Gebe language

Gebe
Minyaifuin
Native toIndonesia
Native speakers
(2,700 cited 2000)[1]
Dialects
  • Gag
  • Nuclear Gebe
  • Umera
  • Umiyal
  • Sanafkacepo
Language codes
ISO 639-3gei
Glottologgebe1237
ELPGebe

Gebe, or Minyaifuin, is an Austronesian language of eastern Indonesia, spoken on the Gebe, Yu, and Gag islands between Halmahera and Waigeo.

Dialects

The Gebe language is divided into five dialects spoken on three separate islands, as follows:[2]

  • The Gag dialect is spoken on Gag Island, the dialect is almost similar to the Umera dialect because the population migrated from there.
  • The Nuclear Gebe dialect is the most widely used dialect, spoken in the settlement centers on Gebe Island, including the villages of Elfanun, Kacepi, Kapaleo, Sanafi, and Yam.
  • The Umera dialect is spoken in Umera village, located in the southeastern part of Gebe Island.
  • The Umiyal dialect is spoken in Umiyal, the only village on Yu Island.
  • The Sanafkacepo dialect is spoken in Sanafkacepo village on the east coast of Gebe Island.

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t k (ʔ)
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative f s h
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant w j

[ʔ] only appears when within the sequence of vowels in syllable-final positions.[3]

Voiced sounds /b, d/ may also be articulated by speakers as implosive sounds [ɓ, ɗ] when in word-initial or intervocalic positions.[4]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a ɑ

References

  1. ^ Gebe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Grimes, Charles E.; Grimes, Barbara D. (1984). "Maluku and Irian Jaya". In Masinambow, E.K.M. (ed.). Languages of the North Moluccas: a preliminary lexicostatistic classification. Buletin LEKNAS III (1). Jakarta: Lembaga Ekonomi dan Kemasyarakatan Nasional, Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LEKNAS-LIPI). pp. 35–63. OCLC 54222413.
  3. ^ Burhanuddin, Sumarlam dan Mahsun (2017). Kedudukan bahasa Gebe di Halmahera Tengah Maluku Utara: Studi pendahuluan dari aspek linguistik historis. Arkhais: Jurnal Ilmu Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia. 8 (1). pp. 1–7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Bax, (2019)

Further reading