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 exclusive tema-'tema-ri-mse
inclusive tema-ri-rse
2nd person tema-mtema-ri-mse
3rd person tema-ntema-ri-se

Independent pronouns

Person Singular Plural
1st person exclusive yamim
inclusive rer
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
1SGyomiima
2SGumiama
3SGemaama
1PL. INCL timitama
1PL. EXCL mimi'a'ma
2PLmimi'a'ma
3PLrimiriama
'make'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SGyofiyafei
2SGufiafei
3SGefeiafei
1PL. INCL tifitafei
1PL. EXCL mifi'a'fei
2PLmifi'a'fei
3PLrifiriafei
'cry'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SGyotinitan
2SGutinatan
3SGetanatan
1PL. INCL titintatan
1PL. EXCL mitin'a'tan
2PLmitin'a'tan
3PLritinriatan
'eat'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SGwinan
2SGwinkin
3SGanan
1PL. INCL tinta'an
1PL. EXCL min'e'kin
2PLmin'e'kin
3PLrinriekin
'be'
Person/Number Realis Irrealis
1SGwenwan
2SGwenen
3SGdenan
1PL. INCL tentan
1PL. EXCL men'e'en
2PLmen'e'en
3PLrenrie'en

Notes

References

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

General references