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Isirawa language
Kwerbic language spoken in Indonesia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Isirawa is a Papuan language spoken by about two thousand people on the north coast of Papua province, Indonesia. It is a local trade language, and use is vigorous. Stephen Wurm (1975) linked it to the Kwerba languages within the Trans–New Guinea family, and it does share about 20% of its vocabulary with neighboring Kwerba languages. However, based on its pronouns, Malcolm Ross (2005) felt he could not substantiate such a link, and left it as a language isolate. The pronouns are not, however, dissimilar from those of Orya–Tor, which Ross links to Kwerba, and Donahue (2002) accept it as a Greater Kwerba language.
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Locations
In Sarmi Regency, Isirawa is spoken in Amsira, Arabais, Arsania, Kamenawari, Mararena, Martewar, Nisero, Nuerawar, Perkami, Siaratesa, Waim, Wari, and Webro villages.[2]
Grammar
In Isirawa, the feminine gender is associated with big objects, and masculine with small objects; the opposite association is found in Tayap and the Sepik languages, which classify large objects as masculine rather than feminine.[3]
Phonology
Consonants
- /n/ may be heard as [ɲ] when before /i/, and as [ŋ] when before /k/.
- /k/ can be heard as [ʔ] in syllable-final positions after a vowel.
- /j/ can also be heard as a fricative [ʝ] in free variation.
- /w/ can also be heard as [ɣ] when between back vowels.[4]
Vowels
Pronouns
The Isirawa pronouns are,
I a-, e we nen-, ne you o-, mə all third person e-, maə, ce, pe
Ross's reconstructed Orya–Tor pronouns are *ai 'I', *ne 'we' (inclusive), *emei 'thou', *em 'you'.
Isirawa pronoun paradigm as given in Foley (2018):[5]
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References
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