Isirawa | |
---|---|
Saberi | |
Native to | Indonesia |
Region | Papua |
Native speakers | 1,800 (2000) [1] |
Foja Range
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
srl |
Glottolog |
isir1237 |
ELP | Isirawa |
Isirawa is a Papuan language spoken by about two thousand people on the north coast of Papua province, Indonesia. It's 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.
In Sarmi Regency, Isirawa is spoken in Amsira, Arabais, Arsania, Kamenawari, Mararena, Martewar, Nisero, Nuerawar, Perkami, Siaratesa, Waim, Wari, and Webro villages. [2]
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]
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): [4]
pronoun | nominative | accusative | possessive |
---|---|---|---|
1s | e | afo | wə |
2s | mɪ | ofo | of |
3s | efo | ef | |
1d | ne | nenfo | nenef |
2d | mɪ | ofnafo | ofnaf |
3d | efnafo | efnaf | |
1p | ne | nenfɪvo | nenfɪ(v) |
2p | mɪ | ofɪvo | ofɪ(v) |
3p | efɪvo | efɪ(v) |