Yimas
| Yimas | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
Papua New Guinea | |
| speaker | approx. 300 | |
| Linguistic classification |
|
|
| Official status | ||
| Official language in | - | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
- |
|
| ISO 639 -2 |
paa |
|
| ISO 639-3 | ||
Yimas is a language in Papua New Guinea . It is spoken by about 300 people in a side valley of the Karawari in the south of the East Sepik Province and is increasingly being displaced by Tok Pisin . Yimas is an agglutinative language, so it mainly uses affixes to form word forms. The morphology is very rich, verb forms can contain many affixes as well as incorporated words.
classification
Yimas is a member of the Lower Sepik language family , also known as the Nor Pondo languages . Together with the neighboring Karawari to the north , it forms a subgroup, which in turn forms the western group of the language family with the Chambri .
The extent to which the Lower Sepik languages are related to other language families in the region is not yet fully understood. Some researchers claim the existence of the Sepik-Ramu language family , to which the Lower Sepik languages are believed to belong, but this has been increasingly denied for several years.
history
The villages of the Yimas are located in the south of the East Sepik Province on a tributary of the Karawari , which in turn drains north into the Sepik . In the period before the first contact with the western world in the 1930s, the Yimas lived as sedentary hunters and gatherers who, however, also engaged in handicrafts and trade with other peoples. Agriculture and animal husbandry were well known, but people preferred to trade handicrafts for agricultural goods than produce them themselves. The intensive trade relations, especially with the Iatmul , the Alamblak and the Arafundi , are also reflected in the language. Loan words have been introduced into Yimas for many agricultural implements and products.
There were also pidgin languages that were maintained with trading partners. These pidgins are no longer used today. Modern loanwords come mainly from Tok Pisin , which has meanwhile established itself as the lingua franca in Papua New Guinea and is increasingly displacing the indigenous languages. Only a few children still speak Yimas, which means that the language must be considered critically endangered.
William Foley stayed with the Yimas for a total of 17 months from 1977 to 1988, during which time he intensively researched the language and culture of the people. A comprehensive grammar, including a section on the ethnology of the Yimas, appeared in 1991. No further fieldwork has been undertaken since then. There has not yet been any written form; only the phonemic orthography used in William Foley's grammar exists.
Phonetics and Phonology
Consonants
As is usual with Papuan languages, the phoneme inventory of Yimas is not very extensive. Like many languages in the region, Yimas has no fricative phonemes . However, fricatives occur as pronunciation variants of plosives . The following table contains the phonemes of the language.
| bilabial | alveolar | palatal | velar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| stl. | sth. | stl. | sth. | stl. | sth. | stl. | sth. | |
| Plosives | p | t | c | k | ||||
| Nasals | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Taps / flaps | ɾ | |||||||
| lateral approximants | ʎ | |||||||
| Approximants | w | j | ||||||
The phonemic status of the palatal consonants / c /, / ɲ / and / ʎ / (the latter is written as l in the examples ) is not fully understood. As a rule, their occurrence is predictable; they mostly arise through palatalization from the alveolar consonants / t /, / n / and / r /. However, there are also a few words in which these consonants must already be considered as underlying, such as akulɨm (wrist), ɨɲcɨt (urine) and others, which, however, also historically go back to alveolar consonants, as can be seen from the corresponding words in Karawari , the closest related language, can be seen: awku ri m (wrist) or sɨ ndi (urine).
If a nasal and a plosive meet, they are usually spoken at the same point of articulation. Other combinations such as mt , mk , np , ŋt etc. are rarely or not at all attested. An example is pamki (legs). The same applies if there are plosives before nasals at the end of a word or syllable. In this case the nasal is spoken syllabically , for example in watn [ ˈwatn̩ ] (a kind of hardwood).
Plosives are usually voiced after nasals, / p / also before u . At the beginning of a word and before stressed vowels, they are aspirated and voiceless. Examples: ɲct [ ˈɪɲɟɪt ] (urine), pamki [ ˈpʰamgi ] (legs), tkay [ tʰəˈkʰaɪ̯ ] (nose), kput [ kʰɞˈbut ] (rain). / p / and / w / merge into a voiced fricative: ipwa [ iˈβa ] (their PL ). If / k / is between two vowels, whereby the second is unstressed, it is realized as a voiced fricative: amanakn [ ʌmʌˈnaɣɨn ] (my). / c / is spoken between vowels as a voiceless fricative: acak [ ˈasʌk ] (to send).
ʎ is in free variation between [ ʎ ] and [ L ], r varies between the pronunciation [ l ] and [ ɾ ] .
Vowels
| front | central | back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ung. | ger. | ung. | ger. | ung. | ger. | |
| closed | i | ɨ | u | |||
| open | a | |||||
By far the most common vowels are / a / and / ɨ /. ɨ also appears as an insert vowel if otherwise there would be too many consonants in a row or undesired consonant groups would arise. In the vicinity of u , rarely also in other contexts, a u is inserted: mml [ məmɪʎ ] (a type of snake), ŋmkŋn [ ŋəmgəŋɨn ] (below), maŋkuml [ maŋgɯmuʎ ] (two veins).
The vowel phonemes (except / i /) are subject to numerous phonological changes.
