| Alekano | |
|---|---|
| Gahuku | |
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Gahuku Rural LLG,Goroka District,Eastern Highlands Province |
Native speakers | 40,000 (2008)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gah |
| Glottolog | alek1238 |
| ELP | Alekano |
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Alekano, orGahuku (Gahuku-Gama), is aPapuan language spoken inGahuku Rural LLG ofEastern Highlands Province,Papua New Guinea. There are about 25,000 speakers.[1]
Alekano is also known as Gahuku, after the name of the largest clan of speakers, or Gama, after the second largest clan. Calling the language by these names has been rejected by speakers who are not members of these clans. Alekano was proposed as a suitable new name by the linguist Ellis Deibler, and it might be considered the official name by linguists. The name is almost unknown to speakers of the Gahuku and Gama clans. "Alekano" means "bring it". In two closely related languages spoken directly to the northwest,Tokano andDano, it has the same meaning.[2][3]
Alekano has 5 vowels, allunrounded, which is exceptional. It has 12 consonants, but/w/ is found only in the village Wanima, in derivations or inpidgin loanwords.[4]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɯ |
| Mid | e | ɤ |
| Low | ɑ |
In Alekano, a syllable may be closed only with aglottal stop, as in/ɑʔnesiʔ/ "enough". That is currently not treated as a consonant, but it is unclear if words written as vowel initial begin with a glottal stop. It is written as an acute accent in the orthography, for example,ánesí.[3]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Plosive | p | t | k | ||
| Approximant | β | l~ɽ | ɣ | h | |
| Sibilant | voiceless | s | |||
| voiced | z | ||||
The lateral is[l] initially and[ɽ] between vowels.
The most complex syllables are of the form/CVVʔ/: VV may be a diphthong of/ɑ/,/e/, or/ɤ/ followed by/i/ or/ɯ/, or of/iɯ/. Other vowels may also occur in sequence (hiatus).
Alekano has low and high tones but with a very lowfunctional load. HL receives strong stress, LH lesser stress.
Alekano is asubject–object–verb (SOV) language.[5]
Alekano uses theLatin script.[4]
| IPA | ɑ | e | ɣ | h | i | k | l | m | n | ɤ | p | s | z | t | ɯ | β |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Aa | Ee | Gg | Hh | Ii | Kk | Ll | Mm | Nn | Oo | Pp | Ss | Zz | Tt | Uu | Vv |
