| Alekano | |
| Nativename: | Gahuku |
| States: | Papua New Guinea |
| Region: | Gahuku Rural LLG, Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province |
| Speakers: | 40,000 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Trans–New Guinea |
| Fam2: | Kainantu–Goroka |
| Fam3: | Goroka |
| Fam4: | Gahuku |
| Script: | Latin |
| Iso3: | gah |
| Glotto: | alek1238 |
| Glottorefname: | Alekano |
| Notice: | IPA |
Alekano, or Gahuku (Gahuku-Gama), is a Papuan language spoken in Gahuku Rural LLG of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. There are about 25,000 speakers.
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 and Dano, it has the same meaning.[1] [2]
Alekano has 5 vowels, all unrounded, which is exceptional. It has 12 consonants, but pronounced as //w// is found only in the village Wanima, in derivations or in pidgin loanwords.[3]
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| High | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Low | pronounced as /link/ |
In Alekano, a syllable may be closed only with a glottal stop, as in pronounced as //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.[2]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Plosive | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Sibilant | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| pronounced as /link/ | |||||
The most complex syllables are of the form pronounced as //CVVʔ//: VV may be a diphthong of pronounced as //ɑ//, pronounced as //e//, or pronounced as //ɤ// followed by pronounced as //i// or pronounced as //ɯ//, or of pronounced as //iɯ//. Other vowels may also occur in sequence (hiatus).
Alekano has low and high tones but with a very low functional load. HL receives strong stress, LH lesser stress.
Alekano is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language.[4]
Alekano uses the Latin script.[3]
| 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 |