Mairasi language

Mairasi (a.k.a. Faranyao and Kaniran) is a Papuan language of the Bomberai Peninsula of West Papua, Indonesia.

Mairasi
Native to	West Papua, Indonesia
Region	Bomberai Peninsula
Native speakers	(3,300 cited 1996)[1]
Language family	Mairasi Mairasi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zrs
Glottolog	nucl1594

The Northeastern dialect may be a distinct language.

Distribution

Locations:^[2]

• Kaimana Regency
  • Interior villages: Umbran, Jamna Fata, Matna, Tarwata, Sara, Kasira, Orai, Wangatnau, Faranyau, and Sarifan
  • Coastal villages: Sisir, Foroma Jaya, Warasi, Lobo, Lomira, Morona, Nanggwaromi, Omay (May may), and Warika
• Teluk Wondama Regency
  • Naikere District villages: Sararti, Oya, Yabore, Wosimo, Undurara, and Inyora

Phonology

Consonants^[3]

		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

Vowels^[3]

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Back	a

Pronouns

Mairasi possessor prefixes are:^[3]

	sg	pl
1	o-	ee-
2	ne-	e-
3	na-	ne-

Morphology

Case markers

Noun phrase case markers in Mairasi:^[3]: 546

• instrumental suffix -t
• locative postposition ar
• allative postposition ev(i)

Some examples:

ex:

ovuru-t

machete-INSTR

ovuru-t

machete-INSTR

‘with a machete’

ex:

weso

house

ar

LOC

weso ar

house LOC

‘in the house’

ex:

mundu

village

evi

ALL

mundu evi

village ALL

‘to the village’

Possessors

Mairasi possessor prefixes:^[3]: 546

	sg	pl
1	o-	ee-
2	ne-	e-
3	na-	ne-

Examples of inalienable possessors:

ex:

ee-rovo

1PL.POSS-hand

ee-rovo

1PL.POSS-hand

‘our hands’

ex:

na-iambi

3SG.POSS-skin

na-iambi

3SG.POSS-skin

‘his skin’

Directionals

Mairasi has two directional suffixes, which are only used with movement verbs.^[3]: 549

• -aʔi ‘up, inland’
• -ari ‘down, seaward’

Examples of directional suffixes in use:

ex:

o-is-aʔi

1SG.SBJ-stand-up

o-is-aʔi

1SG.SBJ-stand-up

‘I stand up’

ex:

o-fon-ari

1SG.SBJ-sit-down

o-fon-ari

1SG.SBJ-sit-down

‘I sit down’

Animacy

Animacy is marked by the adjective modifier n-, as exemplified by the contrast in the following two noun phrases.^[3]: 546

ex:

fariri

word

Ø-avwer

INAN-big

fariri Ø-avwer

word INAN-big

‘a big word’

ex:

fariri

word

n-avwer

ANIM-big

fariri n-avwer

word ANIM-big

‘a long-winded person’

Vowel changes can modify the number of animate nouns:^[3]: 546

ex:

uratu

fish

n-avwer

ANIM-big.SG

uratu n-avwer

fish ANIM-big.SG

‘a big fish’

ex:

uratu

fish

n-evwer

ANIM-big.PL

uratu n-evwer

fish ANIM-big.PL

‘big fishes’

References

1. Mairasi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0.
3. Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.