Yoke language
Yoke | |
---|---|
Pauwi | |
Native to | Papua |
Native speakers | (200 cited 1998)[1] |
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | yki |
Glottolog | yoke1239 |
ELP | Yoke |
Yoke is a poorly documented language spoken by about 200 people in the north of
Classification
About one third of the vocabulary of Yoke is cognate with Warembori, a language which has either been strongly influenced by Austronesian languages, or is an Austronesian language strongly influenced by Papuan languages. The two languages are grammatically very similar, with shared morphological irregularities, demonstrating a genealogical relationship. However, Yoke does not share the Austronesian features of Warembori, and it is unclear how this relates to Ross's 2005 classification, based on pronouns, of Warembori as an Austronesian language.
Grammar
On the surface, at least, Yoke has the following sounds:
Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n
|
ɲ | |
Plosive | voiceless
|
p | t
|
k |
voiced
|
b | d
|
ɡ | |
Fricative
|
β | s | ɣ | |
Approximant | w | ɾ | j |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |
Unusually for a Papuan language, but like Warembori, Yoke has prepositions and a
Subject | Object | |
---|---|---|
1sg | e- | -e |
2sg | a- | -a |
3sg | i-, ja-, ∅- | -i |
1pl | ki- | -oɣo |
2pl | mi-, im- | -amo |
3pl | si- | -esi |
The independent pronouns are the first subject marker listed in the table prefixed to -βu. The plural forms may derive from Austronesian; see Warembori for details.
Like many
Yoke is
eβu eɾaβupiaβiɾanakumambao eβu e- ɾaβ- upia -βi -ɾ -a -na -kumamba -o I 1sg- chop.down- sago.tree - for-THEME -you -with -axe - IND
- 'I have already chopped down a sago tree for you with an axe.'
(The purpose of the 'thematic' consonant is unclear, but it appears to divide verbs into different classes.)
References
- ^ Yoke at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ A word list of "Pauwi" collected by Stroeve and Moszkowski was not Yoke, though it's not clear what it was.[1]
- ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- Clouse, Duane, Mark Donohue and Felix Ma. 2002. "Survey report of the north coast of Irian Jaya."[2]
External links
- Donohue (1998) on Warembori, with a section on Yoke