Sinaugoro language explained

Sinaugoro
States:Papua New Guinea
Region:Central Province
Speakers:18,000
Date:2000 census
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Austronesian
Fam2:Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:Oceanic
Fam4:Western Oceanic
Fam5:Papuan Tip
Fam6:Central
Fam7:Sinagoro–Keapara
Iso3:snc
Glotto:sina1266
Glottorefname:Sinaugoro

Sinaugoro is an Austronesian language of Papua New Guinea. It is mainly spoken in the Rigo District of Central Province by some 15,000 people. The language is closely related to Motu.

Phonology

Consonants

LabialAlveolarPalatalVelar
plainlab.
Plosivevoicelesstk
voicedbdɡɡʷ
Fricativevoicelessfs
voicedv(ʝ)ɣɣʷ
Nasalmn
Rhoticr
Approximantl(j)

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Highiu
Mideo
Lowa

Writing system

a
b d e fg ḡw i kkw l m n or s t u v

Grammar

Sinaugoro is an agglutinative language with ergative alignment and subject–object–verb (SOV) word order.Number is marked explicitly on the verb and freely within the noun phrase, but is not marked on the noun itself. A morphological distinction is made in Sinaugoro between the possession of alienable and inalienable nouns, and then between the alienable possession of edible and inedible objects.

Verbal indexing of person and number in Sinaugoro makes freestanding personal pronouns optional. These are given below, displaying a distinction between inclusive and exclusive.

Personal pronouns in Sinaugoro
singularplural
1st personexclusiveaugai
inclusivegita
2nd persongoigomi
3rd persongiagia

References

External links