| Gumawana | |
|---|---|
| Gumasi | |
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Amphlett Islands,Milne Bay Province |
Native speakers | (470 cited 2000 census)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gvs |
| Glottolog | guma1254 |
Gumawana (sometimes also referred to by theexonym Gumasi) is anAustronesian language spoken by people living on theAmphlett Islands of theMilne Bay Province ofPapua New Guinea.
Gumawana is an Austronesian language of the North Papuan Mainland-D'Entrecasteaux branch.
Gumawana is spoken by some 470 people in the small Amphlett Islands of Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay Province. The language is spoken on the four inhabited islands of the archipelago: Nubogeta, Gumawana, Omea, and Bituma.[2] Gumawama has been influenced by the nearbyDobu language, and speakers of Gumawana often have knowledge of other neighboringPapuan Tip languages.[2]
Gumawana had three dialects: Nubogeta, Omea, and Bituma. The last speaker of the Omea dialect died in April 1988. The Bituma dialect is very different from the Nubogeta dialect of Nubogeta and Gumawana islands in both syntax and lexicon.[2]
Gumawana has 11 consonant phonemes and 5 vowel phonemes.[2]
| Bilabial | Labio-Dental | Alveolar | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | pb | td | kg | |
| Fricative | v | s | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ||
| Lateral | l |
Olson represents the labio-dental consonant[v] as bilabial[β] in later works, and also includes the palatal approximant[j].[3]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
Syllables have a (C)V structure.
Clauses in Gumawana have a basic order ofSOV. Oblique noun phrases occur between the direct object and the verb.[2]
weniya
dog
Koloto-ya-di weniya si-duduwe
man-REF-3PL dog 3PL-call.TR
'The men called the dog.'
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