Sepik Iwam language

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

Sepik Iwam
Yawenian
Region	East Sepik Province
Native speakers	(2,500 cited 2000 census)[1]
Language family	Sepik Upper Sepik Iwam Sepik Iwam
Language codes
ISO 639-3	iws
Glottolog	sepi1255
ELP	Sepik Iwam
Coordinates: 4.291°S 142.01°E / -4.291; 142.01 (Iniok)

Hauna pidgin
Region	East Sepik Province
Native speakers	None
Language family	Iwam-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	haun1238

It is spoken in villages such as Iniok (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]

		Labial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	k
	voiced	b	d	ɡ
Fricative			s		h
Liquid			r
Semivowel		w	j

Vowels^[4]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open		a

Pronouns

Sepik Iwam pronouns:^[4]: 282

		singular	dual	plural
1st person		ka	kərar	kəram
2nd person		kə	kow	kom
3rd person	masculine	si	sow	səm
	feminine	sa

Grammar

Sepik Iwam subject agreement suffixes are:^[4]

	singular	dual	plural
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]