Tawala language
Tawala is an Oceanic language of the Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. It is spoken by 20,000 people who live in hamlets and small villages on the East Cape peninsula, on the shores of Milne Bay and on areas of the islands of Sideia and Basilaki. There are approximately 40 main centres of population each speaking the same dialect, although through the process of colonisation some centres have gained more prominence than others.
Phonology
Tawala has a moderately small consonant inventory of 15 consonants, an average vowel quality inventory of five vowels, and an also average consonant-vowel ratio of 3.Consonants
Vowels
Syntax
Negation
In Tawala, negation is most commonly shown through the negative particle ega, which always appears before the predicate of a clause. When the initial vowel is lengthened, forming eega, the negative particle is taken as the predicate of an existential clause, or as an interjection/response to indicate ‘no’.Ex. Negation using ega
Ex. Negative existential predicate, eega
Ex. Negative response, eega
The negative particle can also take the future tense marker apo as a prefix to form a negative adverb apega. This construction combines with the irrealis and potential mood across both verbal and non-verbal clauses.
Ex. Negative non-verbal clause in irrealis mood
Ex. Negative verbal clause in irrealis mood
Intensified negation
Negation can be intensified by adopting the condition marker wai- as a suffix to the negative particle ega; However this construction appears to be limited to the use of response or interjection.Ex. Intensified negation
Negation of non-verbal clauses
As Tawala allows for both verbal and non-verbal clauses, the negative particle will never occur within a clause level noun phrase. For example, if the negative particle were placed between a noun and an adjective, then both would be considered constituents of the clause, with the adjective fulfilling the function of the predicate. The following example illustrates this kind of construction.Ex. Negation of descriptive clause
Negation of non-verbal clauses: Existential clauses
Existential clauses are common non-verbal clauses which occur within spoken Tawala, though they only occasionally occur within extended discourse. In Tawala, an existential clause consists of a nominal predicate and can often be negated by the addition of the negative particle that precedes the predicate.Ex. Negation of existential clause
Most negative existential clauses cannot be made positive by simply removing the negative particle, a stative clause would be required instead. The below example illustrates this asymmetry.
Ex. Asymmetry of positive and negative existential clauses
Negative existential clauses are constructed in the irrealis mood when the negative adverb precedes the existential nominal predicate, as shown in example.
As mentioned earlier, the negative particle can be taken as the predicate of an existential clause. This construction is used when asking polar questions. The second clause in the following example illustrates its use.
Ex. Negative existential predicate in polar question
Negation of non-verbal clauses: Descriptive clauses
Descriptive non-verbal clauses, where an adjective acts as the predicate of the clause, are not often constructed in the negative. In the instances where this does occur, it implies that the negative condition is permanent.Ex. Negation of descriptive clause
Negation of non-verbal clauses: Possessive clauses
As Tawala always places the negative before the predicate and never within a noun phrase, if a negative particle is found between two nouns, it indicates a possessive clause. Compare the example below, which combines an equative and possessive clause.Ex. Negation of possessive clause
Negation of verbal clauses
Negation of verbal clauses in Tawala follow the same rules applied to non-verbal clauses: for clauses in the past or present tense, the negative particle precedes the predicate, while the negative tense adverb precedes the predicate for clauses in the future tense. These clauses will either carry the irrealis, potential or hypothetical mood.Ex. Negative durative irrealis
Ex. Past irrealis
Ex. Hypothetical
Ex. Negative durative potential
Ex. Future potential
Negation of verbal clauses: Prohibitions
Prohibitive constructions within Tawala are constructed by placing the negative tense adverb before a verbal predicate, as illustrated in the example below.Ex. Prohibitive command
Morphology
Pronouns
Tawala distinguishes three persons: first, second and third. There are only two grammatical numbers, singular and plural although first person plural makes a distinction between inclusive and exclusive.Although there are five classes of pronouns in Tawala only the independent pronouns class should be considered as pronouns proper as they are the only class consisting of free forms. The remaining four classes occur with independent pronouns in a phrase.
Independent Pronouns
Subject Prefix and Object Enclitic
Subject prefixes and object enclitics attach to a verb to mark person and number of both subject and object respectively.| 1SG | 2SG | 3SG | 1PL.INC | 1PL.EXC | 2PL | 3PL | |
| Object Enclitic | -u/we | -m | -ni/ya | -ta | -yai | -mi | -hi |
| Subject Prefix | a- | u- | i- | ta- | to- | o- | hi- |
Example:
The following examples demonstrate the use of some of the above personal pronouns in context.
Possession
Tawala distinguishes alienable and inalienable possession.Possessive Pronouns
Alienable possession is constructed by a free-standing possessive pronoun that marks the person and number of the possessor.Example:
The following examples demonstrate the use of some of the above personal pronouns in context.
Pronominal Enclitics
Inalienable possession is constructed by attaching a pronominal enclitic to the possessed noun.Example:
The following example demonstrates the use of some of the above personal pronouns in context.