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The Ambai language is an Austronesian language spoken in Indonesian New Guinea (Papua Province), mostly on the Ambai Islands as well as the southern part of Yapen Island.[2] The number of speakers is estimated to be 10,000. Dialects are Randawaya, Ambai (Wadapi-Laut), and Manawi.[3]

Ambai
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Ambai Islands
Native speakers	10,100 (2000)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian Eastern Malayo-Polynesian South Halmahera–West New Guinea Cenderawasih Bay Yapen Central–Western Ambai
Language codes
ISO 639-3	amk
Glottolog	amba1265

Phonology

Ambai has 19 consonants and 6 vowels, shown on the tables below.

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Plosive	b  p		d  t		ɡ  k
Nasal	m		n		ŋ
Trill			r			ħ	h
Fricative	ɸ	f	s	ç  ʝ
Approximant		w		j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	ɛ	ə	ɔ
Open		a

Morphology

Pronouns

All pronouns in Ambai mark for number, person and clusivity (in first person).

The following bound pronouns are obligatorily added as affixes to the verb to stand as the subject of the sentence. Every verb in Ambai takes a subject, even if it is a 'dummy' 3rd person pronoun.

Bound Pronouns

		Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1st person	exclusive	i-/dj-	au(r)-	anto(r)-	ame(r)-
	inclusive		tu(r)-	to(r)-	ta(r)-
2nd person		b-	mu(r)-	munto(r)-	me(r)-
3rd person		d-	u(r)-	co(r)-	e(r)-

The following pronouns are independent and are more restricted in use. They do not appear as subjects – since the subject is marked already on the verb – but can appear as objects, in prepositional phrases and in subordinate clauses. Some verbs allow the object pronoun to be omitted.

Free Pronouns

		Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1st person	exclusive	jau	auru	antoru	amea
	inclusive		turu	totoro	tata
2nd person		wau	muru	muntoro	mea
3rd person		i	uru	coru	ea

Examples of pronouns used in everyday language:

References

Further reading

• P.J. Silzer Ambai, an Austronesian Language of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, Ph.D. Australian National University, 1983.

External links

• The Ambai Language Documentation Page
• A Short Description of Ambai Grammar, by Ariel Gutman
• A Grammar Sketch of Ambai, by Fannie St-Pierre-Tanguay

На других языках

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- [en] Ambai language

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[fr] Ambai (langue)

La langue Ambai appartient à la catégorie des langues austronésiennes parlée en Nouvelle-Guinée indonésienne (province de Papouasie ), principalement sur les îles Ambai ainsi que dans la partie sud de l'île de Yapen[2]. Le nombre de locuteurs natifs est estimé à 10 000. Différents dialectes existent comme le Randawaya, l'Ambai (Wadapi-Laut) et le Manawi[3].

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