Sepik Iwam language

Last updated
Sepik Iwam
Yawenian
Region East Sepik Province
Native speakers
2,500 (2000 census) [1]
Sepik
Language codes
ISO 639-3 iws
Glottolog sepi1255
ELP Sepik Iwam
Coordinates: 4°17′28″S142°00′36″E / 4.291°S 142.01°E / -4.291; 142.01 (Iniok)
Hauna pidgin
Region East Sepik Province
Native speakers
None
Iwam-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog haun1238

Sepik Iwam, or Yawenian, is a language of Papua New Guinea. It is the lexical basis of the Hauna trade pidgin.

Contents

It is spoken in villages such as Iniok ( 4°17′28″S142°00′36″E / 4.291°S 142.01°E / -4.291; 142.01 (Iniok) ) in Tunap/Hunstein Rural LLG of East Sepik Province. [2] [3]

Phonology

Consonants [4]
LabialAlveolarVelarGlottal
Nasal m n
Plosivevoiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative s h
Liquid r
Semivowel w j
Vowels [4]
FrontCentralBack
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a

Pronouns

Sepik Iwam pronouns: [4] :282

singulardualplural
1st personkakərarkəram
2nd personkowkom
3rd personmasculinesisowsəm
femininesa

Grammar

Sepik Iwam subject agreement suffixes are: [4]

singulardualplural
masculine*-ən*-o*-əm
feminine*-a

The structure of this subject agreement paradigm can be traced back to Proto-Sepik, although the morphemes themselves do not seem to be directly related to the reconstructed Proto-Sepik forms. (See also Sepik languages#Gender .)

Like May River Iwam, Sepik Iwam has periodic tense, for instance the matutinal -iyakwok. [5] [6]

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References

  1. Sepik 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 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.
  5. Jacques, Guillaume (2023). "Periodic tense markers in the world's languages and their sources". Folia Linguistica. 57 (3): 539–562. doi:10.1515/flin-2023-2013.
  6. Foley (2018:284)

Further reading