Emphasis
The main accent is usually on the first syllable of a word. If the first syllable contains an inset vowel, but the second does not, the second syllable is stressed. If both the first and second syllables contain an inset vowel, the emphasis is again on the first syllable. In words with more than three syllables, the third syllable is also given a secondary accent.
Examples:
| word | pronunciation | translation | comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| ŋarwa | [ ˈŊaɾwʌ ] | penis | |
| kcakk | [ kʰɪˈsaɣək ] | to cut | first syllable inset vowel → second syllable stressed |
| mɲŋ | [ ˈMɪɲɪŋ ] | tongue | first two syllables with inset vowel → first syllable stressed |
| yamparan | [ ˈJambʌɾʌn ] | get up | |
| malcakwa | [ ˈMaʎcɔkwʌ ] | lower back | |
| yacɨrɨm | [ ˈJɛsəɾəm ] | an accessory for chewing betel nuts | |
| yawkawpunumprum | [ ˈJawkʌwˌpʰunɯmbɾɯm ] | yellow opossum | Secondary accent on the third syllable |
The genitive suffix -na , which is used on personal pronouns, draws the main accent on the word: ama-na-kn [ ʌmʌˈnaɣɨn ] (my).
grammar
Parts of speech and word formation
Yimas has a total of ten parts of speech , only two of which, nouns and verbs , are open classes; H. can be supplemented with new words. The remaining parts of speech include adjectives , of which there are only five, numeralia , place and time adverbs , pronouns , demonstratives , conjunctions and interjections . A derivation of nouns from verb stems or of verbs from noun stems is not possible.
The derivation of new word stems or meanings takes place through affixes , through composition , i. H. combining several stems into a new one, as well as through verb serialization , d. H. Concatenation of verb stems, sometimes with a serialization suffix in between: waraca-mpi-wa , literally “return-SEQ-go”, means, for example, “come back”. The entire complex is treated as a single verb stem.
morphology
Morphology of the noun
Yimas has 19 genera , which are referred to below with Roman numerals. Sometimes you can tell from the noun itself which gender it belongs to. Six of the genera only consist of a single noun. The genera are partly semantically motivated, i. H. Nouns that belong to the same gender often have common properties in terms of their meaning. In addition, nouns of the same gender often behave similarly with regard to number inflection. A distinction is made between the numbers singular (SG), dual (DU) and plural (PL). Some nouns form the number forms through suppletion , i. H. with their own stems for dual and plural.
The gender congruence within the noun phrase works similarly to German, which the following example illustrates:
| nam | ama-na-nm | mpa-nm | kpa-nm |
| House (XII.SG) | ich-Genitiv-XII.SG | one-XII.SG | large-XII.SG |
| "My only big house" | |||
| genus | semantic class | frequently occurring endings | Example nouns (DU, PL) (translation) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular (SG) | Dual (DU) | Plural (PL) | |||
| I. | males | various | -rm | various |
apwi ( apwicrm , apwiam ) (father) |
| II | female persons | -maŋ | -mprum | -mput |
ŋay (u) k ( ŋaykrm , ŋaykumpam ) (mother) |
| III | bigger animals | various | -ntrm | - (aw) i , -ŋkat |
yura ( yurantrm , yuray ) (dog) |
| IV | plants | -(around | -mul | -University |
irpm ( irpmul , irpuŋi ) (coconut palm ) |
| V | various, contains about half of all nouns | various | - (nt) rm | - (ŋ) kat , -ra , -i |
awkp ( awkpntrm , awkpŋkat ) (wild sago palm ) |
| VI | various | -ŋ | -ŋkl | -ŋki |
trŋ ( trŋkl , trŋki ) (tooth) |
| VII | various | -m | -mpl | -mpat |
akm ( akmpl , akmpat ) (a type of grass) |
| VIII | various (only about 20 nouns) | -i | - (y) l | - (y) ɲcmpt |
kay ( ka (y) l , ka (y) cmpt ) (canoe) |
| IX | various | -wa | -awl | -ut |
trukwa ( trukawl , trukut ) (knee) |
| X | various | -uk | -ukul | -ukwat |
antuk ( antukul , antukwat ) (voice) |
| XI | various | -U.N | -uŋkul | -uŋkwi |
awŋ ( awŋkul , awŋkwi ) (egg) |
| XII | House | nam | naml | names | contains only this word |
| XIII | Village | num | numul | nmkat | contains only this word |
| XIV | night | anger | angry | root | contains only this word |
| XV | water | poor | - | - | contains only this word, occurs only in the singular |
| XVI | Fire | awt | - | - | contains only this word, occurs only in the singular |
| XVII | lime | awi | - | - | contains only this word, occurs only in the singular |
| XVIII | Spoken | - | - | - | no nouns, just congruence |
| XIX | Actions | - | - | - | no nouns, just congruence |
The last two genera, XVIII and XIX, represent a special case, as there are no nouns belonging to this gender. Nevertheless, the corresponding congruence morphemes occur frequently to indicate a pronominal congruence with the above-mentioned abstract meanings:
| ma-mpwi | pia-ŋa-i |
| other-XVIII | XVIII-1.SG.Dativ-say |
| "(He) told me something else." ( Ma- is one of the five adjectives in Yimas) | |
The only case suffix in Yimas that is added directly to the noun is -n , which in the singular after -i , in the dual in general and in the plural after the plural endings -i , -mpt (VIII) and -ut (IX) to - nan or -ɲan becomes. -ɲan is created by amalgamating the ending -i with -nan . The morpheme denotes an obliquus (OBL) and can be used for local information as well as for the expression of the means, the goal and the like.
