Yessan-Mayo (also known as Yesan, Mayo, and natively known as Yamano[1]) is a Papuan language spoken by 2000 people in Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in Maio (4°12′50″S 142°40′33″E / 4.21379°S 142.675929°E / -4.21379; 142.675929 (Maio)) and Yessan (4°13′08″S 142°40′00″E / 4.219025°S 142.66658°E / -4.219025; 142.66658 (Yessan)) villages of Yessan ward, Ambunti Rural LLG, East Sepik Province.[2][3]

Yessan-Mayo
Yamano
RegionEast Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
2,000 (2000 census)[1]
Sepik
Language codes
ISO 639-3yss
Glottologyess1239
ELPYessan-Mayo

Phonology

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The phonology of Yessan-Mayo is described in Foley (2018)[4] as such:

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close ɨ
Mid ə ɔ
Open a

Consonants

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Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain labialized
Plosive plain t k
prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ᵑg ᵑgʷ
Fricative ɸ s h
Nasal m n
Trill r
Approximant l j w

Pronouns

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Foreman (1974)[5] describes two kinds of pronouns in Yessan-Mayo: non-emphatic and emphatic pronouns.

In addition to the non-emphatic pronouns, there is also the reflexive pronoun kwarara (self), as well as the demonstrative pronouns op (this) and otop (that).

Non-emphatic

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singular dual plural
1st person an nis nim
2nd person ni kep kom
3rd person male ri rip rim
female ti

Emphatic

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singular dual plural
1st person arin nisis nirim
2nd person nirin kerip kerim
3rd person male atar atep atem
female atat
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References

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  1. ^ a b Yessan-Mayo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
  3. ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  4. ^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  5. ^ Foreman, Velma (1974). Grammar of Yessan-Mayo. Santa Ana, California: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 0883122049 – via Internet Archive.