| Isirawa | |
| Also Known As: | Saberi |
| Speakers: | 1,800 |
| Date: | 2000 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Iso3: | srl |
| Glotto: | isir1237 |
| Glottorefname: | Isirawa |
Isirawa is a Papuan language spoken by about two thousand people on the north coast of Papua province, Indonesia. It's a local trade language, and use is vigorous. Stephen Wurm (1975) linked it to the Kwerba languages within the Trans–New Guinea family, and it does share about 20% of its vocabulary with neighboring Kwerba languages. However, based on its pronouns, Malcolm Ross (2005) felt he could not substantiate such a link, and left it as a language isolate. The pronouns are not, however, dissimilar from those of Orya–Tor, which Ross links to Kwerba, and Donahue (2002) accept it as a Greater Kwerba language.
In Sarmi Regency, Isirawa is spoken in Amsira, Arabais, Arsania, Kamenawari, Mararena, Martewar, Nisero, Nuerawar, Perkami, Siaratesa, Waim, Wari, and Webro villages.[1]
In Isirawa, the feminine gender is associated with big objects, and masculine with small objects; the opposite association is found in Tayap and the Sepik languages, which classify large objects as masculine rather than feminine.[2]
The Isirawa pronouns are,
| I | a-, e | |
| we | nen-, ne | |
| you | o-, mə | |
| e-, maə, ce, pe |
Ross's reconstructed Orya–Tor pronouns are *ai 'I', *ne 'we' (inclusive), *emei 'thou', *em 'you'.
Isirawa pronoun paradigm as given in Foley (2018):[3]
| pronoun | nominative | accusative | possessive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1s | e | afo | wə | |
| 2s | mɪ | ofo | of | |
| 3s | efo | ef | ||
| 1d | ne | nenfo | nenef | |
| 2d | mɪ | ofnafo | ofnaf | |
| 3d | efnafo | efnaf | ||
| 1p | ne | nenfɪvo | nenfɪ(v) | |
| 2p | mɪ | ofɪvo | ofɪ(v) | |
| 3p | efɪvo | efɪ(v) |
Languages of the World
. 22nd . Eberhard . David M. . Simons . Gary F. . Fennig . Charles D. . 2019 . Dallas . SIL International.