Ata language

The Ata language, also known as Pele-Ata after its two dialects, or Wasi, is a Papuan language spoken on New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. It appears to be related to neighboring Anêm, and possibly also to Yélî Dnye in a proposed Yele-West New Britain family. There are about 2000 speakers.

Ata is spoken in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province, and in Talasea District, West New Britain Province.

Dialects

According to Yanagida (2004), there are two dialects of Ata, a Lower dialect spoken in the lowlands and an Upper dialect spoken in the mountains. The Lower dialect is spoken in Bialla Rural LLG, West New Britain Province, while the Upper dialect is spoken mostly in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province:

Lower dialect (in Bialla Rural LLG, West New Britain Province):

• Kiava (Old Kiava) (5°25′50″S 151°02′49″E/5.43047°S 151.047°E/ -5.43047; 151.047(Kiawa))
• Korovasi
• Malasi (5°27′56″S 150°58′41″E/5.46557°S 150.978°E/ -5.46557; 150.978(Malasi))
• Milikina (Elobe) (5°34′06″S 150°53′31″E/5.56842°S 150.892°E/ -5.56842; 150.892(Elobe))
• Mulusi
• Ole
• Sale (Gogosi) (5°31′43″S 150°57′47″E/5.52855°S 150.963°E/ -5.52855; 150.963(Sale))
• Sege (5°31′47″S 150°55′23″E/5.52977°S 150.923°E/ -5.52977; 150.923(Sege))
• Silanga [settlement] (5°33′16″S 150°50′56″E/5.55438°S 150.849°E/ -5.55438; 150.849(Silanga Mission))

Upper dialect (in West Pomio-Mamusi Rural LLG, East New Britain Province, unless noted otherwise):

• Sipa (Bauka), West New Britain (5°35′44″S 150°53′13″E/5.59544°S 150.887°E/ -5.59544; 150.887(Sipa))
• Uasilau [settlement], West New Britain (5°34′58″S 150°53′02″E/5.58284°S 150.884°E/ -5.58284; 150.884(Uasilau))
• Kaikou (5°39′08″S 150°59′32″E/5.652238°S 150.992254°E/ -5.652238; 150.992254(Kaikou))
• Lavugi (5°38′28″S 150°58′03″E/5.641182°S 150.967552°E/ -5.641182; 150.967552(Lavugi))
• Luge, West New Britain (5°33′45″S 150°51′04″E/5.56239°S 150.851°E/ -5.56239; 150.851(Luge))
• Ti (5°38′41″S 151°00′01″E/5.644822°S 151.000275°E/ -5.644822; 151.000275(Kukulu))
• Yauyau (5°37′38″S 150°57′35″E/5.627284°S 150.959744°E/ -5.627284; 150.959744(Yauyau))
• Kukulu (5°38′41″S 151°00′01″E/5.644822°S 151.000275°E/ -5.644822; 151.000275(Kukulu))

Both the lower and upper dialects are spoken in the settlement of Silanga.

There are some lexical differences between the dialects. Some examples are listed below.

glossUpper AtaLower Ata rainualilaʔiua sweet potatototoʔokelatu cassavamiomio, mioxa throw somethingpaxelepei yesiouani the day before yesterdaymalakaumeimalaʔo 2nd person dual independent pronounngoloungongou 3rd person dual independent pronounolouilou

Phonology

Phonology of the Ata language:

/s/ is pronounced as alveolo-palatal [ɕ] before /i/, /x/ is voiced as [ɣ] when occurring intervocalically.

A word-initial /i/ is realized as a [j], and a word-initial /u/ becomes a [w] when preceding /o/ or /ɑ/.

Noun classes

Ata makes use of noun classes, some of which are:

• Class 1 nouns: stationary and function in a state of relative stagnancy
• Class 2 nouns: portable and function in a state of relative motion
• Class 3 nouns: relating to the body's internal needs

Below are some Ata noun class paradigms, using the noun roots lavo'o 'stone' and lexe 'song' as examples:

rootlavo'o/stone/'stone' Class 1lavo'o-silo/stone-my/'my stone to be used for a house' Class 2lavo'o-xeni/stone-my/'my stone to be used for breaking nuts' Class 3lavo'o-xo/stone-my/'my stone for a stone oven'

rootlexe/song/'song' Class 1lexe-silo/song-my/'a song to be sung for me' Class 2lexe-xeni/song-my/'the song I sing' Class 3lexe-xo/song-my/'the song about me'

Vocabulary

Selected basic vocabulary items in Ata:

glossAta birdngiala bloodsialuxu bonexine breastsusu earsangalie eat'ie eggatolu eyeiei firenavu giveiti; losie golai groundlia legtava'a lousemeni manaliko moonso'io nameuala onevile road, pathvote'i seemaisou skyloxotolo stonelavo'o sunaso tonguelevexe teethanaxu ilaanu (anaxu = 'mouth') treeaiinu; ovu twotamei waterlexa womansema

See also

• East Papuan languages

Further reading

• Hashimoto, Kazuo (2008), , Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics