Safeyoka language

Safeyoka, or Ampale, is an Angan language of Papua New Guinea. Other names of this language include Ambari, Ampeeli, Ampeeli-Wojokeso, and Ampele. According to a 1980 census, there were around 2,390 native speakers. Commonly known as Ampale, the dialect is called Wojokeso. Speakers of Ampale range from the Waffa River to the Banir River, which is located in the northern part of Papua New Guinea. The Wojokeso dialect is spoken by people who live in five villages where multiple districts, the Kaiapit, Mumeng and Menyama come together in the Morobe Province.

Phonology

* /p t k/ are voiced / / following homorganic nasals.
* /f/ is voiced intervocalically.
* The sequences /hm hn/ are realized as
* /h/ is in free variation with , and can optionally be pronounced intervocalically.
* /r/ manifests as utterance-initially.

* /i/ and /u/ are both reduced to when unstressed.

Safeyoka is also tonal, distinguishing between high and low tone.

Grammar

Subject Personal Pronouns

In the term stem of Ampale outlines, the object person affixes are included in them. Class 2 verb roots, /''put/'' and ''/kill/,'' they occur immediately following the root. Other verb roots immediately come before the root. Object person affixes include:

Sentence Structure

The Ampale language classifies with the Wojokeso dialect of the Angan language stock. According to B.A Hooley and K.A. McElhanon, the language is referred to as the "Languages of the Morobe District - New Guinea". The sentence types of the Wojokeso are pattern types. On non-final verbs, the Wojokeso links clauses together by the means of affixes or clitics.

Simple

The simple sentence formula is "+ Base: General Clause/Elliptical Clause + Terminal: Final Intonation." The sentence is explained by a single base and final intonation. In other words, the single base is expounded by the general clause. Single base moods include: Indicative, Interrogative, Dubitative, Information interrogative, Avolitional, and Exclamatory.

Series

The series sentence indicates multiple actions a person does. There is no grammatical distinction between temporal succession and temporal overlap. Usually used to explain actions which are performed by a dual or plural subject. However, actions with this partial change in subject may also be classified as a sequence sentence.

Sequence

The sequence sentence indicates an order of actions being completed by a subject, where base 1 differs from base 2. The action of the first base is usually completed before the action of the second base even begins. The deep structure of this sentence type is that it is purely based on succession.

Example:

"''S ɨkuno nomeHON ƗNGKI sukwo'miyomo hofantiso toho nelofAHON ƗNGKI"''

This translates into "Darkness came and night mosquitoes bit us". This expresses temporal succession.

Tense

References

{{Languages of Papua New Guinea

Languages of Morobe Province
Angan languages