Wena
Wena (also known as Hibu, Hibuese, Mannenese or Nenge) is a language isolate spoken by around 60,000 people on the Hibu Islands in the Hibu Province of Papua New Guinea. It is called by its speakers either nenge wena or nenge wana, both essentially meaning 'our language', the former using the exclusive word 'we, not you' and the latter using the inclusive word 'we, including you'. The closest land to the Hibu Islands is Simberi Island about 150 kilometres to the southwest. Nuguria Atoll is a similar distance away to the southeast. About half of the Wena people are monolingual, the other half also having knowledge of Tok Pisin and a much smaller percentage know English. Dialectal differences are little-documented and appear to be small, most likely owing to the high degree of travel around the islands.
Wena appears to be a language isolate. It is a right-branching, strongly isolating language, notable for its largely oligoanalytic nature, its complete lack of verbs other than the non-inflecting copula i, and for its sex-based speech registers, whereby initiated men pronounce all consonants other than /h/ as voiced.
Classification and history
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain plosive | b 1 | d 1, 2, 4 | g 1 | ( ʔ ) 6 | ||
| Prenasalised plosive | mb 1, 3 | nd 1, 3, 4 | ŋg 1, 3 | |||
| Nasal | m | n 4 | ŋ | |||
| Fricative | v 1 | z 1, 4 | ( ʒ ) 1, 4 | h 4, 5 | ||
| Affricate | ( d͡ʒ ) 1, 4 | |||||
| Prenasalised affricate | ( nd͡ʒ ) 1, 4 | |||||
| Lateral | l 4 | |||||
| Approximant | w5 | j 4 |
- 1 The plain plosives /b d g/, the prenasalised plosives /mb nd ŋg/ and the non-glottal fricatives /v z/ are pronounced voicelessly in a register called nenge la, which, at any one time, is spoken by most speakers: [p t k], [mp nt ŋk], [f s]. The voiced pronunciation is only used in a register called nenge hu, which is exclusively spoken by men who have passed initiation. The early missionaries who first described and wrote down the language were only allowed contact with initiated men, which is why the voiced allophones, although used by less than half of the speakers, are traditionally used to describe these phonemes.
- 2 In nenge hu, /d/ is frequently pronounced as a tap or flap [ɾ] when before an unstressed vowel.
- 3 Post pausa, the prenasalised plosives /mb nd ŋg/ are preceded by a syllabic nasal [m̩.p n̩.t ŋ̩.k] or [m̩.b n̩.d ŋ̩.g]. When immediately following a vowel, the nasalised onset can phonetically be regarded as belonging to the previous syllable. Some speakers of nenge hu pronounce the prenasalised plosives in all positions as geminate nasals [mː nː ŋː]. This same tendency in nenge la retains the lack of voicing during the release into the vowel, causing these to sound like [mh nh ŋh].
- 4 /j/ has a palatalising effect on preceding consonants, especially alveolar consonants and /h/. The sequence /hj/ is pronounced [ç]. The sequences /dj ndj nj zj lj/ generally end up pronounced towards [t͡ɕ~d͡ʒ nt͡ɕ~d͡ʒ ɲ ɕ~ʒ ʎ]. This effect on obstruents tends to be stronger in nenge hu, resulting in postalveolar [d͡ʒ nd͡ʒ ʒ] whereas nenge la tends to use palatalised [t͡ɕ nt͡ɕ ɕ] or [t͡sj nt͡sj sj]. Three additional phonemes */d͡ʒ nd͡ʒ ʒ/ are sometimes suggested in order to explain the presence of a contrast between plain and palatalised pronunciations of /d nd z/ before /i/, while the sequence /ji/ is elswhere prohobited. Analyses that do not posit these extra phonemes simply allow /ji/ to appear in this location.
- 5 /w/ has a labialising effect on preceding consonants, with /hw/ most notably being pronounced [ʍ].
- 6 The glottal stop [ʔ] can appear any time two vowels are adjacent to each other. This is most common between two identical vowels and more frequent in clear speech but there is a large degree of variation. Because its possible distribution is predicted by the distribution of vowels and is non-contrastive, the glottal stop is not phonemic.
Consonant Spelling
The consonants are written using their phonemic representations in IPA with the exception of the prenasalised plosives /mb nd ŋg/, written mb, nd, and ngg respectively, /ŋ/, written ng, and /j/, written y. The letter r is used in some texts to indicate where the tapped or flapped allophone of /d/ appears. This is not consistent, although the Wena bible uses this and many names are also spelled this way.
