Iwam language

Last updated
May River Iwam
Region East Sepik Province
Native speakers
(3,000 cited 1998) [1]
Sepik
Language codes
ISO 639-3 iwm
Glottolog iwam1256
ELP May River Iwam
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May River Iwam, often simply referred to as Iwam, is a language of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

Contents

It is spoken in Iyomempwi ( 4°14′28″S141°53′34″E / 4.24117°S 141.89271°E / -4.24117; 141.89271 (Imombi) ), Mowi ( 4°17′42″S141°55′45″E / 4.294971°S 141.929199°E / -4.294971; 141.929199 (Mowi) ), and Premai villages of Tunap/Hunstein Rural LLG in East Sepik Province, and other villages on the May River. [2] [3]

Phonology

Vowels

Vowels [4]
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a

In non-final positions, /u//o/, /i/, and /e/ are [ ʊ ][ ɔ ], [ ɪ ], and [ ɛ ], respectively. /ə/ appears only in nonfinal syllables. When adjacent to nasal consonants, vowels are nasalized; nasalization may also occur when adjacent to word boundaries. [4]

Consonants

Consonants [4]
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k
Fricative s h
Flap r
Semivowel j w

/p/ and /k/ are voiced fricatives ([ β ] and [ ɣ ]) respectively) when intervocalic and unreleased when final (/t/ is also unreleased when final). /ŋ/ is a nasal flap ([ ɾ̃ ]) word-initially and between vowels. /s/ is [ ts ] initially and may otherwise be palatalized [ ]. [4] Sequences of any consonant and /w/ are neutralized before /u/ where an offglide is always heard.

Phonotactics

Bilabial and velar consonants and /n/ may be followed by /w/ when initial. Other initial clusters include /pr/, /kr/, /hr/, /hw/, and /hn/ and final clusters are /w/ or /j/ followed by any consonant except for /h/ or /ŋ/. [4]

Pronouns

May River Iwam pronouns: [5] :282

sgdupl
1ka/anikərərkərəm
2kikorkom
3msisorsəm
3fsa

Noun classes

Like the Wogamus languages, May River Iwam has five noun classes: [5]

classsemantic categoryprefixexample
class 1male human referentsnu- (adult males);
ru- (uninitiated or immature males)
yenkam nu-t
man class.1-one
‘one man’
class 2female human, children,
or other animate referents
a(o)-owi a-ois
duck class.2-two
‘two ducks’
class 3large objectskwu-ana kwu-(o)t
hand class.3-one
‘a big hand’
class 4small objectsha-ana ha-(o)t
hand class.4-one
‘a small hand’
class 5long objectshwu-ana hwu-(o)t
hand class.5-one
‘a long hand’

As shown by the example above for ana ‘hand’, a noun can take on different classes depending on the physical characteristics being emphasized.

Vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words of Iwam are from Foley (2005) [6] and Laycock (1968), [7] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: [8]

glossIwam
headmu
earwun
eyenu
nosenomwos
toothpiknu
tonguekwane
legwərku; wɨrku
louseŋən; nɨn
dognwa
pighu
birdowit
eggyen
bloodni
bonekeew; kew
skinpəw
breastmuy
treepae(kap); paykap
mankam; yen-kam
womanwik
sunpi
moonpwan
waterop; o(p)
firepay
stonesiya
eat(n)ai; (nd)ai
oneoe; ruk; su
twoŋwis

Notes

  1. May River Iwam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
  3. United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Laycock (1965 :115)
  5. 1 2 Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.
  6. Foley, W.A. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". In Pawley, A., Attenborough, R., Golson, J. and Hide, R. editors, Papuan Pasts: Cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. PL-572:109-144. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2005.
  7. Laycock, Donald C. 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics , 7 (1): 36-66.
  8. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea" . Retrieved 2020-11-05.

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References