Waris or Walsa is a Papuan language of northern New Guinea. There are about 2,500 native speakers. It uses the Latin writing system. The language features monophthong, diphthong, and triphthong vowels.
| Waris | |
|---|---|
| Region | Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea; Waris District, Keerom Regency, Papua province, Indonesia |
Native speakers | 2,500 (2008)[1] |
Border
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wrs |
| Glottolog | wari1266 |
| ELP | Waris |
| Coordinates: 3°17′41″S 141°04′23″E / 3.294675°S 141.073027°E | |
Demography
editWaris is spoken by about 2,500 people around Wasengla (3°17′41″S 141°04′23″E / 3.294675°S 141.073027°E), Doponendi ward, Walsa Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea, and also by about 1,500 across the border in Waris District, Keerom Regency in the Indonesian province of Papua.[1][2]
Phonology
editVowels
editMonophthongs
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | ||
| Mid | ə | ||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Near-open | æ | ||
| Open | a | ɒ |
Diphthongs and triphthongs
edit| Vi | Vɛ | Vɑ | Vɒ | Vɔ | Vu | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iV | iɑ | |||||
| ɛV | ɛɔ | ɛu | ||||
| ɑV | ɑi | ɑɔ | ||||
| ɒV | ɒi | |||||
| ɔV | ɔi | ɔɑ | ||||
| uV | ui | uɛ | uɑ | uɒ |
There are two triphthongs, /ɔɑi/ and /uɛu/.
Consonants
edit| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Stop | Voiceless | p | t | k | |
| Prenasalised | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | ||
| Fricative | β | s | x | ||
| Liquid | trill | r | |||
| lateral | l | ||||
| Semivowel | w | j | |||
Classifiers
editClassifier prefixes in Waris attach to verbs, and are determined via the physical properties of the object noun phrase being referred to. Many of them have parallels with independent verb roots, which may well be where they had originated from. Examples include:[3]
wonda
netbag
ka-m
1-DAT
mwan-vra-ho-o
CLF-get-BEN-IMP
‘Give me a netbag.’
nenas
pineapple
ka-m
1-DAT
li-ra-ho-o
CLF-get-BEN-IMP
‘Give me a pineapple.’
nelus
greens
ka-m
1-DAT
ninge-ra-ho-o
CLF-get-BEN-IMP
‘Give me some greens’
Many of these prefixes have lexical parallels with verb roots. The list of classifier prefixes is:[3]
classifier prefix semantic category verb root parallel mwan- soft pliable objects like net bags, skirts, bark mats li- fruits like pineapples, ears of corn or pandanus le- ‘cut off oblong fruit’ vela- objects found inside a container vela- ‘remove’ put- spherical objects, commonly fruits puet- ‘pick fruit’ ninge- food cooked and wrapped ninge- ‘tie up’ vet- food removed from fire without wrapping lɛ- leaf-like objects with no or soft stem pola- leaf-like objects with hard stem ih- grainy materials ih- ‘remove grainy material from a container’ tuvv- pieces cut from longer lengths tuvva- ‘chop into lengths’ kov- lengths of vine kovva- ‘cut off’
References
edit- ^ a b Waris at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
- ^ a b 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.
- Brown, Robert (1981). "Semantic aspects of some Waris predications". In Karl J. Franklin (ed.). Syntax and semantics in Papua New Guinea languages. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 93–123.
- Brown, Robert (1988). "Waris case system and verb classification". Language and Linguistics in Melanesia. 19: 37–80.
- Brown, Robert; Honoratus Wai (1986). Diksenari: Walsana moa Pisinna moa Englisna moa (A short dictionary of the Walsa [Waris] language, Tok Pisin and English). Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics.