Mairasi language
Papuan language spoken in Indonesia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
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] |
Mairasi
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | zrs |
| Glottolog | nucl1594 |
The Northeastern dialect may be a distinct language.
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
Mairasi possessor prefixes are:[3]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | o- | ee- |
| 2 | ne- | e- |
| 3 | na- | ne- |
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
‘with a machete’
ex:
weso
house
ar
LOC
‘in the house’
ex:
mundu
village
evi
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
‘our hands’
ex:
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
‘I stand up’
ex:
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
‘a big word’
ex:
fariri
word
n-avwer
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
‘a big fish’
ex:
uratu
fish
n-evwer
ANIM-big.PL
‘big fishes’
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads