Sobei language

Last updated
Sobei
Native to Indonesia
RegionPapua
Ethnicity1,850 (2000) [1]
Native speakers
1,000 (2007) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 sob
Glottolog sobe1238
ELP Sobei

Sobei is one of the Sarmi languages spoken in three villages (Sarmi, Sawar, and Bagaiserwar) near the district center of Sarmi in Papua province of Indonesia. Ethnologue (2005) cites two third-party population estimates of 1,000 and 1,850, while Sterner estimates the population at 1,500 (1975) and 2,000 (1987), based on actual residence in the area.

Contents

Phonology

Sobei reflexes of some common Austronesian etyma include ima 'hand', betwe 'star', daidu 'two', faso 'paddle', fau 'four', mam 'father', nen 'mother', natu '(his/her) child', niwe 'coconut', pana 'food', puwe 'betelnut', rani 'water', rau 'leaf', -sa 'up', -si 'down', siso 'breast', tafi 'sugarcane', tano 'rain', temto 'man', tesese 'one', tou 'three', wane 'sand', yafu 'fire' (all gleaned from J. Sterner 1975).

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid ɛ o
Low a

Consonants

Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t c k ʔ
voiced b d g
Fricative f s
Liquid r
Semivowel w j

Morphology

Nouns

Sobei distinguishes alienable possession from inalienable possession by directly suffixing nouns in the latter type of relationship, principally body parts and kin terms. The morphophonemics are often complex: natu’ 'my child', natun 'his/her child', netrirse 'our child(ren)', netrise 'their child(ren)'; dabu'sa'a 'my head', dabusa'a 'his/her head', debrirsa'a 'our heads', debrisa'a 'their heads' (Sterner 1987). The following paradigm of the inalienably possessed noun tema- 'father' is from Sterner (1976). The intermediate -ri- before the possessive suffix serves as a plural marker. As an independent pronoun, ri is 3rd person plural ('they'). Some kin terms that do not take the possessive suffixes nevertheless have plural forms ending in -(r)i: wawa-ri 'uncle-PL', tinan-i 'mother-PL', nabai-yi 'cousin-PL' (Sterner 1976).

Person Singular Plural
1st person inclusive tema-ri-rse
1st person exclusive tema-'tema-ri-mse
2nd person tema-mtema-ri-mse
3rd person tema-ntema-ri-se

Independent pronouns

Person Singular Plural
1st person inclusive rer
1st person exclusive yamim
2nd person uyam
3rd person eri

Verbs

Sobei verb stems can include a number of aspectual, reciprocal, modificational, or directional affixes, but every verb is minimally prefixed to show the grammatical person and number of its subject and grammatical mood (realis or irrealis). Mood markers differ according to whether the stem is simple or complex, and some classes of verbs show stem allomorphy in their conjugational paradigms. (See Sterner 1987.)

'come'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SG yomiima
2SG umiama
3SG emaama
1PL INCL timitama
1PL EXCL mimi'a'ma
2PL mimi'a'ma
3PL rimiriama
'make'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SG yofiyafei
2SG ufiafei
3SG efeiafei
1PL INCL tifitafei
1PL EXCL mifi'a'fei
2PL mifi'a'fei
3PL rifiriafei
'cry'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SG yotinitan
2SG utinatan
3SG etanatan
1PL INCL titintatan
1PL EXCL mitin'a'tan
2PL mitin'a'tan
3PL ritinriatan
'eat'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SG winan
2SG winkin
3SG anan
1PL INCL tinta'an
1PL EXCL min'e'kin
2PL min'e'kin
3PL rinriekin
'be'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SG wenwan
2SG wenen
3SG denan
1PL INCL tentan
1PL EXCL men'e'en
2PL men'e'en
3PL renrie'en

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References

  1. 1 2 Sobei at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)