Mairasi language

Last updated
Mairasi
Native to West Papua, Indonesia
Region Bomberai Peninsula
Native speakers
(3,300 cited 1996) [1]
Mairasi
  • Mairasi
Language codes
ISO 639-3 zrs
Glottolog nucl1594

Mairasi (a.k.a.Faranyao and Kaniran) is a Papuan language of the Bomberai Peninsula of West Papua, Indonesia.

Contents

The Northeastern dialect may be a distinct language.

Distribution

Locations: [2]

Phonology

Consonants [3]
BilabialAlveolarPost-
alveolar
VelarGlottal
Nasal m n
Plosivevoiceless t ʔ
voiced b d ʤ ɡ
Fricativevoiceless ɸ s
voiced β
Liquid r
Semivowel w
Vowels [3]
FrontBack
Close i u
Mid e o
Back a

Pronouns

Mairasi possessor prefixes are: [3]

sgpl
1o-ee-
2ne-e-
3na-ne-

Morphology

Case markers

Noun phrase case markers in Mairasi: [3] :546

Some examples:

ex:

ovuru-t

machete-INSTR

ovuru-t

machete-INSTR

‘with a machete’

ex:

weso

house

ar

LOC

weso ar

house LOC

‘in the house’

ex:

mundu

village

evi

ALL

mundu evi

village ALL

‘to the village’

Possessors

Mairasi possessor prefixes: [3] :546

sgpl
1o-ee-
2ne-e-
3na-ne-

Examples of inalienable possessors:

ex:

ee-rovo

1PL.POSS-hand

ee-rovo

1PL.POSS-hand

‘our hands’

ex:

na-iambi

3SG.POSS-skin

na-iambi

3SG.POSS-skin

‘his skin’

Directionals

Mairasi has two directional suffixes, which are only used with movement verbs. [3] :549

Examples of directional suffixes in use:

ex:

o-is-aʔi

1SG.SBJ-stand-up

o-is-aʔi

1SG.SBJ-stand-up

‘I stand up’

ex:

o-fon-ari

1SG.SBJ-sit-down

o-fon-ari

1SG.SBJ-sit-down

‘I sit down’

Animacy

Animacy is marked by the adjective modifier n-, as exemplified by the contrast in the following two noun phrases. [3] :546

ex:

fariri

word

Ø-avwer

INAN-big

fariri Ø-avwer

word INAN-big

‘a big word’

ex:

fariri

word

n-avwer

ANIM-big

fariri n-avwer

word ANIM-big

‘a long-winded person’

Vowel changes can modify the number of animate nouns: [3] :546

ex:

uratu

fish

n-avwer

ANIM-big.SG

uratu n-avwer

fish ANIM-big.SG

‘a big fish’

ex:

uratu

fish

n-evwer

ANIM-big.PL

uratu n-evwer

fish ANIM-big.PL

‘big fishes’

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References

  1. Mairasi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN   978-602-356-318-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.