| kaŋk- ɲan | na-ka-warapa-kia-k |
| Shell (VI) -PL.OBL | 3.SG.Patiens-1.SG.Agens-cut-at-night-unrealis |
| "I cut it with mussels during the night." (Instrumental use) | |
| ŋaŋk- ɲan | ama-na-irm-n |
| Grass (VII) -PL.OBL | 1.SG. Subject-definite-present-present |
| "I'm standing in the grass." (Locative use) | |
Subjects and objects are not marked with their own case endings. The reference is made clear by the verb congruence:
| ŋaykum | i-mpu-tar-kamta-k | i-cal-cɨ-t | anti |
| Woman (II.PL) | VIII.SG.Patiens-3.PL.Agens-causative-clean-become-unrealis | VIII.SG-causative-become-perfect | Floor (VIII.SG) |
| "The women cleaned the floor." | |||
To express possession, the Yimas has a genitive suffix -na , which is added to the end of the noun phrase, similar to the English genitive -s. In connection with the personal pronouns, this creates possessive pronouns . The owner precedes possession, i.e. H. the genitive phrase comes before the noun.
| awt | m-nanaŋ-pampay-taw-na-ntut- na | kalakn |
| Fire | that-durative-carry-sit-durative-remove past-genitive | Child (I.SG) |
| "The child of the one who always takes care of the fire" | ||
Optionally, there can be a congruence indicator after the genitive suffix, which shows the gender and number of the noun:
| tuŋkntumana -kn | marm |
| Opossum (III.SG) -Genitiv-V.SG | Smell (V.SG) |
| "The smell of the possum" | |
pronoun
Personal pronouns
Yimas only has first and second person pronouns . The demonstratives are used for the third person. The personal pronouns of the second person are derived in the dual and plural from those of the first person by an infix -w- . In Paucal , which occurs only with pronouns, the two people are not differentiated.
| person | Singular | dual | Paucal | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ama | kapa | pack | ipa |
| 2. | mi | kapwa | ipwa |
Demonstrative pronouns
In contrast to the personal pronouns, no distinction is made between paucal and plural in the demonstratives . There are three demonstratives. -k indicates the proximity to the speaker, m- the proximity to the addressee and -n a distance to both. Demonstratives come before or after the reference word, but mostly after it. -k and -n are inflected according to gender and number using the verb prefixes, m- using the suffixes used on adjectives, see below .
Examples:
| impram | pk | p-apk |
| Basket (VII.SG) | VII.SG-this | VII.SG-being |
| "This is a basket." (Lit .: "This basket is.") | ||
| numkat | m-ra |
| Village (XIII.PL) | that.here-XIII.PL |
| "Those villages there (with you)" | |
In addition, adverbs are formed from these demonstrative pronouns with the help of affixes : tak (here), mnti (there with you), tan (there).
possessive pronouns
As already described in the section on nominal morphology, possessive pronouns can be obtained from personal pronouns with the suffix -na- . The third person says natural . Both forms are inflected with suffixes indicating gender and number, although this congruence is sometimes omitted in the -na used as a suffix .
| genus | Singular | dual | Plural | genus | Singular | dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. | -kn | -rm | -ump | XI | -uŋk | -uŋkl | -uŋkwi | |
| II | -nmaŋ | -nprump | -nput | XII | -nm | -nml | -ra | |
| III | -kn | -ntrm | -ump | XIII | -num | -numul | -ra | |
| IV | -around | -mul | -ra | XIV | -ut | -ntrm | -ra | |
| V | -kn | -ntrm | -ra | XV | -rm | |||
| VI | -ŋk | -ŋkl | -ŋki | XVI | -ut | |||
| VII | -mp | -mpl | -ra | XVII | -ra | |||
| VIII | -i | - (i) l | -ra | XVIII | -mpwi | |||
| IX | -aw | -awl | -ut | XIX | -nti | |||
| X | -uŋk | -uŋkl | -ra |
Example:
| ama-na | apak | well |
| I-genitive | Sister (II.SG) | 3.SG.Subject-die |
| "My sister died." | ||
Morphology on the adjective
As mentioned, Yimas only has five real adjectives. These are kpa (big), waca (small), yua (good), mama (bad) and ma (other). Only these five words can be used in constructions like kpa nam (a big house). In this construction, nothing else can appear between adjective and noun; the adjective remains uninflected and always comes before the noun.
An alternative construction with free word order is even only possible with kpa , yua and ma : nam kpa-nm (a big house). The suffixes that express the congruence in gender and number to the reference word are placed directly on the adjective stem. If other properties are to be expressed, verbs are available which are provided with an irrealis suffix -k and then also adopt the adjectival congruence morphemes : nam waca-k-nm (a small house). With these verbs, a construction like * kawŋkra apak or * kawŋkra-k apak (a big sister (in terms of height)) is not possible, a congruence suffix must be used.
