| Mawes | |
| Region: | Papua Sarmi Regency, Bonggo District - Mawes Dai, Mawes Mukti, and Mawes Wres villages to the west of the Buri River |
| Speakers: | 850 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Northwest Papuan? |
| Fam2: | Foja Range |
| Iso3: | mgk |
| Glotto: | mawe1251 |
| Glottorefname: | Mawes |
Mawes is a Papuan language of Indonesia.
Usher (2020) proposes that it may be related to the Kwerbic languages.[1] Foley (2018) classifies Mawes as a language isolate, and so does Hammarström (2010).[2]
Pronouns are:
| sg | pl | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | kidam | inim | |
| 2 | nam | nɛm | |
| 3 | ɛbɛ | mia |
Basic vocabulary of Mawes listed in Foley (2018):[3]
| ‘bird’ | ikinin | |
| ‘blood’ | wɛrɛi | |
| ‘bone’ | tuan | |
| ‘ear’ | bɛr | |
| ‘eat’ | nan | |
| ‘egg’ | siwin | |
| ‘eye’ | nonsum | |
| ‘fire’ | kani | |
| ‘leg, foot’ | yaʔ | |
| ‘louse’ | sene | |
| ‘name’ | dimanɛ | |
| ‘one’ | mɛndakai | |
| ‘see’ | nomo | |
| ‘sky’ | kowan | |
| ‘stone’ | fɛt | |
| ‘sun’ | ɛsar | |
| ‘tooth’ | wan | |
| ‘tree’ | dengkin | |
| ‘two’ | yakɛneu | |
| ‘water’ | bo | |
| ‘woman’ | yei |
The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1975),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[5]
| gloss | Mawes | |
|---|---|---|
| head | defar | |
| hair | tere | |
| eye | nonsom | |
| tooth | wan | |
| leg | ija | |
| dog | wede | |
| pig | was | |
| bird | ikinin | |
| egg | siwin | |
| blood | werei | |
| bone | tuan | |
| skin | dukunen | |
| tree | deŋkin | |
| man | ke | |
| sun | esar | |
| water | bo | |
| fire | kani | |
| stone | feyt | |
| name | dimane | |
| eat | nano | |
| one | mendakai | |
| two | yakenew |
Of the few sentences that have been documented for Mawes, some example sentences are:[3]