Motu language
{{short description|Austronesian language of Papua New Guinea}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Motu
|altname=Pure Motu, True Motu
|states=Papua New Guinea
|region=Central Province
|ethnicity=Motuan
|speakers=39,000
|date=2008
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Austronesian
|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
|fam3=Oceanic
|fam4=Western Oceanic
|fam5=Papuan Tip
|fam6=Central
|fam7=West
|script=Latin script (Motu alphabet)
Motu Braille
|iso3=meu
|glotto=motu1246
|glottorefname=Motu
}}
Motu (sometimes called Pure Motu or True Motu to distinguish it from Hiri Motu) is a Central Papuan Tip language that is spoken by the Motuans, an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. It is commonly used today in the region, particularly around the capital, Port Moresby.
A simplified form of Motu developed as a trade language in the Papuan region, in the southeast of the main island of New Guinea, originally known as Police Motu, and today known as Hiri Motu. After Tok Pisin and English, Hiri Motu was at the time of independence the third most commonly spoken of the more than 800 languages of Papua New Guinea, although its use has been declining for some years, mainly in favour of Tok Pisin.
Motu is classified as one of the Malayo-Polynesian languages and bears some linguistic similarities to Polynesian and Micronesian languages.
Phonology
Motu is a typical Austronesian language in that it is heavily vowel-based. Every Motu syllable ends in a vowel sound — this may be preceded by a single consonant (there are no "consonant clusters"). Vowel sounds may be either monophthongs (consisting of a single basic sound) or diphthongs (consisting of more than one basic sound).
There are only five vowel sounds {{IPA|/a, e, i, o, u/}};{{sfn|Taylor|1970|pp=241-242}} Motu diphthongs are written and pronounced as combinations of two vowels. The sounds oi and oe, ai and ae, au and ao (approximately like English boy, high, cow), and r and l are distinguished in Motu but not in Hiri Motu.{{sfn|Wurm|Harris|1963|p=1}} There is no letter f; when it occurs in loan words, it is usually represented as p.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" |Labial ! rowspan="2" |Alveolar ! colspan="2" |Velar ! rowspan="2" |Glottal |
| {{Small|plain}}
!{{Small|labialized}} |
|---|
| rowspan="2" |Stop
!{{Small|voiceless}} |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} |{{IPA link|k}} |{{IPA link|kʷ}} | |
| {{Small|voiced}}
|{{IPA link|b}} |{{IPA link|d}} |{{IPA link|ɡ}} |{{IPA link|ɡʷ}} | |
| colspan="2" |Fricative
|{{IPA link|v}} |{{IPA link|s}} |{{IPA link|ɣ}} | |{{IPA link|h}} |
| colspan="2" |Nasal
|{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} | | | |
| colspan="2" |Approximant
| |{{IPA link|l}} | | | |
| colspan="2" |Flap
| |{{IPA link|ɺ}} | | | |
- Taylor (1970) claims that the velar stops and fricative are advanced before front vowels or retracted before back vowels.{{sfn|Taylor|1970|pp=239-240}}
{{anchor|Braille}}Motu Braille has the usual letter assignments apart from ḡ, which is {{braille cell|type=t|123456}}.{{unreliable source?|date=November 2013}}Unesco reports the language as simply "Motu", but Ethnologue 17 only notes braille usage for Hiri Motu. However, Hiri Motu does not have the letter ḡ.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite thesis |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/e027a3d8-94df-4c25-aef3-817aceb971f8/content |degree=PhD |publisher=Australian National University |last=Taylor |first=Andrew J. |year=1970 |title=Syntax and phonology of Motu: a transformational approach}}
- {{cite book |last1=Wurm |first1=S.A. |last2=Harris |first2=J.B. |title=Police Motu |location=Canberra |publisher=SIL International |year=1963}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last1=Brett |first1=Richard |last2=Brown |first2=Raymond |last3=Brown |first3=Ruth |last4=Foreman |first4=Velma |year=1962 |title=A Survey of Motu and Police Motu |location=Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea |publisher=SIL International}}
- {{cite book |author-link=Tom Dutton (linguist) |last=Dutton |first=Tom |year=1985 |title=Police Motu: Iena Sivarai (its story) |location=Port Moresby |publisher=University of Papua New Guinea Press}}
- {{cite book |last1=Lister-Turner |first1=R |last2=Clark |first2=J.B. |year=1931 |title=A Dictionary of the Motu Language of Papua |edition=2nd |editor-first=P. |editor-last=Chatterton |location=Sydney |publisher=Government Printer}}
External links
{{Incubator|code=meu}}
{{Wiktionary category|type=Motu language|category=Motu language}}
- William George Lawes, Grammar and vocabulary of language spoken by Motu tribe (New Guinea)
- [https://archive.org/details/grammarandvocab00lawegoog first edition], Sydney: Thomas Richards, 1885.
- [https://archive.org/details/cu31924026915474 second and revised edition], Sydney: Charles Potter, 1888.
- [https://archive.org/details/grammarvocabular00laweuoft third and enlarged edition], Sydney: Charles Potter, 1896.
- Paradisec has [https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/search?language_code=meu a number of collections that include materials on Motu languages]
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}
{{Papuan Tip languages}}
{{Oceania topic|Languages of}}