Mpur language
{{Short description|Isolate language spoken in Indonesia}}
{{About||the language of Ghana|Mpur language (Ghana)|the Yansi dialect of Congo|Mpur dialect}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Mpur
|altname=Amberbaken
|states=Indonesia
|region=Mpur and Amberbaken Districts, Tambrauw Regency, Southwest Papua on the north coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula
|pushpin_map = Indonesia_Western New Guinea#Southeast Asia
|coordinates = {{coord|-0.75|133.17|region:ID-PB}}
|speakers=5,000
|date=2002
|familycolor=Papuan
|family = Language isolate
|dia1=Sirir
|dia2=Ajiw
|iso3=akc
|glotto=mpur1239
|glottorefname=Mpur
}}
Mpur (also known as Amberbaken, Kebar, Ekware, and Dekwambre) is a language isolate spoken in and around Mpur and Amberbaken Districts in Tambrauw Regency of the Bird's Head Peninsula, New Guinea. It is not closely related to any other language, and though Ross (2005) tentatively assigned it to the West Papuan languages, based on similarities in pronouns, Palmer (2018), Ethnologue, and Glottolog list it as a language isolate.{{e21|AKC|Amberbaken}}{{cite web| editor-last1= Hammarström| editor-first1 = Harald| editor-last2 = Forke| editor-first2 = Robert| editor-last3 = Haspelmath| editor-first3 = Martin| editor-last4 = Bank| editor-first4 = Sebastian| year = 2020|title = Mpur | work = Glottolog 4.3| url = https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/mpur1239}}
Locations
In Tambrauw Regency, ethnic Mpur people reside in Kebar District, Kebar Timur District, Manekar District, Amberbaken District, Mubrani District, and Senopi District. Villages include Akmuri, Nekori, Ibuanari, Atai, Anjai, Jandurau, Ajami, Inam, Senopi, Asiti, Wausin, and Afrawi.{{cite book |last=Ronsumbre |first=Adolof |year=2020 |title=Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat |location=Yogyakarta |publisher=Penerbit Kepel Press |isbn=978-602-356-318-0}}
Phonology
=Consonants=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Consonants ! colspan="2" | |
| colspan="2" |Nasal
|{{IPAlink|m}} |{{IPAlink|n}}{{efn|/n/ is pronounced as {{IPAblink|ŋ}} when preceding /k/.}} | | |
|---|
| rowspan="2" |Plosive
!voiceless |{{IPAlink|p}} |{{IPAlink|t}} | |{{IPAlink|k}}{{efn|/k/ is pronounced as {{IPAblink|ɡ}} when following /n/ which is pronounced as {{IPAblink|ŋ}}.}} |
| voiced
|{{IPAlink|b}} |{{IPAlink|d}}{{efn|/d/ is pronounced as {{IPAblink|ɾ}} when not in initial position, except after /n/.}} | | |
| colspan="2" |Affricate
| | |{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}} | |
| colspan="2" |Fricative
|{{IPAlink|ɸ}} |{{IPAlink|s}} | | |
| colspan="2" |Semivowel
|{{IPAlink|w}}{{efn|/w/ can also be pronounced as {{IPAblink|β}}.}} | |{{IPAlink|j}} | |
{{notelist}}
=Vowels=
Mpur has five vowels: /a, e, i, o, u/.
=Tones=
Mpur has a complex tonal system with 4 lexical tones and an additional contour tone, a compound of two of the lexical tones. Its tonal system is somewhat similar to the nearby Austronesian languages of Mor and Ma'ya.{{cite book |last=Muysken |first=Pieter |title=From Linguistic Areas to Areal Linguistics |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9p4rl09ec0C&q=tonal+papuan+languages&pg=PA134 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |page=134 |isbn= 9789027231000}}{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Bill |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=Language families of the New Guinea Area |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=1–20 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}} The neighboring language isolate Abun is also tonal.
Mpur has four lexical tones. There is also a fifth complex contour tone formed as a phonetic compound of two lexical tones. An example minimal set is given below.{{cite book |last1=Holton |first1=Gary |last2=Klamer |first2=Marian |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=The Papuan languages of East Nusantara and the Bird’s Head |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=569–640 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}
- bé ‘but’ (high tone)
- be ‘in’ (mid tone)
- bè ‘fruit’ (low tone)
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Miedema & Welling (1985),Miedema, J. and Welling, F.I. "Fieldnotes on languages and dialects in the Kebar district, Bird's Head, Irian Jaya". In Adams, K., Lauck, L., Miedema, J., Welling, F., Stokhof, W., Flassy, D., Oguri, H., Collier, K., Gregerson, K., Phinnemore, T., Scorza, D., Davies, J., Comrie, B. and Abbott, S. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 22. A-63:29-52. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1985. {{doi|10.15144/PL-A63.29}} as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:{{Cite web |url=http://transnewguinea.org/language/?subset=M&page=3 |title=TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea |last=Greenhill |first=Simon |date=2016 |access-date=2020-11-05}}
:
| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Mpur (Arfu dialect) !! Mpur (Kebar dialect) |
| head
| èbuam || èbuam |
|---|
| hair
| byambur || buambor |
| eye
| éyam || yam |
| tooth
| èbir || bir |
| leg
| pirik || èipèt |
| louse
| iːm || èyim |
| dog
| p(y)èr || pir |
| pig
| duao || duaw |
| bird
| iw (ip) || if |
| egg
| bua || bua |
| blood
| éfar || far |
| bone
| éip || ip |
| skin
| (è)fièk || fièk |
| tree
| perahu || perau |
| man
| dèmonip || mamir |
| sun
| put || put |
| water
| war || war |
| fire
| yit || yèt |
| stone
| biːt || bit |
| name
| muk || emuk |
| eat
| èryèt || barièt |
| one
| tu || tu |
| two
| dokir || dukir |
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book| last = Odé| first = Cecilia|editor1= Ger P. Reesink | date = 2002| title = Languages of the Eastern Bird's Head| chapter = A Sketch of Mpur| series = Pacific Linguistics| volume = 524| publisher = Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University| location = Canberra| pages = 45–107| doi = 10.15144/PL-524| hdl = 1885/146144| isbn = 9780858834941}}
{{Malcolm Ross Pronouns}}
External links
- Materials on Karnai are included in the open access collections [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC1 AC1] and [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/CLV1 CVL1] held by Paradisec.
- Audio and video recording are also available at [https://archive.mpi.nl/islandora/object/lat%3A1839_00_0000_0000_001A_D8EE_3 the DoBeS archive].
{{Papuan languages}}
{{Languages of Indonesia}}
{{West Papuan languages}}
Category:West Papuan languages
Category:Languages of Western New Guinea