Mekeo language

Mekeo is a language spoken in Papua New Guinea and had 19,000 speakers in 2003. It is an Oceanic language of the Papuan Tip Linkage.^[3] The two major villages that the language is spoken in are located in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. These are named Ongofoina and Inauaisa.^[4] The language is also broken up into four dialects: East Mekeo; North West Mekeo; West Mekeo and North Mekeo. The standard dialect is East Mekeo.^[5] This main dialect is addressed throughout the article. In addition, there are at least two Mekeo-based pidgins.

Phonology

Mekeo employs a relatively simple system of phonology which consists of 10 consonants and 5 vowels. The following tables identify both the consonants and vowels present in Mekeo.

Consonants

Note that the table above displays the range of consonants used in East Mekeo which is classified as the standard dialect. North West Mekeo, West Mekeo and North Mekeo each have slightly different consonants included in their dialects.^[6][7]

Vowels

Mekeo has five vowels, shown on the table below:

Morphology

Pronoun and Person Markers

In Mekeo, personal pronouns primarily refer to humans, however the third person forms can also be used for animals and other objects as well. Mekeo uses a range of different pronouns for different situations. The following table shows all the main personal pronouns for East Mekeo. This includes unmarked, emphatic and reflexive personal pronouns. Note, that the emphatic pronouns are not common in East Mekeo as they compete with another more common topicaliser, au-ŋa. For example, the preferred form for the first person singular would be lau- au-ŋa.^[8] In the following table, 1, 2 and 3 indicate the person, SG and PL indicate whether the example is singular or plural and I and E stand for inclusive and exclusive.

Examples:^[9] The following examples demonstrate the use of some of the above personal pronouns in context.

E-Ɂifo

3SG-self

S/he is one of a kind.

Maa-mu	umu	koà	lopia-ŋa
Eye-2SG	charcoal	likeness	beautiful
"Your eyes are beautiful, like charcoal."

Oi,	nao	koa,	ioi-mu
2SG	European	likeness	same-2SG
"You are like a European."

ia	'e-lao	afu	ioi-na	e-lao
elsewhere	3SG-go	place	different-3SG	3SG-go
"He has gone elsewhere."

Possessive Constructions

Possession in Mekeo has two morpho-syntactic distinctions: direct or indirect constructions. Direct possession concerns kinship relations and ‘part of a whole relations’ and these kind of relations are cultural in origin. Indirect possession covers a more general possession of alienable property.

Direct possession

Direct possession relies on relational terms that often form closed subsystems such as kinship terms. In Mekeo, the two relation terms involved in each equation, are joined by another term that operates like a transitive verb. The third term is the ‘relator’ and must be marked for agreement with one of the other terms in the equation. The relator follows the subject and/or the object. The relator is marked for the person and number of the second term or the object.^[10]

Indirect Possession

Expressing alienable possession in Mekeo requires the prefix E- and its various realisations (including zero). This morpheme is then optionally preceded by a free or bound pronoun and then the compulsory suffixed by a pronominal suffix which indicates the person and number of the possessor.^[11]

Eŋaʔi-na	lau	e-u	foʔama
that	I	POSS-1SG	food
That is my (vegetable) food

The negative is expressed with negators maini, aibaia and laa'i

E-u	foʔama	laa'i
POSS-1SG	food	not
I have no food

The following is an example of an alternation of the cliticisation process

Inaʔina	auŋa	iʔa	ʔa	eʔa
this	TOPIC	we.(incl)	POSS.1PL.(incl)	house
This one is our house

Another morpheme to express possession is the location pronoun KE- (realised as ke or ʔe). This pronoun expresses location or place

Ke-u-ai	pokama	mako
LOC-1SG-OBL	food	much
I have lots of food

Trade language

Jones (1996) reports two forms of pidgin Mekeo used for trade: the Imunga Trade Language and the Ioi Trade Jargon.^[14]

Footnotes

References

Chung, J.-S. (1995). Orthography paper for Mekeo Language. SIL international, 1-21.
Jones, A. A. (1998). Towards a lexicogrammar of mekeo. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Organised Phonology Data: Mekeo Language. (2004). SIL International, 1-3.

Mekeo language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Languages of Papua New Guinea
Official languages	English Hiri Motu Tok Pisin Papua New Guinean Sign Language
Major Indigenous languages	Adzera Amanab Awad Bing Barok Bimin Bola Bugawac Dedua Dobu Kâte Kobon Kovai Kuanua Kuman Kuot Kurti Lihir Mandara Mangseng Mbula Mende Mussau-Emira Mutu Nekgini Ngaing Nobonob Numanggang Nyindrou Pele-Ata Petats Ramoaaina Seimat Solong Somba-Siawari Suau Sulka Tobo Ura Vitu Waris
Other Papuan languages	Angan Akoye Angaataha Ankave Hamtai Kamasa Kawacha Menya Safeyoka Simbari Susuami Tainae Yagwoia Yipma Awin–Pa Awin Pa Binanderean Baruga Binandere Ewage Korafe Orokaiva Suena Yekora Zia Bosavi Aimele Beami Edolo Kaluli Kasua Onobasulu Sonia Chimbu–Wahgi Chuave Dom Golin Kandawo Kaugel Kuman Maring Melpa Narak Nii Nomane Salt-Yui Sinasina Tembagla Wahgi Duna–Pogaya Duna Pogaya East Kutubuan Fasu Fiwaga Foi East Strickland Fembe Gobasi Konai Kubo Odoodee Samo Engan Angal Bisorio Enga Huli Ipili Kewa Kyaka Lembena Samberigi Eleman Kaki Ae Keuru Opao Orokolo Toaripi Tairuma Ok–Oksapmin Bimin Faiwol Mian Ngalum Ninggerum Oksapmin Setaman Suganga Telefol Tifal Urap Yonggom Teberan Dadibi Folopa Tirio Abom Baramu Bitur Tirio Were Turama–Kikorian Ikobi Omati Rumu Larger Families Finisterre–Huon Kainantu–Goroka Madang Ramu–Lower Sepik Sepik Southeast Papuan Torricelli