The congruence suffixes largely correspond to those that are used in genitive cases, but there are differences in genera I (in the singular and dual), III and V (in each case in the singular). The following table shows all suffixes. Those morphemes that are different from those used on genitives are marked in bold:
| genus | Singular | dual | Plural | genus | Singular | dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. | -n | -mampane | -ump | XI | -uŋk | -uŋkl | -uŋkwi | |
| II | -nmaŋ | -nprump | -nput | XII | -nm | -nml | -ra | |
| III | -n | -ntrm | -ump | XIII | -num | -numul | -ra | |
| IV | -around | -mul | -ra | XIV | -ut | -ntrm | -ra | |
| V | -n | -ntrm | -ra | XV | -rm | |||
| VI | -ŋk | -ŋkl | -ŋki | XVI | -ut | |||
| VII | -mp | -mpl | -ra | XVII | -ra | |||
| VIII | -i | - (i) l | -ra | XVIII | -mpwi | |||
| IX | -aw | -awl | -ut | XIX | -nti | |||
| X | -uŋk | -uŋkl | -ra |
Morphology of the verb
congruence
The verb morphology of Yima is one of the most complex systems found in the languages of the world. Finite verb forms congruent with the subject and the object of the sentence in person and number, with the object and the intransitive subject also in gender. The subject of transitive sentences, i.e. those with an object, is treated differently from the subject of intransitive sentences, i.e. those without an object. One speaks of an ergative alignment. The transitive subject does not trigger any congruence with the gender in the verb. In the third person, the prefixes n- (singular), mpɨ- (dual) and mpu- (plural) are used uniformly for all genera . The prefix of the object usually precedes that of the subject:
| krayŋ | narmaŋ | kn -tay |
| Frog (VI.SG) | Mrs. (II.SG) | VI.SG.Objekt-3.SG.Singular-see |
| "The woman saw the frog." | ||
In the first and second person, different prefixes are used for intransitive and transitive subjects as well as for the object. If the object is in the first or second person and the subject in the third person, the subject prefix comes before the object prefix and then has the form that the third person object prefix would normally have for genus I:
| pu -nan-tay |
| 3.PL.Subject-2.SG.Object-see |
| "They saw you." |
If the object is in the first person singular and the subject is in the third person plural, the order of the two prefixes is free:
| mpu-ŋa -tay (= ŋa-mpu -tay ) |
| 3.PL.Subject-1.SG.Object-see |
| "You saw me." |
The prefixes for the first and second person are as follows:
| 1st person | 2nd person | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | dual | Plural | Singular | dual | Plural | |
| trans. subject | ka- | ŋkra- | kay- | n- | ŋcrane- | nan- |
| intrans. subject | ama- | kapa- | ipa- | ma- | kapwa- | ipwa- |
| object | n / A- | ŋkra- | powerful | nan- | ŋkul- | cul- |
The prefixes that express the congruence to the intransitive subject as well as to the direct object are the same in the third person and are:
| genus | Singular | dual | Plural | genus | Singular | dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I / II | n / A- | impa- | pu- | XI | ku- | culinary | kwia- | |
| III | n / A- | tma- | pu- | XII | nma- | nmla- | ya- | |
| IV | mu- | mula- | ya- | XIII | numa- | numula- | ya- | |
| V | n / A- | tma- | ya- | XIV | ura- | tma- | ya- | |
| VI | k- | kla- | kia- | XV | ima- | |||
| VII | p- | pla- | ya- | XVI | ura- | |||
| VIII | i- | ila- | ya- | XVII | ya- | |||
| IX | wa- | wɨla- / ula- | ura- | XVIII | pia- | |||
| X | ku- | culinary | ya- | XIX | tia- |
The indirect object also triggers congruence in the verb. The same prefixes are used in the first and second person as for the direct object. In the third person, however, suffixes are used that are derived from the oblique forms of the pronouns. The suffixes each have two forms, depending on whether there are further suffixes after it or not. In the singular suffix, the n is deleted if it is preceded by an alveolar or palatal consonant, i.e. t, n, r, c, ɲ, l, y .
| Singular | dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| at the end of the word | - (n) akn | -mpn | -mpun |
| before other suffixes | - (n) ak | -rmpan | -mpan |
Examples:
| k-ka-tkam-r- akn |
| VI.SG.Object-1.SG.Subject-show-perfect-3.SG.Dative |
| "I showed it (the coconut) to him." |
| ta-nan-tkam-r- mpan -ŋ |
| Negation-2nd PL.Subject-show-perfect-3rd PL.Dative-VI.SG.Object |
| "You didn't show them (the coconut)." |
If one of the parts of the sentence is in the Paucal, this is indicated by a suffix -ŋkt , which does not express which part of the sentence it is. In the second person of the subject of a transitive sentence, this suffix has its own congruence prefix paŋ- added. In all other cases, congruence is made with the plural prefix. There are also some congruence prefixes that express special relationships and can then replace the normally used prefixes with this meaning. There is a prefix (ka) mpan- , which expresses that a first person Paucal (= we few) acts on a second person singular or dual (= you / you both).
copula
The copula , the verb with which an identity is expressed (dt. To be ), is the only irregular verb in Yimas. The following table shows the forms that occur. Prefix and stem are shown separated by a hyphen. All forms of the copula end with the Irrealis suffix -k , which is not shown separately in the table. The stem varies between ya , a and a null stem. As with pronouns, a paucal form is only used in the first and second person and in genus I and II, i.e. H. only with people, differentiated. Genera VI to XI also distinguish in the singular whether the object is visible or invisible.
