Mairasi language explained

Mairasi
Region:	Bomberai Peninsula
States:	West Papua, Indonesia
Speakers:	3,300
Date:	1996
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Mairasi
Iso3:	zrs
Glotto:	nucl1594
Glottorefname:	Mairasi

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

The Northeastern dialect may be a distinct language.

Distribution

Locations:^[1]

• 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

! Bilabial! Alveolar! Post-
alveolar! Velar! Glottal

Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive			pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/
		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Fricative		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
		pronounced as /ink/
Liquid			pronounced as /ink/
Semivowel		pronounced as /ink/

Vowels! !! Front!! Back

Close	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Back	pronounced as /ink/

Pronouns

Mairasi possessor prefixes are:^[2]

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

Morphology

Case markers

Noun phrase case markers in Mairasi:^[2]

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

Some examples:

Possessors

Mairasi possessor prefixes:^[2]

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

Examples of inalienable possessors:

Directionals

Mairasi has two directional suffixes, which are only used with movement verbs.^[2]

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

Examples of directional suffixes in use:

Animacy

Animacy is marked by the adjective modifier n-, as exemplified by the contrast in the following two noun phrases.^[2]

Vowel changes can modify the number of animate nouns:^[2]

Notes and References

1. Book: Ronsumbre, Adolof . 2020 . Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat . Yogyakarta . Penerbit Kepel Press . 978-602-356-318-0.
2. Book: Foley, William A. . Palmer . Bill . 2018 . The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide . The languages of Northwest New Guinea . The World of Linguistics . 4 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 433–568 . 978-3-11-028642-7.