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Ata language

Papuan language spoken on New Britain island From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Ata language (disambiguation).

The Ata language, also known as Pele-Ata after its two dialects, or Wasi, is a Papuan language spoken on New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. It appears to be related to neighboring Anêm, and possibly also to Yélî Dnye in a proposed Yele-West New Britain family. There are about 2000 speakers.

Quick Facts Native to, Region ...
Ata
Pele-Ata
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionNew Britain
Native speakers
2,000 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3ata
Glottologpele1245
ELPPele-Ata
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Ata is spoken in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province, and in Talasea District, West New Britain Province.[2]

Dialects

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Perspective

According to Yanagida (2004), there are two dialects of Ata, a Lower dialect spoken in the lowlands and an Upper dialect spoken in the mountains.[3] The Lower dialect is spoken in Bialla Rural LLG, West New Britain Province, while the Upper dialect is spoken mostly in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province:[4]

Lower dialect (in Bialla Rural LLG, West New Britain Province):

Upper dialect (in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province, unless noted otherwise):

Both the lower and upper dialects are spoken in the settlement of Silanga.

There are some lexical differences between the dialects. Some examples are listed below.[3]: 71 

More information gloss, Upper Ata ...
glossUpper AtaLower Ata
rainualilaʔiua
sweet potatototoʔokelatu
cassavamiomio, mioxa
throw somethingpaxelepei
yesiouani
the day before yesterdaymalakaumeimalaʔo
2nd person dual
independent pronoun		ngoloungongou
3rd person dual
independent pronoun		olouilou
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Phonology

Phonology of the Ata language:[5]

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Consonant sounds
Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k ʔ
Fricative β s x
Approximant l
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/s/ is pronounced as alveolo-palatal [ɕ] before /i/, /x/ is voiced as [ɣ] when occurring intervocalically.

A word-initial /i/ is realized as a [j], and a word-initial /u/ becomes a [w] when preceding /o/ or /ɑ/.

More information Front, Back ...
Vowel sounds
Front Back
High i iːu uː
Mid ɛ ɛːo oː
Low ɑ ɑː
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Noun classes

Ata makes use of noun classes, some of which are:[6]: 792 

  • Class 1 nouns: stationary and function in a state of relative stagnancy
  • Class 2 nouns: portable and function in a state of relative motion
  • Class 3 nouns: relating to the body’s internal needs

Below are some Ata noun class paradigms, using the noun roots lavo’o ‘stone’ and lexe ‘song’ as examples:[6]: 792 

More information root, lavo’o ...
rootlavo’o/stone/‘stone’
Class 1lavo'o-silo/stone-my/‘my stone to be used for a house’
Class 2lavo'o-xeni/stone-my/‘my stone to be used for breaking nuts’
Class 3lavo'o-xo/stone-my/‘my stone for a stone oven’
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More information root, lexe ...
rootlexe/song/‘song’
Class 1lexe-silo/song-my/‘a song to be sung for me’
Class 2lexe-xeni/song-my/‘the song I sing’
Class 3lexe-xo/song-my/‘the song about me’
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Vocabulary

Selected basic vocabulary items in Ata:[7]

More information gloss ...
glossAta
birdngiala
bloodsialuxu
bonexine
breastsusu
earsangalie
eat’ie
eggatolu
eyeiei
firenavu
giveiti; losie
golai
groundlia
legtava'a
lousemeni
manaliko
moonso'io
nameuala
onevile
road, pathvote'i
seemaisou
skyloxotolo
stonelavo'o
sunaso
tonguelevexe
teethanaxu ilaanu (anaxu = 'mouth')
treeaiinu; ovu
twotamei
waterlexa
womansema
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See also

References

Further reading

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