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Amal language

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(Redirected from Alai language)
Amal
RegionSandaun Province and East Sepik Province
Native speakers
830 (2003)[1]
Sepik
Language codes
ISO 639-3aad
Glottologamal1242
ELPAmal

Amal is a language spoken along the border of Sandaun Province and East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, along the Wagana River near the confluence with Wanibe Creek.[1] Foley (2018) classifies Amal as a primary branch of the Sepik languages, though it is quite close to Kalou.

Pronouns

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Pronouns are:[2]

Amal pronouns
sg pl
1 ŋan nut
2 in kun
3 may ilum

Cognates

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Amal cognates with Sepik languages are:[2]

  • tal ‘woman’
  • yan ‘child’
  • lal ‘tongue’ < proto-Sepik *ta(w)r
  • mi ‘breast’ < proto-Sepik *muk
  • waplo ‘liver’
  • nip ‘blood’
  • yen ‘egg’
  • ak ‘house’

Foley (2018) notes that there appears to be somewhat more lexical similarities between Amal and the Tama languages, but does not consider them to form a group with each other.

Vocabulary

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The following basic vocabulary words of Amal are from Laycock (1968),[3] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[4]

gloss Amal
head makələ
ear marj
eye nai
nose yimeʔ
tooth pu
tongue lal
leg
louse ŋin
dog wun
bird yok
egg yen
blood niːp
bone nəŋolak
skin puːk
breast m
tree piːt
man wul
woman tal
sun mwak
moon yimal
water iːp
fire waː
stone tipal
two kila

References

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  1. ^ a b Amal at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. ^ Laycock, Donald C. 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66.
  4. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.