Iwam language should not be confused with Sepik Iwam.
| May River Iwam | |
| Region: | East Sepik Province |
| Speakers: | 3,000 |
| Date: | 1998 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Sepik |
| Fam2: | Upper Sepik |
| Fam3: | Iwam |
| Iso3: | iwm |
| Glotto: | iwam1256 |
| Glottorefname: | Iwam |
| Notice: | IPA |
May River Iwam, often simply referred to as Iwam, is a language of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.
It is spoken in Iyomempwi (-4.2412°N 141.8927°W), Mowi (-4.295°N 141.9292°W), and Premai villages of Tunap/Hunstein Rural LLG in East Sepik Province, and other villages on the May River.[1]
| +Vowels | Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |
In non-final positions, pronounced as //u// pronounced as //o//, pronounced as //i//, and pronounced as //e// are pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, and pronounced as /link/, respectively. pronounced as //ə// appears only in nonfinal syllables. When adjacent to nasal consonants, vowels are nasalized; nasalization may also occur when adjacent to word boundaries.
| +Consonants | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Plosive | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Flap | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Semivowel | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ |
pronounced as //p// and pronounced as //k// are voiced fricatives (pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/) respectively) when intervocalic and unreleased when final (pronounced as //t// is also unreleased when final). pronounced as //ŋ// is a nasal flap (pronounced as /link/) word-initially and between vowels. pronounced as //s// is pronounced as /link/ initially and may otherwise be palatalized pronounced as /link/. Sequences of any consonant and pronounced as //w// are neutralized before pronounced as //u// where an offglide is always heard.
Bilabial and velar consonants and pronounced as //n// may be followed by pronounced as //w// when initial. Other initial clusters include pronounced as //pr//, pronounced as //kr//, pronounced as //hr//, pronounced as //hw//, and pronounced as //hn// and final clusters are pronounced as //w// or pronounced as //j// followed by any consonant except for pronounced as //h// or pronounced as //ŋ//.
May River Iwam pronouns:
| sg | du | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ka/ani | kərər | kərəm |
| 2 | ki | kor | kom |
| 3m | si | sor | səm |
| 3f | sa |
Like the Wogamus languages, May River Iwam has five noun classes:[2]
| class | semantic category | prefix | example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| class 1 | male human referents | nu- (adult males); ru- (uninitiated or immature males) | yenkam nu-t man class.1-one ‘one man’ | |
| class 2 | female human, children, or other animate referents | a(o)- | owi a-ois duck class.2-two ‘two ducks’ | |
| class 3 | large objects | kwu- | ana kwu-(o)t hand class.3-one ‘a big hand’ | |
| class 4 | small objects | ha- | ana ha-(o)t hand class.4-one ‘a small hand’ | |
| class 5 | long objects | hwu- | ana hwu-(o)t hand class.5-one ‘a long hand’ |
As shown by the example above for ana ‘hand’, a noun can take on different classes depending on the physical characteristics being emphasized.
The following basic vocabulary words of Iwam are from Foley (2005)[3] and Laycock (1968),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[5]
| gloss | Iwam | |
|---|---|---|
| head | mu | |
| ear | wun | |
| eye | nu | |
| nose | nomwos | |
| tooth | piknu | |
| tongue | kwane | |
| leg | wərku; wɨrku | |
| louse | ŋən; nɨn | |
| dog | nwa | |
| pig | hu | |
| bird | owit | |
| egg | yen | |
| blood | ni | |
| bone | keew; kew | |
| skin | pəw | |
| breast | muy | |
| tree | pae(kap); paykap | |
| man | kam; yen-kam | |
| woman | wik | |
| sun | pi | |
| moon | pwan | |
| water | op; o(p) | |
| fire | pay | |
| stone | siya | |
| eat | (n)ai; (nd)ai | |
| one | oe; ruk; su | |
| two | ŋwis |