Mali or Gaktai is a
Papuan language
The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non-Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...
spoken in
East New Britain Province
East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely d ...
on the island of
New Britain
New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...
,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.
Dialects
There are two dialects of Mali:
*''Arongda'' dialect (standard dialect; with two groups), spoken in the mountains, including in Marunga village () in
Sinivit Rural LLG
Sinivit Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea.
Wards
*01. Rieit
*02. Arabam
*03. Maranagi
*04. Reigal
*05. Sanbum
*06. Marambu
*07. Lat
*08. Gar
*09. Merai
*10. Ili
*11. Karong
*12. Sunam
*13. ...
,
East New Britain Province
East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely d ...
*''Abilta'' dialect, spoken along the coast
Phonology
The phonology of the Mali language:
Consonants
Vowels
Noun classes
Mali makes use of noun classes. Below are some Mali noun class paradigms, using the noun root ''amēng'' ‘tree’ as an example:
:
Bibliography
*
*
References
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea
Languages of East New Britain Province
Baining languages