Kuanua Alphabet

Alphabet

Originally the Kuanua language did not have a set of letters used in writing because it was an oral language. The introduction of writing has helped to identify the letters employed in the oral kuanua to establish an alphabet. The alphabet varies in certain dialects. For example, Boawa Village (LungaLunga) has the h and s in its dialect whereas Kabakada, only about three kilometers away, does not employ h and s. Boawa people speak the Masawa dialect of Kuanua. Generally, the kuanua alphabet is a, b, d, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w. It is not hard to pronounce Kuanua words because the language is mostly phonetic…. The -A also is used frequently as a prefix before all nouns. The sound ng is pronounced as in the suffix ing , in English, added to a term to indicate present continuous tense.  Examples are: mangoro – many; mangula – busy; and mang – bandicoot. The letter I is pronounced as in the English letter E. The letter E is pronounced e as in get, bed, and leg.

Photo credit: Esau Mellie.
Harbour of Rabaul taken from the side of Kokopo..The Raluana dialect of Kuanua is spoken in Kokopo..

Kuanua Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes

a usually comes before a noun. bar denotes  nuclear and extended family relationship terms. wa is used to signify the noun form of a verb. It is also used to indicate active verb. eg. libur changed to walibur.

Suffixes

Suffixes denoting possessive nouns

gu denotes my;  i, na, denotes of;  m,  am, im denotes your. For example:  Agu tawa. My water. Kaugu mal. My clothes.

In Kuanua there are two categories of possessive nouns: 1. food; 2; non-food. In English the word my is used to refer to both food and non-food items, for example, my house, my orange. It is not so in Kuanua because agu refers to food and kaugu refers to non-food items.

Suffixes as Pronouns

ia . The suffix ia changes a verb to an adverb. e.g., watur ,waturia; ;(touch, touch it) bing, bingia (press, press it). e. In some cases the suffix e can be used instead of ia but not in all cases. e.g., watur, wature. ia and e are at the same time serve as pronouns.

Photo Credit: Grace Tiden

The photo shows the conclusion of the final stage of initiation in Tolai tubuan. This stage is called dok. The prefix ni is added to dok and forms the noun nidok.

Kuanua Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes and Suffixes

Some

Prefixes

a usually comes before a noun. bar denotes  nuclear and extended family relationship terms. wa is used to signify the noun form of a verb. It is also used to indicate active verb. eg. libur changed to walibur.

Suffixes

Suffixes denoting possessive nouns

gu denotes my;  i, na, denotes of;  m,  am, im denotes your. For example:  Agu tawa. My water. Kaugu mal. My clothes.

In Kuanua there are two categories of possessive nouns: 1. food; 2; non-food. In English the word my is used to refer to both food and non-food items, for example, my house, my orange. It is not so in Kuanua because agu refers to food and kaugu refers to non-food items.

Suffixes as Pronouns

ia . The suffix ia changes a verb to an adverb. e.g., watur ,waturia; ;(touch, touch it) bing, bingia (press, press it). e. In some cases the suffix e can be used instead of ia but not in all cases. e.g., watur, wature. ia and e are at the same time serve as pronouns.

Photo Credit: Grace Tiden

The photo shows the conclusion of the final stage of initiation in Tolai tubuan. This stage is called dok. The prefix ni is added to dok and forms the noun nidok.

Kuanua Pronunciations

KUANUA PRONUNCIATIONS

The Kuanua language is spoken widely in, the Gazelle area - Rabaul, Kokopo, and Toma - and varies in pronunciation (dialects) in a number of areas. Regardless of dialect a is pronounced in two different ways: a as in er in the word her and a as in the letters ar in art. The a as in art is indicated by an umlaut, ä , and appears in my vocabulary list.

Words beginning with the letter A

a       (ā)     Denotes noun. Pronounced in two different ways: 1.. as ar in art , e.g., a en (a fish); and 2. as er in her, e.g., äbe  (to catch; receive)

abä   saliva. eg. Aba I wana tara ngiene. Saliva is coming out of his/her mouth.

äbabä  salivating. eg. I ababa ra ngiene. He/she has a salivating mouth.

äbäk to pluck a leave. It is not used in plucking feathers from birds. wut/iwut is used to describe removing feathers from birds. eg. Abak paka ra kuburuna. Pluck only the top leave.

äbäle   To complete a task in preparation for the next or in anticipation of an event. eg. Abalae kapi ra da nian kan na bata. Prepare our food before it rains.

äbe   catch; receive. var. alube.e.g. Ina wue ra umana galip ma una abe diat. I will throw the galip nuts and you catch them.

äbäbe  Catching. Pres. cont. of abe. eg I ababe ra muli.. He is catching an orange.

