| Isirawa | |
|---|---|
| Saberi | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Papua |
Native speakers | (1,800 cited 2000)[1] |
Foja Range
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | srl |
| Glottolog | isir1237 |
| ELP | Isirawa |
Isirawa is aPapuan language spoken by about two thousand people on the north coast ofPapua province,Indonesia. It is a local trade language, and use is vigorous.Stephen Wurm (1975) linked it to theKwerba languages within theTrans–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 alanguage isolate. The pronouns are not, however, dissimilar from those ofOrya–Tor, which Ross links to Kwerba, and Donahue (2002) accept it as a Greater Kwerba language.
InSarmi 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 inTayap and theSepik languages, which classify large objects as masculine rather than feminine.[3]
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Plosive/Affricate | p | t | tʃ | k | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | ||
| voiced | β | |||||
| Rhotic | ɾ | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Near-high | ɪ | ||
| High-mid | o | ||
| Low-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ |
| Low | a |
The Isirawa pronouns are,
| I | a-, e |
| we | nen-, ne |
| you | o-, mə |
| allthird 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]
| 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) |
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