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Siar-Lak language

{{Short description|Austronesian language}}

{{distinguish|Lak language}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Siar

|altname=Lak

|nativename={{lang|sjr|ep warwar anun dat}}

|states=Papua New Guinea

|region=New Ireland Province

|speakers={{sigfig|2080|2}}

|date=2000 census

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Oceanic

|fam4=Western

|fam5=Meso-Melanesian

|fam6=(St George linkage)

|iso3=sjr

|glotto=siar1238

|glottorefname=Siar-Lak

}}

Siar, also known as Lak, Lamassa, or Likkilikki, is an Austronesian language spoken in New Ireland Province in the southern island point of Papua New Guinea. Lak is in the Patpatar-Tolai sub-group, which then falls under the New Ireland-Tolai group in the Western Oceanic language, a sub-group within the Austronesian family.{{harvnb|Lean|1991}} The Siar people keep themselves sustained and nourished by fishing and gardening.{{harvnb|Rowe|2005}} The native people call their language {{lang|sjr|ep warwar anun dat}}, which means 'our language'.{{Cite web |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/siar.htm |title=Siar language and alphabet |website=www.omniglot.com}}

Phonology

Siar-Lak contains fifteen consonants, and five vowels, which does not include the mid-high vowel pronunciations of {{IPA|/é/}} and {{IPA|/ó/}}.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Consonant phonemes

!colspan=2|

!Bilabial

!Dental-
Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

colspan=2|Nasal

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

rowspan=2|Plosive

!{{small|voiceless}}

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|

|{{IPA link|k}}

{{small|voiced}}

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|d}}

|

|{{IPA link|g}}

colspan=2|Fricative

|{{IPA link|ɸ}}

|{{IPA link|s}}

|

|

colspan=2|Lateral

|

|{{IPA link|l}}

|

|

colspan=2|Trill

|

|{{IPA link|r}}

|

|

colspan=2|Glide

|{{IPA link|w}}

|

|{{IPA link|j}}

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Vowel phonemes

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

High

|{{IPA link|i}}

|

|{{IPA link|u}}

Mid-high

|{{IPA|ẹ}}

|

|{{IPA|ọ}}

Mid

|{{IPA link|e}}

|

|{{IPA link|o}}

Low

|

|{{IPA link|a}}

|

The vowel {{IPA|/ẹ/}} can be thought to be pronounced in between the high vowel {{IPA|/I/}} and the mid vowel {{IPA|/E/}}, as well as {{IPA|/ọ/}} being in between the high vowel {{IPA|/U/}} and the mid vowel {{IPA|/O/}}, according to the native people in Papua New Guinea. ẹ can be written as é, and ọ can also be written as ỏ. Knowing which vowel is used when writing is critical, as two words that are similar can have completely different meanings. For example, {{lang|sjr|rowoi}} means to 'carry in arms', while {{lang|sjr|rówói}} means 'to fly'. Also, {{lang|sjr|toh}} has a meaning of 'to be able', while {{lang|sjr|tóh}} means 'sugarcane'.

Stress and phonotactics

{{Unsourced|section|date=February 2025}}

Stress is placed on the last syllable in each word. Examples of words broken down into syllables and translated include:

class="wikitable"

!Siar-Lak

!English

{{lang|sjr|mam.su.ai}}

|'sneeze'

{{lang|sjr|ar.ngas}}

|'mountain peak'

{{lang|sjr|far.bón}}

|'praise'

{{lang|sjr|fet.rar}}

|'young woman'

Syllable structures

{{Unsourced|section|date=February 2025}}

Siar Lak contains four different types of syllable patterns in their word vocabulary, which include V (vowel), VC (vowel consonant), CV (consonant vowel), and CVC (consonant vowel consonant). Some examples include:

class="wikitable"

!

!

!Siar Lak

!English

V

|

!u

!'you'

|

|{{lang|sjr|a.im}}

|'to plant'

|

|{{lang|sjr|a.i.nói}}

|'to fill'

VC

|

|{{lang|sjr|ep}}

|'article'

|

|{{lang|sjr|ar.ngas}}

|'mountain'

|

|{{lang|sjr|la.un}}

|'to live'

CV

|

|{{lang|sjr|ma}}

|'now'

|

|{{lang|sjr|kó.bót}}

|'morning'

|

|{{lang|sjr|ka.bu.suk}}

|'my nose'

|

|{{lang|sjr|la.tu}}

|'tomorrow'