| genus | Singular (visible) |
Singular (invisible) |
dual | Paucal | Plural | genus | Singular (visible) |
Singular (invisible) |
dual | Paucal | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ama-yak | kapa-yak | paŋkra-yak | ayp-ak | X | kaw-k | aku-k | akul-ak | ar-ak | |||
| 2nd person | am-yak | kapwa-yak | paŋkra-yak | (p) aypw-ak | XI | kaw-k | aku-k | akul-ak | ar-ak | |||
| I / II | an-ak | aymp-ak | akr-ak | (p) apu-k | XII | anm-ak | anml-ak | ar-ak | ||||
| III | an-ak | antm-ak | (p) apu-k | XIII | anum-ak | anuml-ak | ar-ak | |||||
| IV | amu-k | amul-ak | ar-ak | XIV | awr-ak | antm-ak | ar-ak | |||||
| V | an-ak | antm-ak | ar-ak | XV | aym-ak | |||||||
| VI | k-ak | ak-k | akl-ak | aki-ak | XVI | awr-ak | ||||||
| VII | pap-k | ap-k | apl-ak | ar-ak | XVII | ar-ak | ||||||
| VIII | ayk-k | ay-k | al-ak | ar-ak | XVIII | api-ak | ||||||
| IX | ay-ak | yak | awl-ak | awr-ak | XIX | anti-ak | ||||||
Example:
| kn | akrŋ | ak-k |
| VI.SG-those | Tree Frog (VI.SG) | VI.SG. to be invisible |
| "That (there) is a tree frog." (Which one does not see, but maybe only hears) | ||
The / p / at the beginning of the prefix of the second person and the genera I to III in the plural is only used if the word before the copula ends with -mp .
Tenses
Yimas has a total of nine real tenses as well as one (timeless) unrealis form , which are marked with suffixes. Some of these have special forms if the suffix is not at the end of the word. This phenomenon also occurs with other suffixes, such as the dative congruence markers.
| Tense | meaning | Form at the end of a word | Form before other suffixes |
|---|---|---|---|
| distant past tense | at least five days ago, but mostly much further back | -does | -ntuk |
| middle past tense | at least the day before yesterday, but can also be years ago | -kiantut | -kiantuk |
| near past tense | yesterday | -nan | -n / A |
| at night | tonight (the day begins with the Yimas at dusk) | -kia | |
| Perfect | Action completed today | -t | -r / -t |
| Present | action currently in progress | na- A + -nt | |
| Habitualis | regular actions, generic statements B | -wat | -was |
| near future tense | tomorrow C | -kiak | -kiant |
| distant future tense | the day after tomorrow at the earliest | -kt | -kr |
| Unrealis | Sometime; desired action that is imminent D | -k | |
- A The prefix na- expresses that an action definitely takes place or will take place. It is mandatory in the present tense.
- B The habitual suffix can also be combined with the suffix for “at night”, which results in -kiawat or -kiawar .
- C In rare cases, the near future suffix can also express past events. Presumably, this means that the speaker cannot believe the event or cannot yet grasp it.
- D unrealis expresses either that a statement is true regardless of the time of its action, or that a desired future action is imminent and has not yet been carried out. For this reason, the copula (see above ) always has this suffix.
Examples:
| ma | ŋarŋ | na-n-way-mpi-ira- yantut |
| another | next day | 3.SG.Object-3.SG.Subject-reverse-SEQ-here-come-del.Preterite |
| "The following day she returned to him." | ||
| siot | na-araŋ-ara- t |
| shirt | V.SG.Subjekt- rreißen- Inchoativ -Perfekt |
| "The shirt is torn." | |
| Maŋ-ɲan | na-paykia -wat |
| Maŋi obliquus | 3. Singular. Subject-lying-at-night-habitualis |
| "He usually sleeps in Maŋi." | |
| ŋarŋ | dump does | ka-mpan-ya-ka-l-awkura- kiak |
| next day | In the morning | probably-I-you-come-SEQ-down-to-be-near-future |
| "I'll probably come tomorrow morning and take you down there." | ||
aspect
The Yimas knows three special aspect forms, the complete , the durative and the immediate .
The complete -rapi / -tapi / -capi expresses that an action affects an object completely or is carried out equally on all members of a group:
| num-n-mat | pu-mal- capi -kiak |
| Village obliquus plural | 3.Plural.Subject-die-completely-near.Future |
| "The whole villages (meaning their inhabitants) have all died." (Close future tense for past event, see footnote C above) | |
The durative is formed with a prefix nanaŋ- and a suffix -na (ŋ) . It expresses that an action runs continuously or continues:
| lime | punanaŋ -wurt -am- na -ntut |
| Sago pudding (V.SG) | 3.Plural.Subject-durative-mix-eat-durative-del.Preterite |
| "They kept mixing and eating sago pudding." | |
The Immediative -mpa indicates that an action is still ongoing or is taking place right now, begins or has ended:
| poor | ta-pu-n- ara- mpa -nt-rm |
| Water (XV) | Negation-3rd person-definitely-drying-Immediative-Present-XV |
| "The water still hasn't dried up." | |
Desire and command forms
The imperative is expressed with a suffix -n , which has an alternative form -na before other suffixes. Number prefixes and the paucal suffix are also used to express the number of the subject. The forms are in detail:
| number | shape |
|---|---|
| Singular | Verb- n (a) |
| dual | naŋk -Verb- n (a) |
| Paucal | na (ŋ) -Verb- na - ŋkt / ŋkan |
| Plural | na (ŋ) -Verb- n (a) |
Example:
| kapwa | naŋk -ŋa-ŋa-mpa- n |
| you both | Dual-1.SG.Dative-giving-immediate-imperative |
| "You two, give (it) to me at once!" | |
If the subject is not singular, the imperative prefix ŋa- can also be used in front of a prefix of the first person . So the above example could also be kapwa ŋa-ŋa-ŋa-mpa-n with the same meaning.
