Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
Witu (Wiru) is spoken by 15,000 people (1967) living in and around the foothills to the south of Mount Ialibu in the Pangia subdistrict of Papua New Guinea's Southern Highlands province (Kerr 1967: 1.)
Kerr (1967) grammar of Witu
Kerr (1972) dictionary of Wiru
Kerr (1975) comparison of Wiru to proposed East New Guinea Highlands stock
Franklin ed. (1973: 592) 100 comparative terms for Wiru
Franklin (1975: 264-268) 84 comparative terms for Wiru
Wurm (1975: 488-490) recapitulates Wiru phonemic inventory, pronouns and verbal desinences drawn from Kerr (1967)
Additionally, the Summer Institute of Linguistics Ukarumpa provides a sketch phonology of Wiru; however it is undated and unattrributed.
Kerr (1967: 12) gives 11 consonants and 5 vowels for Witu as follows:
| m | n | ||
| p | t | k | |
| mb | nd | ŋg | |
| w | l | j |
| i | u | |
| ɛ | ɔ | |
| a |
Vowels are further distinguished by the presence vs. absence of nasalization (Wurm 1975: 489):
| i | ĩ |
| u | ũ |
| ɛ | ɛ̃ |
| ɔ | ɔ̃ |
| a | ã |
To Kerr's consonants the Summer Institute of Linguistics' (n.d.) unattributed manuscript adds glottal stop /ʔ/ which is said to be “quite rare.” No examples of glttral stop are given in the mansucript, nor are any found in the comparative vocabularies of Franklin (ed. 1973: 592, 1975: 264-298.)
The qualities of mid vowels /ɛ ɔ/ above are based upon the unattributed manuscript, as Kerr states merely that Witu vowels “correspond reasonably closely with the five cardinal vowels.” Kerr's /o u/ are used in the sections below.
Voiceless stops /p t k/ are realized as aspirated [pʰ tʰ kʰ] initially. Peripheral medials [p k] are lenited to [p β] and [g ɣ] respectively. Medial apical /t/ is lenited to [d] when following high front vowel /i/ and followed by /a ɔ/ and to flap [ɾ] between other vowels. Medial /k/ may be realized as palatalized [gʲ] or labialized [gʷ] when following high vowels /i/ and /u/ respectively. Apicals /n nd l/ may also be palatalized when following [i].
Kerr states that lateral /l/ “tends to be be slightly retroflexed.”
Two word-level tones are distinguished (Kerr 1967: 13,) but are indicated by our sources only sporadically in Kerr's (1972) dictionary and in the brief vocabulary given in Franklin (1975: 264-268.)
Kerr (1967: 11-12) gives Witu pronouns in two case forms as follows:
| subject | possessive | |
| 1 sg. | no | anu |
| 2 sg. | ne | ne-ke |
| 3 sg. | o-ne | o-ne |
| 1 pl. | to-to | to-ne |
| 2/3 pl. | kiwi | ki-ni |
| 1 dl. | to-ta | to-ne |
| 2/3 dl. | ki-ta | ki-ni |
Second and third persons are distinguished only in the singular. There is no distinction between plural and dual possessives.
Kerr (1967: 13, 20, q.v. Wurm 1975: 489-490) gives Witu desinences for final (independent) verbs as follows:
| past | present | future | ||
| -ko- | -k- | -o- | ||
| 1 sg. | -u | -ko-u | -k-u | -o-u |
| 2/3 sg. | -a/-o | -k-a | -k-o | -o-o |
| 1 pl. | -o | -ko-o | -k-o | -o-o |
| 2/3 pl. | -i | -ko-i | -k-i | -o-i |
There is no distinction between the second and third persons. Duals are not distinguished from plurals.
The desinences of medial (dependent) verbs are given as follows:
| past | present | future | ||
| -toko- ≈ -toke- | -a- | -ande- | ||
| 1 sg. | -ne | -toke-ne | -a-ne | -ande-ne |
| 2/3 sg. | -me/-ø | -toko-me | -a-ø | -ande-me |
| 1 pl. | -me/-te/-ø | -toko-me | -a-ø | -ande-te |
| 2/3 pl. | -te/-ø | -toke-te | -a-ø | -ande-te |
Imperatives are given as follows (pp. 53-57):
| imperative | |
| 1 sg. | -anda |
| 2 sg. | -a(-mene) |
| 3 sg. | -mot-a |
| 1 pl. | -a-to(-e) |
| 2 pl. | -(aw)e |
| 3 pl. | -moto-e |
| 1 dl. | -a-ta |
Kerr identifies the base of the third person imperative forms with /-moto/ causative.
[under construction]
…