| Massep | |
|---|---|
| Wotaf | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Papua:Sarmi Regency,West Pantai District, north coast (Masep village); also west of Sarmi nearApauwer River |
| Ethnicity | 85 (2000)[1] |
Native speakers | (25 cited 2000)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mvs |
| Glottolog | mass1263 |
| ELP | Masep |
  Massep  Massep | |
| Coordinates:1°45′S138°17′E / 1.75°S 138.29°E /-1.75; 138.29 | |
Massep (Masep, Potafa, Wotaf) is a poorly documentedPapuan language spoken by fewer than 50 people in the single village of Masep inWest Pantai District,Sarmi Regency,Papua. Despite the small number of speakers, however, language use is vigorous. It is surrounded by theKwerba languagesAiroran andSamarokena.[2]
Clouse, Donohue, and Ma (2002) did not notice connections to any other language family.[3]Ethnologue,Glottolog, and Foley (2018)[2] list it as alanguage isolate.[1][4] Usher classifies it as Greater Kwerbic.[5] The pronouns are not dissimilar from those ofTrans–New Guinea languages, but Massep is geographically distant from that family.
Consonants:[2]
| t | c | k | |
| kʷ | |||
| ᵑɡ | |||
| ɸ | s | ʃ | |
| β | ɣ | ||
| m | n | ɲ | |
| r | |||
| w | j |
Some probable consonant leniting sound changes from pre-Massep proposed by Foley (2018):
Vowels:[2]
| i | u |
| e | o |
| a |
Pronouns are:[2]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ka | nyi |
| 2 | gu | je |
| 3 | evi | ive |
Massep case suffixes as quoted by Foley (2018) from Clouse (2002):[2][3]
| suffix | case |
|---|---|
| -o ~ -u ~ -a | accusative |
| -ɣoke | dative |
| -aveno | instrumental |
| -meno | associative |
| -(a)vri | locative |
| -ni | allative |
| -a | temporal |
Massep sentences as quoted by Foley (2018) from Clouse (2002):[2]
ka