Suffixes that indicate congruence follow the imperative suffix:
| na -ŋa-mpa- na -ŋkan-mpan-ra | amtra |
| Plural-giving-Immediative-Imperative-Paucal-3rd PL.Dative-V.PL.Object | Food (V.PL) |
| "(You few,) give them food now!" | |
In addition to the imperative, the Yimas also has a hortative , a desired form of the first person. The imperative suffix -n (a) is also used for this, but combined with other numerical prefixes:
| number | shape |
|---|---|
| Singular | anta -Verb- n (a) |
| dual | aŋka -Verb- n (a) |
| Paucal | ay -Verb- na - ŋkt / ŋkan |
| Plural | ay -Verb- n (a) |
Example:
| anta -kntŋaca-kia- na -k |
| Hortative.SG-scare-at-night-imperative-3rdSG.Object |
| "I want to scare him tonight." |
Change the truth value of statements
If a statement is to be negated, the prefix ta- is used in Yimas . There are also some changes in the congruence morphemes. In intransitive verb forms, instead of the prefix for intransitive subjects of the first and second person, the corresponding prefix for transitive subjects is used. In the third person, the prefix pu- stands for all number forms . At the same time, a number suffix is added to the verb form in all persons: for dual -rm , for paucal -ŋkt , for plural -um (p) , singular remains unmarked.
| ta- kay-wa-r- um |
| Negation-1st plural. Subject-go-perfect-plural |
| "We did not go." (Cf. the form ipa-wa-t (We went.) With a different prefix for the 1st person plural) |
In transitive sentences, the changes are even more complicated. If one of the two participants in the action is a first or second person, but the other is a third person (for example "I see him", "he sees you", "you see her" etc.), the prefix stands for the 1st / 2. Person still as a prefix, the third-person participant is no longer expressed using a prefix. Instead, the already mentioned number suffix reflects on this person, whereby in contrast to the intransitive forms the singular is also expressed ( - (k) ak ).
| ta -kay-cay-c- ak |
| Negation-1st PL. Subject-seeing-perfect-singular |
| "We have not seen him." (Cf. not negated : na-kay-cay ; 3.SG.Objekt-1.PL.Subjekt-see) |
If the third person argument belongs to Genera III – XIX, the adjectival congruence suffix is used instead of the number suffix. This applies to both transitive and intransitive sentences.
| poor | ta -pu-n-ara-mpa-nt- rm |
| Water (XV) | Negation-3rd person-definitely-drying-Immediative-Present-XV |
| "The water still hasn't dried up." | |
If both actors are a third person, the subject is expressed as a prefix and the object as a suffix:
| ta -mpu-tpul-c- rm |
| Negation-3rd plural. Subject-beat-perfect-dual |
| "You didn't hit the two of them." |
The numerous other possible cases and their realizations can be found in the specified specialist literature.
In addition to negation, Yimas knows other prefixes that behave similarly to ta- . The potentialis prefix ant- expresses that an action has almost ended. The prefix partially merges with the following prefixes: with n- to anan- , with mpɨ- to ampɨ- and with mpu- to ampu- .
| ant -ka-tu-r-um |
| Potentialis-1st SG. Subject-kill-perfect-plural |
| "I almost killed her." |
The prefix ka- indicates that an action is likely to take place. It cannot be combined with the prefix na- , which is usually used in present tense:
| ka -mpu-ŋa-tput-n |
| probably-3.PL.Subjekt-1.SG.Objekt-strike-present tense |
| "You will probably hit me in a moment." |
The prefix apu- marks a negated imperative , the so-called prohibitive , i.e. a prohibition. The prefix of the second person of the subject is omitted, all other personal affixes remain unchanged compared to the normal negated verb form. The prohibitive can only be used in the present tense.
| apu -tmi-nc-mpwi | ma-mpwi |
| Prohibitively-speaking-present-tense-XVIIIth object | other-XVIII |
| "Don't say anything more!" | |
Causative
In order to create a transitive verb from an intransitive verb, i.e. one without an accusative object (so-called causative ), the Yimas knows various possibilities. Some verbs with no discernible morphological relationship to one another represent pairs of this type, such as irm (to stand) and ta (to put). Other pairs of verbs have the same stem but different endings. An example pair for this would be pak-ara (open, open) and pak-aca (open, open). Sometimes this morphological formation is associated with changes in the trunk: yamp-ara (standing upright) and kamp-aca ( standing up). All of these formations are not productive; H. not possible with all verbs, but only with individual ones. A productive way to derive a causative form are the prefixes tar- and tmi- . The first prefix forms normal active causatives. The action described by the verb stem is actively triggered by influencing the subject. The second prefix, tmi- , indicates that the action is triggered by a command or call. Two examples illustrate this difference:
| na-ŋa- tar -kwalca-t |
| 3rd SG.Subject-1st SG.object-causative.A-raise-perfect |
| "She woke me up." (E.g. by shaking) |
| na- ŋatmi -kwalca-t |
| 3.SG.Subjekt-1.SG.Objekt-causative.B-raise-perfect |
| "She woke me up." (E.g. by calling) |
Application forms
Various adverbial or attributive parts of the sentence can be incorporated into the sentence as a direct or indirect object by changing the value of the verb or by affixes to the verb.
