# Siar-Lak language

Siar, also known as Lak, Lamassa, or Likkilikki, is an Austronesian language spoken in New Ireland Province in the southern island point of Papua New Guinea. Lak is in the Patpatar-Tolai sub-group, which then falls under the New Ireland-Tolai group in the Western Oceanic language, a sub-group within the Austronesian family. The Siar people keep themselves sustained and nourished by fishing and gardening. The native people call their language ep warwar anun dat, which means 'our language'.

## Phonology

Siar-Lak contains fifteen consonants, and five vowels, which does not include the mid-high vowel pronunciations of /é/ and /ó/.
Consonant phonemes :
| | | Bilabial | Dental- Alveolar | Palatal | Velar |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | ŋ |
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | | k |
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | | g |
| Fricative | Fricative | ɸ | s | | |
| Lateral | Lateral | | l | | |
| Trill | Trill | | r | | |
| Glide | Glide | w | | j | |
Vowel phonemes :
| | Front | Central | Back |
| High | i | | u |
| Mid-high | ẹ | | ọ |
| Mid | e | | o |
| Low | | a | |
The vowel /ẹ/ can be thought to be pronounced in between the high vowel /I/ and the mid vowel /E/, as well as /ọ/ being in between the high vowel /U/ and the mid vowel /O/, according to the native people in Papua New Guinea. ẹ can be written as é, and ọ can also be written as ỏ. Knowing which vowel is used when writing is critical, as two words that are similar can have completely different meanings. For example, rowoi means to 'carry in arms', while rówói means 'to fly'. Also, toh has a meaning of 'to be able', while tóh means 'sugarcane'.

## Stress and phonotactics

Stress is placed on the last syllable in each word. Examples of words broken down into syllables and translated include:
| Siar-Lak | English |
| mam.su.ai | 'sneeze' |
| ar.ngas | 'mountain peak' |
| far.bón | 'praise' |
| fet.rar | 'young woman' |

## Syllable structures

Siar Lak contains four different types of syllable patterns in their word vocabulary, which include V (vowel), VC (vowel consonant), CV (consonant vowel), and CVC (consonant vowel consonant). Some examples include:
| | Siar Lak | English |
| V | u | 'you' |
| | a.im | 'to plant' |
| | a.i.nói | 'to fill' |
| VC | ep | 'article' |
| | ar.ngas | 'mountain' |
| | la.un | 'to live' |
| CV | ma | 'now' |
| | kó.bót | 'morning' |
| | ka.bu.suk | 'my nose' |
| | la.tu | 'tomorrow' |
| CVC | póp | 'puddle' |
| | gósgós | 'to dance' |
| | la.man.tin | 'great' |
| | ka.kau | 'to crawl' |

## Numerical system

Numbers 1–10 :
| Siar | English |
| i tik | One |
| i ru | Two |
| i tól | Three |
| i at | Four |
| i lim | Five |
| i won | Six |
| i is | Seven |
| i wol | Eight |
| i siwok | Nine |
| sanguli or i tik ep bónót | Ten |
Numbers 10–100 :
| Siar | English |
| i tik ep bónót | Ten |
| i ru ru bónót | Twenty |
| i tól ep bónót | Thirty |
| i at ep bónót | Forty |
| i lim ep bónót | Fifty |
| i won ep bónót | Sixty |
| i is ep bónót | Seventy |
| i wol ep bónót | Eighty |
| i siwok ep bónót | Ninety |
| i tik ep mar | One hundred |

### Orthography

Orthography is the way words are written, using the appropriate letters from a specific language while following usage rules. If the consonant phoneme /φ/ is used at the beginning of a word, that word starts with an f, but if it is found at the end of a word, it is then replaced with the letter h. An example of this is ep φun, which makes the phrase ep fun, meaning 'banana (plant)', but when it is found at the end of a word, as in ep yaφ, it becomes ep yah, meaning 'fire'.

## Pronouns

Independent pronouns :
| | | Singular | Dual | Trial/Paucal | Plural |
| 1st person | exclusive | ya(u)/ a | mara(u) | mató~matól | mét |
| 1st person | inclusive | | dara(u) | datól | dat |
| 2nd person | 2nd person | u | aura(u) | amtól | amat |
| 3rd person | Personal | i | dira(u) | diat | dit |
| 3rd person | Impersonal | | | | di |
| 3rd person | Inanimate, mass | | | | in |
Example sentence:
Yau,
1S
a
1S
rak
want
al
1S.POT
an
at
ka-sai
DIR-west
an
at
Kokopo.
Kokopo
Yau, a rak al an ka-sai an Kokopo.
1S 1S want 1S.POT at DIR-west at Kokopo
'As for me, I want to go to Kokopo.'

## Verb phrases

Two types of verb phrases include intransitive and transitive verbs. An intransitive verb is used when there is no direct object, while a transitive verb is used when there is a direct object action taking place. An intransitive verb for 'eat' would be angan, while a transitive verb for 'eat' would be yan.