Yaqay language

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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.

Yaqay
Native toIndonesia
RegionSouth Papua
Native speakers
(10,000 cited 1987)[1]
Trans–New Guinea
Language codes
ISO 639-3jaq
Glottologyaqa1246

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

Phonology

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The following is the phonology of Yaqay, as defined in Fonologi Bahasa Yakhai.[2]

Consonants

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Consonants
Labial Dental /
Alveolar
Postalveolar /
Palatal
Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ (ŋ ⟨ngg⟩?)
Plosive voiceless p ⟨p⟩ ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ ʔ ⟨-k⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ ⟨d⟩ d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩ gʱ ⟨gh⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Fricative f ⟨f⟩ x ⟨kh⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ r ⟨r⟩ j ⟨y⟩
  • ⟨t⟩ and ⟨d⟩ are both dental consonants, while ⟨n⟩ and ⟨r⟩ are alveolar consonants.
  • ⟨j⟩ is a postalveolar consonant while ⟨y⟩ is palatal.
  • /ŋ/ seems to be an allophone of /n/ found before velar consonants, like in the word yanggo /jaŋgo/ (it is unclear whether the sequence nng is pronounced /ŋg/, /ŋgʱ/, or just /ŋ/, but it seems to most likely be /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 /k/ (or /x/, see later notes), while at the end of syllables, it's pronounced /ʔ/, for example, in the word kerak /keraʔ/, meaning 'walking'.
  • /x/, represented by kh, is pronounced like /k/ in some words, for example, khayafo /kajafo/, meaning 'spear'.
  • /k/ is pronounced like /x/ in some words, for example, kah /xah/, meaning 'smelling'.
  • The original source makes it unclear whether /h/ is the voiceless glottal fricatives [h] or a voiced glottal stop [ʡ], but it is most likely the voiceless glottal fricative [h].

Consonant Distribution

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Consonant Beginning Center End
/m/ Y Y Y
/n/ Y Y Y
/p/ Y N N
/t/ Y Y N
/k/ Y N N
/ʔ/ N Y Y
/b/ Y Y Y
/d/ Y Y Y
/d͡ʒ/ N Y N
/gʱ/ N Y N
/f/ Y Y Y
/x/ Y N N
/h/ Y Y Y
/w/ Y Y N
/r/ Y Y Y
/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:
Consonant Beginning Center End
/t/ Y Y N
  • means that the consonant /t/ can be found at the beginning and center of a word, but not at the end of one.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Unrounded Rounded
Close i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Close mid e ⟨e⟩ (ɤ) o ⟨o⟩
Open mid (ɛ)
Open a ⟨a⟩
  • /ɛ/ and /ɤ/ are sometimes considered to be the same phoneme as /e/ and /o/ respectively, while others consider them as separate phonemes that are in free variation.

Vowel Distribution

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Vowel Beginning Center End
/a/ Y N N
/i/ Y N N
/u/ N N Y
/e/ Y N N
/o/ N N Y
  • A pattern can be seen here wherein front vowels /a/, /i/, and /e/ can all only occur at the beginning of syllables, while the back vowels /u/ and /o/ can only occur at the ends of syllables.

Syllable Structure

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The syllable structure is not explicitly stated, but it appears to be:
Maximum syllable structure: CVNC, as in the word, xobandede, meaning 'squat'.
Minimum syllable structure: CV, as in the word, xa, meaning, 'hole'.

References

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  1. ^ Yaqay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ 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
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