Lively owners of the direct object can be converted into an indirect object, as in many languages - partly also in German:
| maŋkaŋkl | kla- [kpa-ŋkl] -cɨ-ntuk-nakn |
| Arm (VI.Dual) | VI.Dual.Subjekt- [large-VI.Dual] -will-entf.Präteritum-3.SG.Dativ |
| "His arms have grown large." (Literally: "His arms have grown large.") (Note: the [bracketed] part of the verb form is an incorporated adjective) | |
Companions of the subject can be understood as an indirect object with the help of the comitative - applicative prefix taŋ- :
| impa-n- taŋ -kwalca-t |
| 3.Dual.Object-3.SG.Subject-Kom.Appl.-raise-perfect |
| "He woke up with the two of them." |
Beneficiaries of an action can also be expressed as an indirect object. Here we use in the Yimas language benefactive case -Applikativ suffix -na :
| yara | ya-ka-kra- ŋa -r-akn |
| Tree (V.PL) | V.PL.Object-1.SG.Subject-cut-User.Appl.-Perfect-3.SG.Dative |
| "I fell trees for him." | |
The target of a movement is also converted into an object in this way. The allative -applicative prefix ira- does this:
| na-mpu-na- ira -wa-n |
| 3.SG.Object-3.PL.Subject-definitely-All.Appl.-go-present |
| "You are going straight to him." |
Furthermore, the direction of gaze can be expressed during an action by using the "visuative" -applicative prefix taŋkway- :
| na-n- taŋkway -wampaki-kiak-nakn |
| V.SG.Objekt-3.SG.Subjekt-Vis.Appl.-throw-nahes.Futur-3.SG.Dativ |
| "He threw it at him (while looking at him)." (Note: Near future tense here for an event in the past, see above .) |
If an object is carried and another action is performed, there is the possibility in Yimas to express this in a single verb form. The "Kinetiv" -applicative prefix pampay- means that the act of carrying is included in a verb:
| na-n- pampay- iray-pra-k |
| 3.SG.Objekt-3.SG.Subject-Kin.Appl.-weeping-down-unrealis |
| "He cried while he carried her to the village." |
Finally, in Yimas there is still the possibility of using a “sequitive” -applicative prefix tur- to express that someone is following an agent while performing the action:
| pu-n- tur -awramu-ŋ | ma-nan |
| 3.PL.Objekt-3.SG.Subjekt-Seq.Appl.-enter-Unrealis | Men's cult house (VII.SG) -Obliquus |
| "He followed them into the men's cult house." | |
Iterative forms
In order to express an action that is repeated over and over again, there is the possibility in Yimas to reduplicate the verb stem . The entire trunk is not always doubled, but sometimes only a part. The resulting iterative stems, however, are not completely predictable. The following table provides examples of duplicated strains.
| verb | normal trunk | reduplicated trunk | comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| break | ark | arkark | |
| see | tay | tacay | the merging of / yt / to c is regular |
| lay down | wul | wurtwurt | |
| put in | api | apapi | |
| cry | iray | iratay | the change from / r / to t is regular |
| hold | valley | tarat |
Verb serialization
In Yimas there is the possibility of combining different actions in such a way that they only form one verb form. This is called verb serialization . Three different constructions are known.
In the first construction, the simple verb stems are placed one behind the other, creating a complex verb stem. The meaning of such a connection includes that the actions take place at the same time or that they occur in a tight sequence and the first action triggers the second, etc. Often there are also prefixes in such verb forms to clarify that the actions take place continuously ( yakal- ) or take a long time are ( nanaŋ- ). Reduplication (see previous section) also occurs frequently in this context.
| pu-n- yakal-caŋ-tantaw-malak -ntut |
| 3.PL.Objekt-3.SG.Subject-continuous-Komitativ.Applikativ-sit.Iterativ-speak-def.Preteritum |
| "He sat down with them while he talked to them." |
| marŋki | kia-kay- nanaŋ-kamat-kula -ntut |
| Petiole (VI.PL) | VI.PL.Objekt-1.PL.Subject-continuously-searching-running-del.Predentity |
| "We went around looking for petioles." | |
The second construction also expresses concurrent actions. Here, however, the morpheme -ra- occurs between the two verb stems to be linked :
| apurŋkat | na-yakal-apapan- ra -kula-ntut |
| Skink (V.PL) | 3rd SG.Subject-continuously-shooting.Iterative-simultaneous-running-del.Preterite |
| "He ran around and shot Skinks (a type of lizard)." | |
Another morpheme, -mpi- , occurs between the two verb stems when successive actions are to be linked, but which are not dependent on one another.
| pla-n-ma-awkura- mpi -kacakapi- mpi -tɨ-pra-k |
| VII.PL.Objekt-3.SG.Subjekt-in-collect-sequence-hide-sequence-store-to-irrealis |
| "He received these (flutes, VII.PL), hid them and put them in there." |
As you can see in this example, more than two verbs can be linked in this way. This also applies to the other constructions.
