Kuanua language
Encyclopedia
The Tolai language, or Kuanua, is spoken by the Tolai people of Papua New Guinea
, who live on the Gazelle Peninsula
in East New Britain
Province. (This language is often referred to in the literature as Tolai. However, Tolai is actually the name of the cultural group. The Tolais themselves refer to their language as A Tinata Tuna, which translates as The Real Language. Kuanua is apparently a word in the Duke of York language, meaning The place over there.)
Unlike many languages in Papua New Guinea, Tolai is a healthy language and not in danger of dying out to Tok Pisin
, although even Tolai suffers from a surfeit of loanwords from Tok Pisin, e.g. the original kubar has been completely usurped by the Tok Pisin braun for brown or the Tok Pisin vilivil for bicycle has replaced the former aingau. It is considered a prestigious language and is the primary language of communication in the two major centers of East New Britain: Kokopo
and Rabaul
.
Tolai is unique in that it has lost the phoneme 's', though it is still in use in the closely related languages spoken in South New Ireland
. There the word for sun is kesakese. This has been reduced to keake in Tolai. However, with numerous loanwords from English and Tok Pisin having found a permanent home in Tolai, 's' is gaining acceptance in the language.
language family
. The most immediate subgroup is the Patpatar–Tolai group of languages which also includes Minigir (also spoken on the Gazelle Peninsula) and Patpatar (spoken on New Ireland
).
languages of Tok Pisin. Some common Tok Pisin vocabulary items that likely come from Tolai (or a closely related language) include:
aibika (from ibika) - Hisbiscus manihot
buai - betelnut
diwai (from dawai) - tree, wood
guria - earthquake
kawawar (from kavavar) - ginger
kiau - egg
lapun - elderly person
liklik (from ikilik) - small
umben (from uben) - fishing net
distinctions (singular, dual, trial and plural) and three person
distinctions (first person, second person and third person) as well as an inclusive/exclusive distinction. There are no gender distinctions
.
The plural pronouns lose their final -t when used before a verb. 'Da vana!' - 'Let's go!', 'Pa ave gire.' - 'We didn't see.', 'Dia tar pot' - 'They have already arrived.'
There is an interesting phenomenon involving the prefix ni-, which changes a verb to a noun. This introduces an element of irregularity into the language. Ordinarily, the prefix is just added to the beginning of the verb, e. g. laun to live -> a nilaun the life; ian to eat -> a nian the food; aring to pray -> a niaring the prayer. However: varubu to fight -> a vinarubu the fight; tata to talk -> a tinata the language; mamai to chew betelnut -> a minamai (a small supply of) betelnuts for chewing. In those instances, the ni- changes to -in- and becomes an infix which is inserted after the initial phoneme of the verb. It could also be said that the ni- is added as a prefix, but then the initial phoneme of the verb changes places with the n of the prefix.
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, who live on the Gazelle Peninsula
Gazelle Peninsula
Gazelle Peninsula is a large peninsula in northeastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at ....
in East New Britain
East New Britain
East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, on the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and it also includes the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely destroyed in the 1994 volcanic eruption...
Province. (This language is often referred to in the literature as Tolai. However, Tolai is actually the name of the cultural group. The Tolais themselves refer to their language as A Tinata Tuna, which translates as The Real Language. Kuanua is apparently a word in the Duke of York language, meaning The place over there.)
Unlike many languages in Papua New Guinea, Tolai is a healthy language and not in danger of dying out to Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country...
, although even Tolai suffers from a surfeit of loanwords from Tok Pisin, e.g. the original kubar has been completely usurped by the Tok Pisin braun for brown or the Tok Pisin vilivil for bicycle has replaced the former aingau. It is considered a prestigious language and is the primary language of communication in the two major centers of East New Britain: Kokopo
Kokopo
Kokopo is the capital of East New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The capital was moved from Rabaul in 1994 when the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted. As a result, the population of the town increased more than sixfold from 3,150 in 1990 to 20,262 in 2000....
and Rabaul
Rabaul
Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...
.
Tolai is unique in that it has lost the phoneme 's', though it is still in use in the closely related languages spoken in South New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
. There the word for sun is kesakese. This has been reduced to keake in Tolai. However, with numerous loanwords from English and Tok Pisin having found a permanent home in Tolai, 's' is gaining acceptance in the language.
Classification
Tolai belongs to the Oceanic branch of the AustronesianAustronesian languages
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia that are spoken by about 386 million people. It is on par with Indo-European, Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic and Uralic as one of the...
language family
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
. The most immediate subgroup is the Patpatar–Tolai group of languages which also includes Minigir (also spoken on the Gazelle Peninsula) and Patpatar (spoken on New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
).
Geographic distribution
Tolai is spoken on the Gazelle Peninsula in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.Derived languages
Tolai is said to be one of the major substratumSubstratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
languages of Tok Pisin. Some common Tok Pisin vocabulary items that likely come from Tolai (or a closely related language) include:
aibika (from ibika) - Hisbiscus manihot
buai - betelnut
diwai (from dawai) - tree, wood
guria - earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
kawawar (from kavavar) - ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
kiau - egg
lapun - elderly person
liklik (from ikilik) - small
umben (from uben) - fishing net
Fishing net
A fishing net or fishnet is a net that is used for fishing. Fishing nets are meshes usually formed by knotting a relatively thin thread. Modern nets are usually made of artificial polyamides like nylon, although nets of organic polyamides such as wool or silk thread were common until recently and...
Independent Pronouns
Tolai pronouns have four numberGrammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
distinctions (singular, dual, trial and plural) and three person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
distinctions (first person, second person and third person) as well as an inclusive/exclusive distinction. There are no gender distinctions
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
.
| Singular | Dual | Trial | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st exclusive | iau (I) |
(a)mir (he/she and I) |
(a)mital (both of them, and I) |
avet (all of them, and I) |
| 1st inclusive | - | dor (thou and I) |
datal (both of you, and I) |
dat (all of you, and I) |
| 2nd | u (thou) |
(a)mur (you two) |
(a)mutal (you three) |
avat (you guys) |
| 3rd | ia (he/she) |
dir (they two) |
dital (they three) |
diat (they) |
The plural pronouns lose their final -t when used before a verb. 'Da vana!' - 'Let's go!', 'Pa ave gire.' - 'We didn't see.', 'Dia tar pot' - 'They have already arrived.'
Syntax
The usual word order of Tolai is SVO.There is an interesting phenomenon involving the prefix ni-, which changes a verb to a noun. This introduces an element of irregularity into the language. Ordinarily, the prefix is just added to the beginning of the verb, e. g. laun to live -> a nilaun the life; ian to eat -> a nian the food; aring to pray -> a niaring the prayer. However: varubu to fight -> a vinarubu the fight; tata to talk -> a tinata the language; mamai to chew betelnut -> a minamai (a small supply of) betelnuts for chewing. In those instances, the ni- changes to -in- and becomes an infix which is inserted after the initial phoneme of the verb. It could also be said that the ni- is added as a prefix, but then the initial phoneme of the verb changes places with the n of the prefix.