Kamasau

Kamasau is a member of the Marienberg branch of the Torricelli language family. It is spoken by about 900 people in the Turubu Rural LLG in East Sepik Province in the northwest of Papua New Guinea. In particular, it is spoken in the villages of Wandomi, Wobu, Kenyari, Kamasau, Tring and Wau. Most Kamasau speakers are over 20, and few children and younger people speak it, particularly those who have moved to towns.

Dialects of Kamasau include Ghini, Hagi, Soigi, Segi. The Ghini dialects is the most different from the others. Kamasau is written with the Latin script. There appear to be several spelling systems, one of which was divised by Arden and Joy Sanders in the 1970s in order to translation parts of the Bible and other material into Kamasau.

Kamasau alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Kamasau (Excel)

Notes

The letters f, h and l are only used in loanwords from other languages.

Sample text

Wuge dub penddub monygeri di di mare mo, imb map, nyumo puate pe imb map mondo mandi, dung mand pre, muqdi ni ngimrau map.Wuge dub penddub monygeri di di mare mo, imb map, nyumo puate pe imb map mondo mandi, dung mand pre, muqdi ni ngimrau map.

Translation

They cut and bring sago, wild palm and pieces of kande vine, make a fence around the base of the tree all around the tree, then make a doorway.

Source: https://www.webonary.org/kamasau/

Sample video in Kamasau

Information about Kamasau | Tower of Babel

Links

Information about Kamasau
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukiyip_language
https://www.webonary.org/kamasau/overview/introduction/
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/kms
https://www.sil.org/blog/kamasau-east-sepik-province

Torricelli languages

Bukiyip, Kamasau, Mufian

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 14.10.24. Last modified: 15.10.24

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