Incorporation
Different clauses can be incorporated into verb forms . This means that the entire clause enters the verb form. In the examples, an incorporated part of the sentence is put in [square brackets]. In the following example, both an adverb and a noun are incorporated:
| ampan- [pay] - [pucm] -api-n |
| Hortative + 2.SG.Dativ- [first] - [time (VII.SG)] - insert imperative |
| "I want to give you time first." |
Adjectives can also appear in verb forms. This is particularly common in connection with the verb tɨ / cɨ (to become):
| patn | na-mpu-ŋa-taŋ- [mama-kn] -tal-cɨ-t |
| Betel nut (V.SG) | V.SG.Objekt-3.PL.Subjekt-1.SG.Dativ-Komitativ.Applikativ- [bad-Irrealis-V.SG] -Causative-become-perfect |
| "You ruined my betel nut." | |
Infinite verb forms
The Yimas has only one suffix that derives infinite verb forms. It is usually -ru , but it can become -r , -tu, or -t depending on the sound environment . Verb stems with this suffix can be used as an infinitive , participle or verbal noun . The endings for the tenses cannot be combined with the infinitive suffix. Verb forms with this suffix often have to be translated into German as subordinate clauses.
|
|
| tpuk | am- t -uŋ | ku-n-kacapal |
| Sago cake (X.SG) | essen-Infinitiv-X.SG | X.SG.Object-3.SG.Subject-forgotten |
| "He forgot the sago cake that was meant to be eaten." | ||
| nam | wark- t -nti | tia-ka-ira-karŋkra-t |
| House (XII.SG) | build-infinitive-XIX | XIX.Object-1.SG.Subject-Allative.Applicative-tired-perfect |
| "Building houses made me tired." | ||
Participles can also be formed without their own morpheme by simply adding the adjectival congruence suffix to a verb. Endings for tenses can also be used in this construction.
| mampayŋki | krk-r-ŋki | kumpwi | kia-mp-awl |
| Banana (VI.PL) | tire-Perfekt-VI.PL | Boy (I.PL) | VI.PL.Objekt-3.PL.Subjekt-receive / take |
| "The boys took the ripe bananas." | |||
syntax
Noun phrases
As already described, the pure adjectives and genitives, i.e. those without congruence to the noun, precede the noun. If an adjective or genitive is to be added, a suffix must be used that indicates the congruence. The following two examples illustrate the difference in a genitive connection.
| ama-na | matn-na | kay |
| I-genitive | Brother (I.SG) genitive | Canoe (VIII.SG) |
| "My brother's canoe" | ||
| kay | ama-na | matn-na- y |
| Canoe (VIII.SG) | I-genitive | Brother (I.SG) -Genitiv-VIII.SG |
| "My brother's canoe" | ||
Demonstrative pronouns have a congruence suffix even if they precede the noun:
| m- ŋkl | tuŋkurŋkl |
| that.here-VI.Dual | Eye (VI.Dual) |
| "Those eyes here" | |
sentence position
The sentence order is relatively free in Yimas. In general, any position of subject, object and verb to each other is possible, but sentence positions are preferred in which the verb is not at the beginning of the sentence. For example, in the sentence marmpn kay ikaakmpiwul (“I pushed the canoe into the river.”) All six logically possible word positions are correct.
Questions
In general, statements can be converted into a questioning sentence by increasing the intonation at the end of the sentence . In addition, a particle a can be used, which is at the end of the sentence and identifies questions:
| namat | uranium | kmpunantkamt | a |
| Men | coconut | they.showed.them.to you | Question particle |
| "Did the men show you the coconut?" | |||
Relative clauses
Relative clauses are complete sentences that are added as an attribute to a noun. This reference word is also one of the clauses of the relative clause and is expressed in Yimas by the demonstrative pronoun close to m- , which replaces the corresponding congruence prefix on the verb. Instead, as in other forms, a suffix is used to indicate congruence.
| krayŋ | m -ka-tu-r-ŋ |
| Frog (VI.SG) | dies-1.SG.Subject-killing-perfect-VI.SG.Object |
| "The frog that I killed" | |
| Elias | m -kra-pay-pra-kia-ntuk-ŋkt-Ø | mota-nan |
| Elias (I.SG) | this-1st PL. object-wear-to-near-del. preteritum-Paucal-3rd SG | Outboard motor obliquus |
| "Elias, who brought us there with his outboarder" | ||
See also
literature
- William A. Foley: The Yimas Language of New Guinea. Sanford University Press, Sanford CA 1991. ISBN 0-8047-1582-3
- Dieter Wunderlich: How gaps and substitutions can become optional, the pronominal affix paradigms of Yimas. University of Düsseldorf after 2000 (PDF; 300 kB)
Web links
- A brief outline of William Foley (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. on this, the work by Donald Laycock: Sepik languages - checklist and preliminary classification. Pacific Linguistics B-25, Canberra 1973.
- ↑ cf. William A. Foley : The Papuan Languages of New Guinea. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge MA 1986.
- ↑ For more details see Foley 1991, p. 45.