Seimat language
| Seimat | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Ninigo and Anchorite island groups, Manus Province |
Native speakers | (1,000 cited 1992)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ssg |
| Glottolog | seim1238 |
The Seimat language is one of three Western Admiralty Islands languages, the other two being Wuvulu-Aua and the extinct Kaniet. The language is spoken by approximately 1000 people on the Ninigo and the Anchorite Islands in western Manus Province of Papua New Guinea.[2] It has subject–verb–object (SVO) word order.[2]
Names
[edit]The alternate names for Seimat are Admiralitäts-inseln and Ninigo.[3]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]Labial Dental/
AlveolarVelar Glottal Nasal m n ŋ Stop p t̪ k Fricative s x h Lateral l Approximant w
Vowels
[edit]Numbers
[edit]Seimat has a quinary numeral system; numbers from one to five are unique, whereas most all other numbers are simply combinations of these. For example, numbers from six to nine are compounds based on five, combined with the words for one to four. Twenty is also a unique word, meaning "person"; it presumably refers to a full set of fingers and toes.[5]
| Seimat | English |
|---|---|
| tehu | one |
| hũõhu | two |
| toluhu | three |
| hinalo | four |
| te-panim (lit. 'one hand') | five |
| te-panim tehu | six |
| te-panim hũohu | seven |
| te-panim toluhu | eight |
| te-panim hinalo | nine |
| hũõ-panim (lit. 'two hands') | ten |
| hũõ-panim tehu | eleven |
| hũõ-panim hũõhu | twelve |
| tolupa (lit. 'three hands') | fifteen |
| tolupa tehu | sixteen |
| tolupa hũõhu | seventeen |
| seilon tel (lit. 'one man') | twenty |
| seilon tel tehu | twenty-one |
| seilon tel hũõhu | twenty-two |
| seilon tolu | thirty |
| seilon hinalo | fourty |
| patei tel | hundred |
References
[edit]- ^ Seimat at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b "Seimat". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
- ^ "Glottolog 5.1 - Seimat". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
- ^ Wozna & Wilson 2005.
- ^ "Seimat". lingweb.eva.mpg.de. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
Further reading
[edit]- Wozna, B.; Wilson, T. (2005), Seimat Grammar Essentials (PDF), Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages, volume 48, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics
External links
[edit]- Kaipuleohone has recordings and written materials for Seimat
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