Marangis language

Marangis a.k.a. Watam is a Ramu language of Papua New Guinea. Like Bosmun, it shares a number of irregular plural markers with the Lower Sepik languages, supporting the proposal of a Ramu – Lower Sepik language family.

Marangis
Watam
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Madang Province, East Sepik Province
Native speakers	590 (2003)[1]
Language family	Ramu Ramu proper Lower Ramu Ottilien Watam Marangis
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wax
Glottolog	wata1253
ELP	Watam

It is spoken in the two villages of:^[2][3]

• Watam village, Marienberg Rural LLG, East Sepik Province (3.906592°S 144.545246°E / -3.906592; 144.545246 (Watam))
• Marangis village, Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province (4.014075°S 144.605629°E / -4.014075; 144.605629 (Marangis))

Pronouns

The pronominal system of Watam has a four-way distinction, with there being a paucal ("a few", "more than two") number for pronouns in addition to singular, dual, and plural.^[4]

person	singular	dual	paucal	plural
1st	yak	aŋga	apak	ae
2nd	u	noŋgo	niŋga	ne
3rd	ma	miŋga	miŋga	min

Nouns

Nominal plural formatives include:^[4]

gloss	singular	plural
‘ear’	kwar	kwair
‘elbow’	tutup	tutpemb
‘buttocks’	tok	toke
‘leg’	or	orar
‘man’	namot	namtar
‘girl’	namoŋ	navgor
‘nose’	ŋgum	gubeb
‘bandicoot’	maŋem	maŋbar
‘sago’	wak	wik
‘betelnut’	meɲjak	miɲjik

Verbs

Watam verbal conjugation for the verb ndo ‘to see’:^[4]

tense	verbal form
present	ndo-ta
present	ndo-ri
future	ndo-na(n)
imperative	ndo