Suarmin language

Suarmin, or Asaba, is a Sepik language spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua-New Guinea. Alternative names are Asabano, Duranmin.

Suarmin
Asaba
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Sandaun Province
Native speakers	140 (2000)[1]
Language family	Sepik Leonhard Schultze Papi–Asaba Suarmin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	seo
Glottolog	suar1238
ELP	Asaba
Suarmin is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Glottolog leaves it unclassified.

Pronouns

Pronouns are:^[2]

	sg	du	pl
1incl		adi	abe
1excl	a	nadi	nesine
2	abo	abodua	apa
3	yo	atadua	ata

Noun classes

In Asaba, noun class affixes are suffixed to nouns. There are five noun classes. Examples:^[2]

class	singular (ex.)	plural (ex.)	gloss (ex.)
class 1	nu-bu	nu-le	house(s)
class 2	mena-du	mena-no	pig(s)
class 3	kabia-si	kabia-le	stone(s)
class 4	moko-ni	moko-le	fork(s)
class 5	nomo-so	nomo-l	stone adze(s)

Class 1 is the default noun class.

Modifying adjectives agree with head nouns in class:^[2]

na-bu

tree-I.SG

kamaya-bu

big-I.SG

na-bu kamaya-bu

tree-I.SG big-I.SG

‘tall tree’

kaiyebe-du

cassowary-II.SG

kamaya-du

big-II.SG

kaiyebe-du kamaya-du

cassowary-II.SG big-II.SG

‘big cassowary’

References

1. Suarmin at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". 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. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.