The following table shows the basic pronunciation of each written consonant or consonant combination.
| Writing | Nenge La | Nenge Hu |
|---|---|---|
| b | [p] | [b] |
| bw | [pw] | [bw] |
| by | [pj] | [bj] |
| d | [t] | [d]~[ɾ] |
| dw | [tw] | [dw] |
| dy | [t͡ɕ]~[tsj] | [d͡ʒ] |
| g | [k] | [g] |
| gw | [kw] | [gw] |
| gy | [kj] | [gj] |
| h | [h] | [h] |
| hw | [ʍ] | [ʍ] |
| hy | [ç] | [ç] |
| l | [l] | [l] |
| lw | [lw] | [lw] |
| ly | [ʎ] | [ʎ] |
| m | [m] | [m] |
| mb | [mp]~[mh] | [mb]~[mː] |
| mbw | [mpw]~[mʍ] | [mbw]~[mːw] |
| mby | [mpj]~[mç] | [mbj]~[mːj] |
| mw | [mw] | [mw] |
| my | [mw] | [mw] |
| n | [n] | [n] |
| nd | [nt]~[nh] | [nd]~[nː] |
| ndw | [ntw]~[nʍ] | [ndw]~[nːw] |
| ndy | [nt͡ɕ]~[ntsj] | [nd͡ʒ] |
| ng | [ŋ] | [ŋ] |
| ngg | [ŋk]~[ŋh] | [ŋg]~[ŋː] |
| nggw | [ŋkw]~[ŋʍ] | [ŋgw]~[ŋːw] |
| nggy | [ŋkj]~[ŋç] | [ŋgj]~[ŋːj] |
| ngw | [ŋw] | [ŋw] |
| ngy | [ŋj] | [ŋj] |
| nw | [nw] | [nw] |
| ny | [ɲ] | [ɲ] |
| r | [t] | [ɾ] |
| v | [f] | [v] |
| vw | [fw] | [vw] |
| vy | [fj] | [vj] |
| w | [w] | [w] |
| y | [j] | [j] |
| z | [s] | [z] |
| zw | [sw] | [zw] |
| zy | [ɕ]~[sj] | [ʒ] |
Vowels
| front | central | back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | i | u | |
| open mid | e | o | |
| low | a |
The true values of the vowels /a e i o u/ tend to be closer to [ä ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ] although, for simplicity's sake, they are usually transcribed with <a e i o u> even in narrow phonetic transcription. Each vowel has a fairly wide allophonic range and the cardinal [a e i o u] values fall within these ranges.
The high vowels /i u/ have non-syllabic allophones, [i̯~j] and [u̯~w] respectively. These appear when these vowels are unstressed and following another vowel.
Phonotactics
Prosody
Word classes
Nouns
Monosyllabic nouns
Echo nouns
Polysyllabic nouns
Compounding
Reduplication
Gendered nouns
Pronouns
The pronominal system of Wena is, like most other parts of the language, composed of transparent compounds. Syntactically, Wena's pronouns are no different from any other nouns.
Personal
The personal pronouns of Wena mark for three types of clusivity: exclusive, inclusive of third person, and inclusive of second person. The third person pronoun is generally glossed as DEF.E (definite entity) as it is used as a definite article in a lot of situations.
| Person | Singular | Exclusive Plural | Inclusive of 3rd | Inclusive of 2nd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | na | wena | wena | wana |
| 2nd | wa | wewa | wade | - |
| 3rd | de | dwe / de (we) | - | - |
The distinction between wena "we" and wana "we" is that the latter includes any listeners whereas the former does not. In the second person, wewa is used to refer to a group with all members present and being addressed. Wede refers to a group whose members are not all present or being spoken to.
All the pronouns have distinct genitive forms equivalent to being preceded with ya. For example, ya na is equivalent to nga, with the former being more emphatic and the latter being more common. The forms are shown in the following table.
| Person | Singular | Exclusive Plural | Inclusive of 3rd | Inclusive of 2nd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | nga | vyena | vyena | wona |
| 2nd | wo | vyewa | wode | - |
| 3rd | zyi | zyi (we) | - | - |
Note that zyi we is often pronounced as one syllable, losing the /i/. This is sometimes indicated in writing as zy'we.
Modified and replaced
Any of the pronouns may be followed by any of the kinds of modifiers that any other noun can. Appositional modifiers are quite frequent. Wa da is used as an honorific when speaking to an important man. When speaking to a chief, however, one should avoid the above listed pronouns entirely and refer to him simply with the word mwada 'chief'. People addressing a chief humble themselves by referring to themselves as na di unless given permission not to.
In the third person, when talking about a number of people or things, modifiers are frequently used to disambiguate between referents that would otherwise all be referred to as de. Some commonly used phrases are de la 'the woman', de hu 'the man', de ngo 'the person', de nu 'the thing'. These are also very commonly used without de, as definiteness tends not to be marked explicitly except through the use of the genitive form zyi.
Reciprocal
The reciprocal pronoun is dede 'each other', 'one another'. It has the genitive form zyide.
Wena i le zyide. wena i le zyide 1p.EXCL COP love.AG GEN.each_other We love each other.
Hu gwe ndudu i li dede. hu gwe ndudu i li dede man and frog COP become.AG each_other The man and the frog swapped bodies. Lit.: The man and the frog became each other.
Reflexive
Reflexive pronouns may be formed by adding zu to any of the personal pronouns. In the first and second persons, it is suffixed, -zu, but is only used emphatically to emphasise reflexivity and otherwise dropped. In the third person, the zu is a separate word and it is the important part of the phrase, with the de able to be dropped.
| Person | Singular | Exclusive Plural | Inclusive of 3rd | Inclusive of 2nd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ABS | na(zu) | wena(zu) | wena(zu) | wana(zu) |
| 1st GEN | nga(zu) | vyena(zu) | vyena(zu) | wona(zu) |
| 2nd ABS | wa(zu) | wewa(zu) | wade(zu) | - |
| 2nd GEN | wo(zu) | vyewa(zu) | wode(zu) | - |
| 3rd ABS | (de) zu | (dwe) zu / (de we) zu | - | - |
| 3rd GEN | zyizu / ya zu | zyizu (we) | - | - |
Quite frequently, -zu attaches as a compound element on to the end of other nouns in order to create a lexical reflexive. This is quite like the English prefixes auto- and self-, as in autoerotic, self-destruct. Compare the following three sentences.
Na i ze ngu nga. na i ze ngu nga 1s COP NEG.E murder.AG GEN.1s I'm not going to kill myself.
Na i ze ngu ngazu. na i ze ngu ngazu 1s COP NEG.E murder.AG GEN.1s.REFL I'm not going to kill myself (but possibly others).
Na i ze nguzu. na i ze nguzu 1s COP NEG.E murder.self.AG I'm not going to commit suicide.
It should be noted that the reflexive pronouns are not used to highlight the subject, as they can in English. This is instead done by repeating the subject in an adjunctive modifier.
Na i ze ngu o na. na i ze ngu u na 1s COP NEG.E murder.AG ADJN 1s I'm not going to kill (anyone) myself.
Indefinite
Interrogative
Genitive forms
Demonstratives
Particles
Interjections
Noun Phrases
Modifiers
Appositional modifiers
Attributive modifiers
Genitive modifiers
Adjunctive modifiers
Definiteness
Degree
Modality
Number
Specificity
Tense and aspect
Progressive and present
Perfect and past
Prospective and future
Gnomic
Episodic
Habitual
Inceptive
Continuative
Cessative
Clauses
Appellative clauses
The simplest sentence type in Wena is an appellative clause, which consists of a single bare noun-phrase. The function of these clauses is to name the addressee. The meaning is the same as a clause beginning with Wa i ... 'You are ...' although in tone it is much more direct. The closest equivalent in English are the kind of vocative exclamations such as "Idiot!" or "Creep!" which are not used to gain attention but instead to make an assertion about the addressee (i.e. not "Hey, creep!" but "You are a creep!").
Vwindu! vwindu lowlife.scum (You are) lowlife scum!
Hyo! hyo sweet.E You are sweet! Lit: Sweet person/thing!
Zyendu ya nggu! zyendu ya nggu drop.AG GEN money You dropped some money! Lit: Money dropper!
Direct imperatives take the form of appellatives beginning with he 'one who should'.
He zomba! he zomba should.AG go_home.AG (You should) go home! Lit: One who should go home!
In giving extremely direct forceful orders, the he is dropped and the order is told as if it were a fact, similar to orders that start with 'You will ...'.
