Mairasi | |
---|---|
Native to | West Papua, Indonesia |
Region | Bomberai Peninsula |
Native speakers | (3,300 cited 1996) [1] |
Mairasi
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
zrs |
Glottolog |
nucl1594 |
Mairasi ( a.k.a. Faranyao and Kaniran) is a Papuan language of the Bomberai Peninsula of West Papua, Indonesia.
The Northeastern dialect may be a distinct language.
Locations: [2]
Bilabial | Alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ||||
Plosive | voiceless | t | ʔ | |||
voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | ɸ | s | |||
voiced | β | |||||
Liquid | r | |||||
Semivowel | w |
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | i | u |
Mid | e | o |
Back | a |
Mairasi possessor prefixes are: [3]
sg | pl | |
---|---|---|
1 | o- | ee- |
2 | ne- | e- |
3 | na- | ne- |
Noun phrase case markers in Mairasi: [3]: 546
Some examples:
ovuru-t
machete- INSTR
‘with a machete’
weso
house
ar
LOC
‘in the house’
mundu
village
evi
ALL
‘to the village’
Mairasi possessor prefixes: [3]: 546
sg | pl | |
---|---|---|
1 | o- | ee- |
2 | ne- | e- |
3 | na- | ne- |
Examples of inalienable possessors:
ee-rovo
1PL. POSS-hand
‘our hands’
na-iambi
3SG. POSS-skin
‘his skin’
Mairasi has two directional suffixes, which are only used with movement verbs. [3]: 549
Examples of directional suffixes in use:
o-is-aʔi
1SG. SBJ-stand-up
‘I stand up’
o-fon-ari
1SG. SBJ-sit-down
‘I sit down’
Animacy is marked by the adjective modifier n-, as exemplified by the contrast in the following two noun phrases. [3]: 546
fariri
word
Ø-avwer
INAN-big
‘a big word’
fariri
word
n-avwer
ANIM-big
‘a long-winded person’
Vowel changes can modify the number of animate nouns: [3]: 546
uratu
fish
n-avwer
ANIM-big. SG
‘a big fish’
uratu
fish
n-evwer
ANIM-big. PL
‘big fishes’