11°37′S169°51′E / 11.61°S 169.85°E /-11.61; 169.85
| Anuta | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Solomon Islands |
| Region | Anuta Island |
Native speakers | (270 cited 1999)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | aud |
| Glottolog | anut1237 |
| ELP | Anuta |
TheAnuta language (orAnutan, locallyte taranga paka-Anuta) is aPolynesianOutlier language from the island ofAnuta in theSolomon Islands. It is closely related to theTikopia language of the neighboring island ofTikopia, and it bears significant cultural influence from the island. The two languages have a high degree ofmutual intelligibility, although Anutans can understand Tikopians better than the reverse.[2]: 6
Anuta is generally regarded asNuclear Polynesian language, although it bears considerableTongic influence.[3]
In 1977, Richard Feinberg published a two-volume dictionary and basic grammar of the language.
Anuta has an extremely small consonant inventory. This is as a result of several phonememergers such as /f/ with /p/ and /s/ with /t/.[2]: 8
The allophonic variation is one of the Tikopian influences.[4]
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ |
| Plosive | p | t ~s | k |
| Fricative | v ~w | ||
| Liquid | l ~ɾ |
Vowels have a short and long form.[2]: 12 The length of a vowel makes a difference in phonetics and meaning in Polynesian languages, and may be written with vowel gemination ⟨aa⟩ or with a macron above ⟨ā⟩.[5]
In other times, long vowels are to emphasis.[5]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
The stress in Anutan normally falls on the first syllable.[4]
Theākamana Polynesian syllabary for Anutan appears like this:
| a | e | i | o | u | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | ā | ē | ī | ō | ū |
| k | ka | ke | ki | ko | ku |
| m | ma | me | mi | mo | mu |
| n | na | ne | ni | no | nu |
| ŋ | ŋa | ŋe | ŋi | ŋo | ŋu |
| p | pa | pe | pi | po | pu |
| r | ra | re | ri | ro | ru |
| t | ta | te | ti | to | tu |
| v | va | ve | vi | vo | vu |
Anuta shows many morphological similarities withFutunic languages and are related to Polynesian morphology.[4]
Anuta follows the word orderSVO.[4] PVA (patient-verb-agent)ergative constructions are also common.
Anuta distinguishespersonal pronouns into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person and single,dual, andplural.[2] Dual and plural 1st person are separated into exclusive and inclusive categories which depends on the words placement in the sentence.
2nd person pronouns should always be attached with either the particles ko, e, mo, or te.
When the pronoun is standing alone, usually in a response of a question, it is attached with the particle ko.[2]
| singular | dual | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | exclusive | au, kau | maaua, ma | matou, matou |
| inclusive | taaua, ta | tatou, tou | ||
| 2nd person | koe, ke | korua, koru | kotou, kotou | |
| 3rd person | ia, ei, na | naaua, na | natou, natou | |
Similar to personal pronouns,possessive pronouns are divided into 1st, 2nd and 3rd person, single, dual and plural. Dual and plural also being separated into exclusive and inclusive. However, whether the object is singular or plural will change the singular form of the pronouns.[2]
| singular | dual | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular object | plural object | ||||
| 1st person | exclusive | toku, taku | oku, aku | ma, o maaua | matou, o matou |
| inclusive | ta, o taaua | tatou, o tatou | |||
| 2nd person | tou, tau | ou, au | koru, o korua | kotou, o kotou | |
| 3rd person | tona, tana, na | ona, ana | na, o naaua | natou, o natou | |
Two ways of possessive construction. One, the possessive pronoun is directly attached to the object or two, directly attached to the dual or plural forms.
In singular possessive pronouns, when the object changes from singular to plural the /t/ drops.[2]
Any of the verbs in Anutan can be used as a noun by attaching "te".
These tense markers may be attached to verbs without personal pronouns.[2] Usually placed between the noun and the verb.
If time is unimportant in the context of the sentence, tense markers will be dropped.
Numbers in Anuta are usually with tense markers.[2]
Anutan usedecimal counting systems. Tens use the same unit termpua making 'twenty'pua rua, 'thirty'pua toru and so forth. After tens, the number indicated in the tens are marked withmaa meaning 'and'. Eleven would bepuangapuru maa tai meaning 'ten and one'. The same goes for twenty's, thirty's, etc.[2]
If the object of counting are humans the wordtoko will be placed in front of the number if it is enumerated.[2]
Counting fish would be marked withmata but is limited to ten or more.[2]
| Anuta | English |
|---|---|
| tai | one |
| rua | two |
| toru | three |
| pa | four |
| nima | five |
| ono | six |
| pitu | seven |
| varu | eight |
| iva | nine |
| puangapuru | ten |
| puangapuru maa tai | eleven |
| puangapuru maa rua | twelve |
| pua rua | twenty |
| pua toru | thirty |
| (e) pua te rau | hundred |
| (e) ape/te ape e tai | one thousand |
| (e) mano/te mano e tai |
A 200-word word list is available at theAustronesian Basic Vocabulary Database.[6]
Authority control databases: National |
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