Kele or Gele’ is a language spoken in the easterly section of inland Manus Island, New Guinea. Its name comes from the Kele word for "there".Crowley, Terry; Lynch, John; Ross, Malcolm (2002). The Oceanic Languages. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 123-25
Phonology The syllable structure of Kele is (C)V(C).
+Consonants Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal Nasal Stop Fricative Approximant Rhotic Lateral are often trilled [ ]. Additionally, are prenasalized when not occurring before another consonant.
Kele has five vowels: , , , and . Vowels can also be elongated. Ross (2002) describes this vowel length as non-phonemic, and instead as part of one of four different disyllabic patterns in words. He also notes that no word contains more than one long vowel.
Grammar Kele has eleven pronouns, distinguishing first person inclusive and exclusive pronouns as well as dual and plural number. Different versions of each pronoun can be prefixed to show the subject and suffixed to show possession. Nearly all verbs require a preceding subject prefix; however, a few verbs instead require a possessor suffix to indicate the subject.
Sample vocabulary
Nouns + Sample Nouns in Kele Word Gloss bed road house stone
Verbs + Sample Verbs in Kele Word Gloss learn teach die kill
References
External links Kaipuleohone's Robert Blust collection includes notes on Kele