äbäbäi n. the act of catching.

ada   our, ours kädat is ours (non-food item). e.g.Ada nian. Our meal. ada is used as possessive pronoun specifically concerning food.

adat our:  for us. e.g.  Adat ra nian. The meal is for us. adat is used in many cases to answer a query relating to the ownership of food relating to the first person and others.

adiat   for them (more than three persons). e.g. Adiat ra igir. The igir is for them.

adätal  For the three of us. When referring to non-food item kädätal is used.

adital  for them (three persons) (food). e.g. For the three of them. Adital. One word, Adital, represents a sentence – For the three of them.

adingä 1. Breath. 2. Sniff

ädinge 1.Breath in/out: breath in fresh air/aroma. 2. Blow the nostrils.

ado   many, plenty. eg.  Ado na en. Plenty of fish.

ador for us (two persons). e.g. Nam ra koai ador. That mango is for the two of us. kador is used when speaking of nonfood items.

ae     1. era, 2. uncertainty; An expression used to indicate uncertainty. var. mauie (Tabuna and Katakatai, Bitapaka LLG). Usually used in response to a quirey.  e.g. Question: Is there anybody home? Ta na akamana nagunan? Is there anyone home? Response: Ae. I am not sure.

ägär curse; to cast a spell. e.g. ToMel i agar ra gunan. ToMel cursed the village.      

ägäriä  Curse it/him/her.

ägur escort, accompany. e.g. IaDani I agur natuna uro ra bung. IaDani accompanied her child to the market.

ägure  escort him/her .e.g. Una agure turam ura ra wartowo. You escort your brother over to school. You walk with your brother to school.

ägut incantation.  the recital or chanting of words purporting to have magical powers. This is usually done over food or other items. E.g. ToWawar I agut ra ku. ToWawar chanted over the ku.

ai      Exclamation.eg. Ai,, da? Ai, why?

aik    1. A small portion. 2. Nearly; Aik ba na wirua .He nearly had an accident.

aik boko                  In a little while, a little more. aikilik  The state of being small in proportion.

aim   Memorial pledge, plaque. eg. A memorial plaque. A wat na aim.

aio    Exclamation usually uttered in support of a remark. A tena minatoto. Aio! She is clever. That is so. Alup wowowon. Aio! He is too slow. That is so.

aiap 1.Fire; var.iap.  2, Haste.

a  iau   Oh dear me!

äk     1.C rack; crak a galip nut.2.Start; begin a song. Ak pa ra kakailai. Start a song.

akä   puss. Milk-like substance found in

sores and boil.

äkir   vb. trip; Trip by the leg. Akir re keke.

äkire adv. to trip it/him/her by the leg. Trip him by the leg. Akire ra kakene. Akire is made up of a verb (akir) and pronoun (e)

älir    swim; e. I tale una alir? Can you swim?

älälir 1. pres. cont. of alir swimming. 2. Floating.

älire Carried by the flow of water. e.g.  A polo i alire ra umana lama ura nata. The flood carried the coconuts to the sea.

äl      1. Pull; alia; 2. tide. 3. harvest; especially used to describe harvesting of bananas. e.g. Da ta al na wudu ure ra warwakai. We will harvest bananas for the feast.

al      Water current, tide

älä    Yes; indeed

älu    travel; walk.

älube   1. receive; take. e.g. Alube paia Take it. 2.Catch

am    yours; your food

ämär   The flowering banana pod - inflorescence

ämäre Pour off; dispose. It is used to describe the removal of non-liquid items. Lingire and talingir are used when speaking of liquids.

amir Two of us. e.g. Amir ra wana na ravian. We are going in the afternoon.

amur   Two of you. e.g. Amur ra wana na malana. You are going in rthe morning.

äng   1. put into; load; fill up. 2. Close; shut. 3. scent.. e.g.1. Koko u ang wakukuia. Do not fill it up unnecessarily. 2. Ang bat ra waum. Shut the lime container.3. Ang na wuai. A fragrant scent.

ängäng         Stopper: object used as a stopper. e.g A kawe ra ängäng ai go ra kabala? Where is the lid for this pot?

äng na bubu   Rotten smell. e.g I ang na bubu nam ra ubu na pipia. That pile of rubbish is smelling rotten.

anginä Smell; e.g. A minat na kuku i angina. The dead lizard smells.

änginanä; something that is foul smelling.

ängine To smell; sniff

är      1.cliff e.g. 1.Dia  wana liliai ta näm ra ul ar.The took a detour to avoid the top of the cliff. 2. tear; tear off strips of banana  leave. E.g.. Una ar tar ta ika iao uti. Tear for me a bit of dry banana leave.

äe     1. Overtake. 2. Cliear; clear a path. Are ra nga.

arenge         Crisp dry; brittle. I arenge ra maranga na mapmapina dawai.

ari if. var. ona

arikai   Emerge; rise.

arukä  sniff

äruke  1.sniff it. Breath in.

arupä  sweep; arupe – sweep it

am    yours (When referring to food). käum is used when referring to non-food item. e,g Am näm ra tup. That sugar cane is yours.

anä   for him/her (food). E.g. Anä nam ra koai. That mango is his/hers.

äng   Fill; angia Fill it.

älmäri Sweet; sweet sound or voice.

an     something; general description of something that one does not have much clue on; also used to refer to something that one does not prefer to name directly.

äpur Splash; splash with water.

awä what? var. aha, asah (Boawa)

awip Whistle by putting a finger or two in the mouth to fold the lips back into the mouth and blowing out.

awuä   Widow or widower. It is used for both male and female.