2014)[1] |
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | woi |
| Glottolog | kama1365 |
| ELP | Kamang |
Woisika, also known as Kamang, is a Papuan languageofAlor IslandofIndonesia. The three main dialects are Western Kamang, Lowland Kamang, and Upland Kamang. Dialects also include Lembur, Sibo, Kamang, Tiayai, Watang, Kamana-Kamang. They may constitute more than one language. Kamang is an endangered language, since children usually only have passive competence of the language, and instead are shifting to Malay.[2]
Speakers may prefer the term Kamang to refer to the speech community as a whole; Woisika is a village name.[3]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ ⟨ng⟩ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | (ʔ) ⟨'⟩ | |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | ɸ ⟨f⟩ | s | (h) | |||
| Semivowel | w | j ⟨y⟩ | ||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
/h/ and /ʔ/ are marginal. /r/ is rare in initial and final position. Word-final /s/ is only in loan words.
The consonant /ŋ/ is not found word-initially, and /f/ is not found word-finally.[4]
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | iː ⟨ii⟩ | u | uː ⟨uu⟩ | ||
| Mid | e | eː ⟨ee⟩ | o | oː ⟨oo⟩ | ||
| Open | a | aː ⟨aa⟩ | ||||
Kamang has serial verb constructions.
Mooi
banana
bong
tree
nok
one
kok
fall.down
silang
descend
dii
lie
Mooi bong nok kok silang dii
banana tree one fall.down descend lie
'A banana tree came falling down.'[2]: 345
Afunaa
a-funaa
3.PAT-face
yakii
ga-kii
3.PAT-turn
me
me
come
noowaai.
noo-waai.
3.AST-face
Afunaa yakii me noowaai.
a-funaa ga-kii me noo-waai.
3.PAT-face 3.PAT-turn come 3.AST-face
'Turn and face me.'[2]: 348 Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
Examples with avalent, monovalent, bivalent, and trivalent verbs are shown below.[2]
Avalent
Itunma
itun-ma
late.afternoon-PFV
Itunma
itun-ma
late.afternoon-PFV
'It's late afternoon.'[2]: 300
Monovalent
Markus
Markus
Markus
gamanteima
ga-mantei-ma
3.PAT-thirst-PFV
Markus gamanteima
Markus ga-mantei-ma
Markus 3.PAT-thirst-PFV
'Markus is thirsty already.'[2]: 301
Bivalent
Na
na
1SG.AGT
Markus
Markus
Markus
gatakma.
ga-tak-ma
3.PAT-see-PFV
Na Markus gatakma.
na Markus ga-tak-ma
1SG.AGT Markus 3.PAT-see-PFV
'I have seen Markus'[2]: 301
Trivalent
Markus
Markus
Markus
patei
patei
corn
me
me
TAKE
dumma
dum=a
child=SPEC
wotulen.
go-tulen
3.LOC-divide
Markus patei me dumma wotulen.
Markus patei me dum=a go-tulen
Markus corn TAKE child=SPEC 3.LOC-divide
'Markus divides corn amongst the children.'[2]: 301 Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
Woisika riddles relate to animals, the human body, human artifacts, natural phenomena, crops and other foods, among others.[5]
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