Idi language

Idi is a Pahoturi language spoken in Western Province, Papua New Guinea. The so-called Pahoturi dialects form a dialect chain with Idi proper at one end and Agob proper at the other.^[1]

Idi
Region	New Guinea
Native speakers	(1,600 cited 2000 census)[1]
Language family	Trans-Fly Pahoturi Idi
Dialects	Idi Tame
Language codes
ISO 639-3	idi
Glottolog	idii1243
Map: The Pahoturi languages of Papua New Guinea

Name

The language has been also known as Diblaeg, Dibolug, Dimisi, Dimsisi.^[2] Taeme is a dialect distinct from Idi.^[1]

Social context

Idi is in contact with other Papuan languages of different families, including Nen, Nambo, and the closely related Agob.^[1]

Phonology

Idi phonemic inventory:^[3][4]

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Labio- velar
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t		ʈ		k	kʷ
	voiced	b	d	dʒ	ɖ		g	gʷ
	prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ⁿdʒ	ᶯɖ		ᵑɡ	ᵑɡʷ
Nasal		m	n			ɲ	ŋ
Fricative	voiceless		s
	voiced		z
Approximant	liquid		l			ʎ
	semivowel					j	w
Trill			r

/z/ may also freely be realized as afficates [dʒ, dz].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Near-close		ɪ
Mid	e	ə	o
Near-open	æ
Open		a

/ə/ may also be heard as [ɐ].

Grammar

Idi has elaborate verbal morphology, including complex marking of verbal number.^[5] Other noteworthy features, which it shares with other Pahoturi River languages, are the high frequency of analytic constructions (consisting of an uninflecting form plus an inflected auxiliary) in addition to directly inflected verbs, and an elaborate inventory of copulas.^[6]

See also

• Agob language