Kele language (New Guinea)

Kele or Gele’ is a language spoken in the easterly section of inland Manus Island, New Guinea.[1] Its name comes from the Kele word for "there".[2]

See also: Kele language (disambiguation)
Kele
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionManus Island
Native speakers
(600 cited 1982)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3sbc
Glottologkele1258

Phonology

The syllable structure of Kele is (C)V(C).

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
plain labialized plain labialized
Nasal m mʷ n ŋ ŋʷ
Stop voiceless p pʷ t k kʷ ʔ
voiced b d
Fricative s h
Approximant j w
Rhotic r
Lateral l

/b d/ are often trilled [bʙ dr]. Additionally, /b d/ are prenasalized when not occurring before another consonant.

Kele has five vowels: a, e, i, o and u. Vowels can also be elongated. Ross (2002) describes this vowel length as non-phonemic, and instead as part of one of four different disyllabic patterns in words.[2] He also notes that no word contains more than one long vowel.[2]

Grammar

Kele has eleven pronouns, distinguishing first person inclusive and exclusive pronouns as well as dual and plural number. Different versions of each pronoun can be prefixed to show the subject and suffixed to show possession. Nearly all verbs require a preceding subject prefix; however, a few verbs instead require a possessor suffix to indicate the subject.

Sample vocabulary

Nouns

Bed: Petlé
Road: Sal
House: Um
Stone: Pat

Verbs

Learn: Penow
Teach: Te-penow
Die: Mat
Kill: Te-mete-i

References
  1. Kele at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Crowley, Terry; Lynch, John; Ross, Malcolm (2002). The Oceanic Languages. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 123-25


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