Byebye hi bu! byebye hi bu permanently_leave.AG DEF.E island You will leave this island and never return! Lit: Permanent leaver of this island!
No u na i dyo zyi va nggu wo! no u na i dyo zyi va nggu give.AG ADJN 1s COP acquire.AG GEN.DEF.E everything money You will give me all of your money! Lit: Person who gives me all of the money!
Predicate clauses
Predicate clauses consist of nothing but a predicate, which itself consists of the copula (or predicate marker) i of a noun phrase introduced by the copula. The missing subject in these sentences can, without further context, be thought of as representing an unspoken "someone" or "something". They therefore often have an existential meaning.
I nivi. i nivi COP problem (Someone or something) is a problem. I.e. There is a problem.
I nivi. i nivi COP problem (Someone or something) is a problem. I.e. There is a problem.
I gwa nwevwa.. i gwa nwevwa COP two.E banana (Someone or something) is two bananas. There are two bananas.
Predicate clauses are often used rather like a passive construction.
I mo zyi we dyenggi nga.. i mo zyi we dyenggi nga COP consume.AG GEN.DEF.E PL.E sago_cake GEN.1s Someone (or something) ate my sago cakes. There is an eater of my sago cakes.
Note the difference between this and a true passive formed with a prefixed ne-.
We dyenggi nga i nemo. we dyenggi nga i ne-mo PL.E sago_cake GEN.1s COP PASS-consume.AG "My sago cakes are/were/have been eaten."
In context, the unstate subject may refer to a specific entity, generally whatever is topical at the time.
Subject predicate clauses
Topic fronting
Questions
Coordination
Wena has the following coordinating conjunctions.
Conjunction Gloss English gwe and.SIMULT / and and simultaneously, and at the same time do and.SUBSEQ / then and then, then, and subsequently dozye and.CONSEQ / thus so, and therefore, and consequently mye but but agwe or.INCL and/or, or (and possibly both/all) amye XOR or (but not both/all)
These conjunctions can all be used at any level of syntax, linking sentences, predicates, noun phrases or modifiers within noun phrases.
When more than two items are linked, the conjunction appears between each pair, unlike in English where it appears only between the last two. For example the structure A, B, and C is, in Wena, A gwe B gwe C.
Correlative coordination
The particle a (glossed: COORD) can be used to mark the beginning of a correlative phrase. They chiefly appear to disambiguate exactly which syntactic structures are being coordinated or for emphasis. The following structures exist.
a X gwe Y both X and Y a X do Y first X then Y a X dozye Y if X then Y / the X the Y a X mye Y "admittedly" X but Y a X agwe Y either X or Y (or both) a X amye Y either X or Y (but not both) a (...) ze X mye (...) ndwa Y not X but (rather) Y a (...) ze myegi X mye gwe Y not only X but also Y
De i hu a gu do vwe. de i hu a gu do vwe DEF.E COP man COORD strike.AG then see.AG He's a "hit first, ask questions later" kind of guy.
A i he mbo u nyo i liba da dozye zyamo i liba homo. a i he mbo u nyo i liba da dozye zyamo i liba homo COORD COP should.AG stay.AG ADJN time COP increasingly_intense.E large.E thus food COP increasingly_intense.E tasty.E The longer you have to wait, the better food tastes.
A i bawe nya lu vumba vyewa mye i he mbomu zyu hi mbalwe i dinggu. a i bawe nya lu vumba vyewa mye i he mbomu zyu hi mbalwe i dinggu COORD COP many.E small_animal LOC.E room GEN.2p but COP should.AG remember.AG GEN.C DEM.E guesthouse COP cheap.E Yes, admittedly your room is full of creepy crawlies, but please remember: this guesthouse is cheap.
Wa i mwe a mbo lu hi u vwevwe igidigi amye me nga u gunggi. wa i mwe a mbo lu hi u vwevwe igidigi amye me nga u gunggi 2s COP able.E COORD stay.AG LOC.E DEM.E ADJN watch.AG ant XOR accompany.AG GEN.1s ADJN beat_sago.AG You can either stay here twiddling your thumbs (lit. "watching ants") or come and beat sago with me.
Additionally, in questions, the two versions of "either ... or" can be be used with h instead of having ha appear at the beginning of the sentence. This is much more usual for the exclusive "either ... or" than the inclusive.
ha X hagwe Y either X or Y (or both)? ha X hamye Y either X or Y (but not both)?