| Suarmin | |
| Also Known As: | Asaba |
| States: | Papua New Guinea |
| Region: | Sandaun Province |
| Speakers: | 140 |
| Date: | 2000 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Sepik |
| Fam2: | Leonhard Schultze |
| Fam3: | Papi–Asaba |
| Map2: | Lang Status 60-DE.svg |
| Iso3: | seo |
| Glotto: | suar1238 |
| Glottorefname: | Asabano |
Suarmin, or Asaba, is a Sepik language spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua-New Guinea. Alternative names are Asabano, Akiapmin, Duranmin.
Glottolog leaves it unclassified.
Pronouns are:[1]
| sg | du | pl | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1incl | adi | abe | ||
| 1excl | a | nadi | nesine | |
| 2 | abo | abodua | apa | |
| 3 | yo | atadua | ata |
In Asaba, noun class affixes are suffixed to nouns. There are five noun classes. Examples:[1]
| class | singular (ex.) | plural (ex.) | gloss (ex.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| class 1 | nu-bu | nu-le | house(s) | |
| class 2 | mena-du | mena-no | pig(s) | |
| class 3 | kabia-si | kabia-le | stone(s) | |
| class 4 | moko-ni | moko-le | fork(s) | |
| class 5 | nomo-so | nomo-l | stone adze(s) |
Class 1 is the default noun class.
Modifying adjectives agree with head nouns in class:[1]