CVC

|

|{{lang|sjr|póp}}

|'puddle'

|

|{{lang|sjr|gósgós}}

|'to dance'

|

|{{lang|sjr|la.man.tin}}

|'great'

|

|{{lang|sjr|ka.kau}}

|'to crawl'

Numerical system

class="wikitable"

|+Numbers 1–10

!Siar

!English

{{lang|sjr|i tik}}

|One

{{lang|sjr|i ru}}

|Two

{{lang|sjr|i tól}}

|Three

{{lang|sjr|i at}}

|Four

{{lang|sjr|i lim}}

|Five

{{lang|sjr|i won}}

|Six

{{lang|sjr|i is}}

|Seven

{{lang|sjr|i wol}}

|Eight

{{lang|sjr|i siwok}}

|Nine

{{lang|sjr|sanguli}} or {{lang|sjr|i tik ep bónót}}

|Ten

class="wikitable"

|+Numbers 10–100

!Siar

!English

{{lang|sjr|i tik ep bónót}}

|Ten

{{lang|sjr|i ru ru bónót}}

|Twenty

{{lang|sjr|i tól ep bónót}}

|Thirty

{{lang|sjr|i at ep bónót}}

|Forty

{{lang|sjr|i lim ep bónót}}

|Fifty

{{lang|sjr|i won ep bónót}}

|Sixty

{{lang|sjr|i is ep bónót}}

|Seventy

{{lang|sjr|i wol ep bónót}}

|Eighty

{{lang|sjr|i siwok ep bónót}}

|Ninety

{{lang|sjr|i tik ep mar}}

|One hundred

=Orthography=

Orthography is the way words are written, using the appropriate letters from a specific language while following usage rules. If the consonant phoneme {{IPA|/φ/}} is used at the beginning of a word, that word starts with an f, but if it is found at the end of a word, it is then replaced with the letter h. An example of this is {{lang|sjr|ep φun}}, which makes the phrase {{lang|sjr|ep fun}}, meaning 'banana (plant)', but when it is found at the end of a word, as in {{lang|sjr|ep yaφ}}, it becomes {{lang|sjr|ep yah}}, meaning 'fire'.

Pronouns

class="wikitable"

|+Independent pronouns

! colspan="2" |

! Singular

! Dual

! Trial/Paucal

! Plural

rowspan="2" | 1st person

! exclusive

| {{lang|sjr|ya(u)/ a}}

| {{lang|sjr|mara(u)}}

| {{lang|sjr|mató~matól}}

| {{lang|sjr|mét}}

inclusive

|

| {{lang|sjr|dara(u)}}

| {{lang|sjr|datól}}

| {{lang|sjr|dat}}

colspan="2" | 2nd person

| {{lang|sjr|u}}

| {{lang|sjr|aura(u)}}

| {{lang|sjr|amtól}}

| {{lang|sjr|amat}}

rowspan="3" | 3rd person

! Personal

| {{lang|sjr|i}}

| {{lang|sjr|dira(u)}}

| {{lang|sjr|diat}}

| {{lang|sjr|dit}}

Impersonal

|

|

|

| {{lang|sjr|di}}

Inanimate, mass

|

|

|

| {{lang|sjr|in}}

Example sentence:

{{interlinear|indent=3

|Yau, a rak al an ka-sai an Kokopo.

|1S 1S want 1S.POT at {{gcl|DIR|directional}}-west at Kokopo

|'As for me, I want to go to Kokopo.'

|lang=sjr}}

Verb phrases

{{Unsourced|section|date=February 2025}}

Two types of verb phrases include intransitive and transitive verbs. An intransitive verb is used when there is no direct object, while a transitive verb is used when there is a direct object action taking place. An intransitive verb for 'eat' would be {{lang|sjr|angan}}, while a transitive verb for 'eat' would be {{lang|sjr|yan}}.

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{Cite book |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/23827 |title=Siar-Lak Grammar Essentials |last=Rowe |first=Karen |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics |year=2005 |series=Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages 50 |location=Ukarumpa }}
  • {{Cite book |title=Counting systems of Papua New Guinea: Volume 1: New Ireland Province (2nd ed., Vol. 1) |last=Lean |first=G. A. |publisher=Department of Mathematics and Statistics Papua New Guinea University of Technology |year=1991 |location=Lae, Papua New Guinea }}
  • {{Cite thesis |last=Frowein |first=Friedel Martin |title=A grammar of Siar, an Oceanic language of New Ireland province, Papua New Guinea. |date=2011 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=La Trobe University |hdl=1959.9/529829 |hdl-access=free }}

{{Meso-Melanesian languages}}

{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}

{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}

Category:Languages of New Ireland Province

Category:St George linkage