Seimat language
{{Short description|Western Admiralty Islands language}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Seimat
|nativename =
|states = Papua New Guinea
|region = Ninigo and Anchorite island groups, Manus Province
|speakers = 1,000
|date=1992
|ref=e18
|familycolor = Austronesian
|fam2 = Malayo-Polynesian
|fam3 = Oceanic
|fam4 = Admiralty Islands
|fam5 = Western Admiralty Islands
|iso3 = ssg
|glotto=seim1238
|glottorefname=Seimat
}}
The Seimat language is one of three Western Admiralty Islands languages, the other two being Wuvulu-Aua and the extinct Kaniet. The language is spoken by approximately 1000 people on the Ninigo and the Anchorite Islands in western Manus Province of Papua New Guinea.{{Cite web |title=Seimat |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ssg |access-date=2020-08-23 |website=Ethnologue}} It has subject–verb–object (SVO) word order.
Names
The alternate names for Seimat are Admiralitäts-inseln and Ninigo.{{Cite web |title=Glottolog 5.1 - Seimat |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/seim1238 |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=glottolog.org}}
Phonology
=Consonants=
:
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
| ! Labial
! Velar |
|---|
| Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | {{IPA link|ŋ}} | |
| Stop
| {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t̪}} | {{IPA link|k}} | |
| Fricative
| | {{IPA link|s}} | {{IPA link|x}} |{{IPA link|h}} |
| Lateral
| | {{IPA link|l}} | | |
| Approximant
|{{IPA link|w}} | | | |
=Vowels=
Numbers
Seimat has a quinary numeral system; numbers from one to five are unique, whereas most all other numbers are simply combinations of these. For example, numbers from six to nine are compounds based on five, combined with the words for one to four. Twenty is also a unique word, meaning "person"; it presumably refers to a full set of fingers and toes.{{Cite web |title=Seimat |url=https://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/channumerals/Seimat.htm |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=lingweb.eva.mpg.de}}
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Seimat !English |
| tehu
|one |
| hũõhu
|two |
| toluhu
|three |
| hinalo
|four |
| te-panim ({{lit|one hand}})
|five |
| te-panim tehu
|six |
| te-panim hũohu
|seven |
| te-panim toluhu
|eight |
| te-panim hinalo
|nine |
| hũõ-panim ({{lit|two hands}})
|ten |
| hũõ-panim tehu
|eleven |
| hũõ-panim hũõhu
|twelve |
| tolupa ({{lit|three hands}})
|fifteen |
| tolupa tehu
|sixteen |
| tolupa hũõhu
|seventeen |
| seilon tel ({{lit|one man}})
|twenty |
| seilon tel tehu
|twenty-one |
| seilon tel hũõhu
|twenty-two |
| seilon tolu
|thirty |
| seilon hinalo
|forty |
| patei tel
|hundred |
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{Citation |last=Wozna |first=B. |title=Seimat Grammar Essentials |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/10/21/45/102145244530814067244721596549887259353/Seimat_Grammar_Essentials.pdf |year=2005 |series=Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages, volume 48 |place=Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics |last2=Wilson |first2=T.}}
External links
- Kaipuleohone has recordings and written materials for Seimat
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}
{{Admiralty Islands languages}}
{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}
Category:Admiralty Islands languages
Category:Languages of Manus Province
Category:Subject–verb–object languages
{{admiralty-lang-stub}}