Yaqay language explained

Yaqay
State:	Indonesia
Region:	South Papua
Speakers:	10,000
Date:	1987
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Trans–New Guinea
Fam2:	Fly River (Anim)
Fam3:	Marind–Yakhai
Fam4:	Yaqay languages
Iso3:	jaq
Glotto:	yaqa1246
Glottorefname:	Yaqay

Yaqay (Yakhai, Yaqai, Jakai, Jaqai) is a Papuan language spoken in Indonesia by over 10,000 people. It is also called Mapi or Sohur; dialects are Oba-Miwamon, Nambiomon-Mabur, Bapai.

According to Ethnologue, Yaqay is spoken along the south coast of Mappi Regency, along the Obaa River north to the Gandaimu area.

Phonology

The following is the phonology of Yaqay, as defined in Indonesian: Fonologi Bahasa Yakhai.^[1]

Consonants

! Labial! Dental /
Alveolar! Postalveolar /
Palatal! Velar! Glottal

Nasal		pronounced as /link/ (m)	pronounced as /link/ (n)		(pronounced as /link/ (ngg)?)
Plosive	voiceless	pronounced as /link/ (p)	pronounced as /link/ (t)		pronounced as /link/ (k)	pronounced as /link/ (-k)
	voiced	pronounced as /link/ (b)	pronounced as /link/ (d)	pronounced as /link/ (j)	pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ (gh)	pronounced as /link/ (h)
Fricative		pronounced as /link/ (f)			pronounced as /link/ (kh)
Approximant		pronounced as /link/ (w)	pronounced as /link/ (r)	pronounced as /link/ (y)

• (t) and (d) are both dental consonants, while (n) and (r) are alveolar consonants.
• (j) is a postalveolar consonant while (y) is palatal.
• pronounced as //ŋ// seems to be an allophone of pronounced as //n// found before velar consonants, like in the word yanggo pronounced as //jaŋgo// (it is unclear whether the sequence nng is pronounced pronounced as //ŋg//, pronounced as //ŋgʱ//, or just pronounced as //ŋ//, but it seems to most likely be pronounced as //ŋg//).
• The letter 'k' is only found at the beginning of words or at the end of syllables. At the beginning of a word, it's pronounced like pronounced as //k// (or pronounced as //x//, see later notes), while at the end of syllables, it's pronounced pronounced as //ʔ//, for example, in the word kerak pronounced as //keraʔ//, meaning 'walking'.
• pronounced as //x//, represented by kh, is pronounced like pronounced as //k// in some words, for example, khayafo pronounced as //kajafo//, meaning 'spear'.
• pronounced as //k// is pronounced like pronounced as //x// in some words, for example, kah pronounced as //xah//, meaning 'smelling'.
• The original source makes it unclear whether pronounced as //h// is the voiceless glottal fricatives pronounced as /[h]/ or a voiced glottal stop pronounced as /[ʡ]/, but it is most likely the voiceless glottal fricative pronounced as /[h]/.

Consonant Distribution

Consonant	Beginning	Center	End
pronounced as //m//	Y	Y	Y
pronounced as //n//	Y	Y	Y
pronounced as //p//	Y	N	N
pronounced as //t//	Y	Y	N
pronounced as //k//	Y	N	N
pronounced as //ʔ//	N	Y	Y
pronounced as //b//	Y	Y	Y
pronounced as //d//	Y	Y	Y
pronounced as //d͡ʒ//	N	Y	N
pronounced as //gʱ//	N	Y	N
pronounced as //f//	Y	Y	Y
pronounced as //x//	Y	N	N
pronounced as //h//	Y	Y	Y
pronounced as //w//	Y	Y	N
pronounced as //r//	Y	Y	Y
pronounced as //j//	Y	Y	N

• 'Y' means that the consonant on the left of the row occurs in the word position at the top of the column. For instance, this section of the table:

• means that the consonant pronounced as //t// can be found at the beginning and center of a word, but not at the end of one.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
			Unrounded	Rounded
Close	pronounced as /ink/ (i)			pronounced as /ink/ (u)
Close mid	pronounced as /ink/ (e)		(pronounced as /ink/)	pronounced as /ink/ (o)
Open mid	(pronounced as /ink/)
Open		pronounced as /ink/ (a)

• pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //ɤ// are sometimes considered to be the same phoneme as pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //o// respectively, while others consider them as separate phonemes that are in free variation.

Vowel Distribution

Vowel	Beginning	Center	End
pronounced as //a//	Y	N	N
pronounced as //i//	Y	N	N
pronounced as //u//	N	N	Y
pronounced as //e//	Y	N	N
pronounced as //o//	N	N	Y

• A pattern can be seen here wherein front vowels pronounced as //a/, /i/, and /e// can all only occur at the beginning of syllables, while the back vowels pronounced as //u/ and /o// can only occur at the ends of syllables.

Syllable Structure

The syllable structure is not explicitly stated, but it appears to be:
Maximum syllable structure

CVNC, as in the word, '''xoband'''ede, meaning 'squat'.
Minimum syllable structure

CV, as in the word, '''xa''', meaning, 'hole'.

References

• Kriens, Ron and Randy Lebold. 2010. Report on the Wildeman River Survey in Papua, Indonesia. SIL International.

External links

• Yakhai. New Guinea World.

Notes and References

1. Kainakainu, Barth and Paidi, Yacobus and Rinantanti, Yulini and Morin, Izak. 1998. Fonologi bahasa Yakhai. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. 190pp. https://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/2531/1/fonologi%20bahasa%20yakhai%20%20%20199.pdf