Yaqay language
| Yaqay | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | South Papua |
Native speakers | (10,000 cited 1987)[1] |
Trans–New Guinea
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jaq |
| Glottolog | yaqa1246 |
Yaqay (Yakhai, Yaqai, Jakai, Jaqai) is a Papuan language spoken in Indonesia by over 10,000 people. It is also called Mapi or Sohur; dialects are Oba-Miwamon, Nambiomon-Mabur, Bapai.
According to Ethnologue, Yaqay is spoken along the south coast of Mappi Regency, along the Obaa River north to the Gandaimu area.
Phonology[edit]
The following is the phonology of Yaqay, as defined in Fonologi Bahasa Yakhai.[2]
Consonants[edit]
| Labial | Dental / Alveolar |
Postalveolar / Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | (ŋ ⟨ngg⟩?) | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t̪ ⟨t⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | ʔ ⟨-k⟩ | |
| voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d̪ ⟨d⟩ | d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩ | gʱ ⟨gh⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | |
| Fricative | f ⟨f⟩ | x ⟨kh⟩ | ||||
| Approximant | w ⟨w⟩ | r ⟨r⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | |||
- ⟨t⟩ and ⟨d⟩ are both dental consonants, while ⟨n⟩ and ⟨r⟩ are alveolar consonants.
- ⟨j⟩ is a postalveolar consonant while ⟨y⟩ is palatal.
- /ŋ/ seems to be an allophone of /n/ found before velar consonants, like in the word yanggo /jaŋgo/ (it is unclear whether the sequence nng is pronounced /ŋg/, /ŋgʱ/, or just /ŋ/, but it seems to most likely be /ŋg/).
- The letter 'k' is only found at the beginning of words or at the end of syllables. At the beginning of a word, it's pronounced like /k/ (or /x/, see later notes), while at the end of syllables, it's pronounced /ʔ/, for example, in the word kerak /keraʔ/, meaning 'walking'.
- /x/, represented by kh, is pronounced like /k/ in some words, for example, khayafo /kajafo/, meaning 'spear'.
- /k/ is pronounced like /x/ in some words, for example, kah /xah/, meaning 'smelling'.
- The original source makes it unclear whether /h/ is the voiceless glottal fricatives [h] or a voiced glottal stop [ʡ], but it is most likely the voiceless glottal fricative [h].
Consonant Distribution[edit]
| Consonant | Beginning | Center | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| /m/ | Y | Y | Y |
| /n/ | Y | Y | Y |
| /p/ | Y | N | N |
| /t/ | Y | Y | N |
| /k/ | Y | N | N |
| /ʔ/ | N | Y | Y |
| /b/ | Y | Y | Y |
| /d/ | Y | Y | Y |
| /d͡ʒ/ | N | Y | N |
| /gʱ/ | N | Y | N |
| /f/ | Y | Y | Y |
| /x/ | Y | N | N |
| /h/ | Y | Y | Y |
| /w/ | Y | Y | N |
| /r/ | Y | Y | Y |
| /j/ | Y | Y | N |
- 'Y' means that the consonant on the left of the row occurs in the word position at the top of the column. For instance, this section of the table:
| Consonant | Beginning | Center | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| /t/ | Y | Y | N |
- means that the consonant /t/ can be found at the beginning and center of a word, but not at the end of one.
Vowels[edit]
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | |||
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ | ||
| Close mid | e ⟨e⟩ | (ɤ) | o ⟨o⟩ | |
| Open mid | (ɛ) | |||
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ | |||
- /ɛ/ and /ɤ/ are sometimes considered to be the same phoneme as /e/ and /o/ respectively, while others consider them as separate phonemes that are in free variation.
Vowel Distribution[edit]
| Vowel | Beginning | Center | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | Y | N | N |
| /i/ | Y | N | N |
| /u/ | N | N | Y |
| /e/ | Y | N | N |
| /o/ | N | N | Y |
- A pattern can be seen here wherein front vowels /a/, /i/, and /e/ can all only occur at the beginning of syllables, while the back vowels /u/ and /o/ can only occur at the ends of syllables.
Syllable Structure[edit]
The syllable structure is not explicitly stated, but it appears to be:
Maximum syllable structure: CVNC, as in the word, xobandede, meaning 'squat'.
Minimum syllable structure: CV, as in the word, xa, meaning, 'hole'.
References[edit]
- ^ Yaqay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Kainakainu, Barth and Paidi, Yacobus and Rinantanti, Yulini and Morin, Izak. 1998. Fonologi bahasa Yakhai. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. 190pp. https://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/2531/1/fonologi%20bahasa%20yakhai%20%20%20199.pdf
- Kriens, Ron and Randy Lebold. 2010. Report on the Wildeman River Survey in Papua, Indonesia. SIL International.
External links[edit]
- Yakhai. New Guinea World.
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