Adzera (also spelled Atzera, Azera, Atsera, Acira) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 30,000 people in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.
Holzknecht (1989) lists six Adzera dialects.
Sukurum is spoken in the villages of Sukurum (), Rumrinan (), Gabagiap (), Gupasa, Waroum (), and Wangat () in Wantoat/Leron Rural LLG.
Sarasira is spoken in the villages of Sarasira (), Som (), Pukpuk, Saseang (), and Sisuk in Wantoat/Leron Rural LLG. Sarasira and Som share the same speech variety.
transcribes the open (low) central vowel with instead of .
notes that a contrast between and is absent in the Amari and Ngarowapum dialects, while suggests that this is the case universally, with as an allophone of .
According to , the diphthongs may occur, while other vowel sequences with have a corresponding glide of the first vowel ( for and for ) inserted between:
corroborates the diphthongs, but instead suggests that the sequences are split across syllable boundaries:
occurs in only one word: the interjection hai "yes".
In the Amari dialect, palato-alveolar affricates and are heard as only alveolar sounds and .
The prenasalized consonants tend to lose prenasalization initially and after consonants.
are sometimes realized as , especially in syllable-final position.
J, o and z are used in some loanwords and names.
The letter was replaced by the digraph in the 2015 orthography.
Simple negation in Adzera is achieved by the word imaÃÂ 'no'. This word can be used on its own in response to a question, or paired with a negative sentence. For example:
The Amari dialect of Adzera is specifically noted for its use of namu for 'no' where all other Adzera dialects would use imaÃÂ. however, in Amari both words can be used interchangeably.
The simple negative forms above can be used in a noun phrase after the noun to modify it. Such as mamaÃÂ namu '<nowiki/>No children'. This can also apply to a coordinated noun phrase, such as iyam da ifab '<nowiki/>dog and pig' where iyam da ifab namu would mean that there were no dogs and no pigs.
Most negation is done through the verb phrase. For general circumstances, verbal negation is achieved by a verbal prefix anuà ÂÃÂ- And an optional negation particle u at the end of the sentence. For example:
However, for verbs in the imperative or hortative forms, which take a prefix wa- or na- respectively, the negative is achieved by replacing their respective prefixes with a negative form ma- followed at the end of the sentence by a compulsory particle maÃÂ.
When two negative verbs or phrases are joined by da âÂÂandâ the first verb takes the negative prefix anuà ÂÃÂ-, and the negative particle u comes at the end of the whole sentence.
When negating a sentence in the future tense, the future tense prefix is replaced with the realis prefix. Any future time marking still remains. There is also a preference toward forming negative sentences in the future tense with an auxiliary verb saà Âà'be able, be enough' before the main verb of the sentence, suggesting a reluctance toward making negative statements about the future. For example:
When coordinating two sentences of future tense, the first verb phrase replaces the future prefix with the realis, but all following verb phrases retain their future tense marking.
see List of Glossing Abbreviations.
Below is a list of Grammatical abbreviations used throughout this article:
<section begin="list-of-glossing-abbreviations"/><div style="display:none;"> COMP:completive aspect TIME:time marker </div><section end="list-of-glossing-abbreviations"/>