Safeyoka language

Safeyoka, or Ampale, is an Angan language of Papua New Guinea. Other names of this language include Ambari, Ampeeli, Ampeeli-Wojokeso, and Ampele.[2] According to a 1980 census, there were around 2,390 native speakers.[2] Commonly known as Ampale, the dialect is called Wojokeso. Speakers of Ampale range from the Waffa River to the Banir River, which is located in the northern part of Papua New Guinea.[3] The Wojokeso dialect is spoken by people who live in five villages where multiple districts, the Kaiapit, Mumeng and Menyama come together in the Morobe Province.[4]

Safeyoka
Ampale
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Morobe Province
Native speakers	(2,390 cited 1980 census)[1]
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Angan Northeast Safeyoka
Language codes
ISO 639-3	apz
Glottolog	safe1240

Grammar

Subject Personal Pronouns

In the term stem of Ampale outlines, the object person affixes are included in them. Class 2 verb roots, /put/ and /kill/, they occur immediately following the root. Other verb roots immediately come before the root.[3] Object person affixes include:

[3]
	First Person	Second Person	Third Person
Singualr	nɨ-	kɨ-	u-
Dual	e-	ze-	u-
Plural	naa-/ne-	ze-	u-

Sentence Structure

The Ampale language classifies with the Wojokeso dialect of the Angan language stock.[5] According to B.A Hooley and K.A. McElhanon, the language is referred to as the "Languages of the Morobe District - New Guinea". The sentence types of the Wojokeso are pattern types. On non-final verbs, the Wojokeso links clauses together by the means of affixes or clitics.[5]

Simple

The simple sentence formula is "+ Base: General Clause/Elliptical Clause + Terminal: Final Intonation." The sentence is explained by a single base and final intonation. In other words, the single base is expounded by the general clause. Single base moods include: Indicative, Interrogative, Dubitative, Information interrogative, Avolitional, and Exclamatory.[5]

Single Bases	Example
General Clause 1 = Indicative	Indicative Phrase: Hofɨko pmmalofo-foho Native Translation: 'they came' English: 'They came'
	Negative Indicative Phrase: mmalofo'maho Native Translation: 'come' English: 'They didn't come.'
General Clause 2 = Interrogative	Interrogative Phrase: Nto pmmalofotaho Native Translation: 'already came' English: 'Did they already come?'
	Negative Interrogative Phrase: Mapɨ'njitaho Native Translation: 'neg-come' English: 'Didn't they come?'
General Clause 3 = Dubitative	Dubitative Phrase: Pmmalofotɨkeno Native Translation: 'come-they' English: 'Maybe they came'
	Negative Dubitative Phrase: Mapɨ'njitɨkeno Native Translation: 'come - maybe' English: 'Maybe they didn't come'
General Clause 4 = Information Interrogative	Information Interrogative Phrase: Tɨhwo pmmalofoto Native Translation: 'who came' English: 'Who came?'
	Negative Information Interrogative Phrase: Tɨhwo mapɨ'njito Native Translation: 'who neg-came' English: 'Who didn't come?'
General Clause 5 = Avolitional	Avolitional Phrase: Pɨfɨtnnoho Native Translation: 'come-they' English: 'It's not good that they come.' Phrase: Poyo imo'ntnnoho Native Translation: 'dead become-you' English: 'It's not good that you die.'
General Clause 6 = Exclamatory	Exclamatory Phrase: Yahufohi Native Translation: 'pig' English: 'It's a pig!' Phrase: Peho'no pohinopu Native Translation: 'why come-you' English: 'Shame on you for coming!'
[5]

Series

The series sentence indicates multiple actions a person does. There is no grammatical distinction between temporal succession and temporal overlap. Usually used to explain actions which are performed by a dual or plural subject. However, actions with this partial change in subject may also be classified as a sequence sentence.[4]

Sequence

The sequence sentence indicates an order of actions being completed by a subject, where base 1 differs from base 2. The action of the first base is usually completed before the action of the second base even begins. The deep structure of this sentence type is that it is purely based on succession.[4]

Example:

"Sɨkuno nomeHONƗNGKI sukwo'miyomo hofantiso toho nelofAHONƗNGKI"

This translates into "Darkness came and night mosquitoes bit us". This expresses temporal succession.[4]

Tense

Future
	Wojokeso	English
Subjective	y-ontɨfitnne	They would, they will do
Unrealized Subjective	y-ontɨtinnesohilo	Would have done
Near Future	u-y-on ɨtfeho	They will do
Hortative-Imperative	u-y-ɨfe	Let them do it
[4]

Non-Future
	Wojokeso	English
Present Incomplete	y-alowofo	They are doing it
Present Complete	y-ohofo	They did it
Narrative Past	humi-y-ohofi	They did it
Near Past	i-malofo	They did it
Far Past	i-mentohofo	They did it a long time ago
Habitual Past	i-motofo	They used to do it regularly
[4]

Phonology

Consonants

The Wojokeso has fifteen simple and six complex consonant phonemes. The points of articulation include bilabial, alveolar, alveopalatal and velar. The bilabial fricative phoneme is /p/, alveolar resonant phoneme /I/, alveopalatal stop phoneme /j/ and velar fricative phoneme /h/.[4]

Vowels

The Wojokeso contains five vowel phonemes, /i, u, e, ʌ, a/. However, there was said to be seven vowels of the Wojokeso /i, e, æ, ɨ, ʌ, a, u/ although there were no clear cut contrasts.[4]

Vowel Clusters

When two vowels occur contiguously, they are considered separate segments. Non-suspect sequences such as /ea/, /ae/, occur and sequences /ai/, /ia/ and /ʌu/, /uʌ/. The syllabic and pitch accent of these vowels consider the syllables to be separate. In the words of /hasamjʌhwʌ/ ~ /hasaʔemjʌhwʌ/ 'dragonfly'. /ʔ/ is optional between two vowels.[4]

References

1. Safeyoka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. "Safeyoka". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
3. Franklin, Karl J. (Karl James) (1973). The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 0858831007. OCLC 1288732.
4. Angan languages are different : four phonologies. Healey, Phyllis M. Huntington Beach, Calif.: Summer Institute of Linguistics. 1981. ISBN 088312212X. OCLC 8619473.CS1 maint: others (link)
5. West, Dorothy. (1973). Wojokeso : sentence, paragraph, and discourse analysis. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University. ISBN 0858830892. OCLC 1220916.