Moi language

Moi is a West Papuan language of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea.

Not to be confused with Mekwei language, Moi language (Congo), or West Makian language.
Moi
Native toIndonesia
RegionPapua
Native speakers
(4,600 cited 1993)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mxn
Glottologmoii1235

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k (ʔ)
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative f s h
Approximant w l j
Trill r

[ʔ] is in free variation with /k/ in word-final position.

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e ə o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a ɑ

/i, u/ can also be heard as [ɪ, ʊ].[2]

Morphology

Verb morphology

Verbs agree with the grammatical subject for person, number and, in the third-person, for gender. There are three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and non-human. For the third person plural, the gender distinction applies only for human vs. non-human. For the first person plural, there exists a two way clusivity distinction. The agreement markers are prefixes on the main verb. [3]

Singular Plural
1p. t- Incl. Excl.
w- m-
2p. n-
3p. Masculine w- y-
Feminine m-
Non-human p- n-
Moi subject agreement prefixes

Along with agreement prefixes cross-referencing the grammatical number of the subject, the verb stem itself can reflect number too: there may be one stem allomorph with front vowels (singular agreement) and one with back vowels (plural agreement).

H:human PROX:proximal

(1a):

ne-dala

person-man

we-ben

3MSG-hit

ne-laagi

person-woman

ne-dala we-ben ne-laagi

person-man 3MSG-hit person-woman

'A man hit a woman' [4]

(1b):

ne-laagi

person-woman

me-ben

3MSG-hit

ne-dala

person-man

ne-laagi me-ben ne-dala

person-woman 3MSG-hit person-man

'A woman hit a man'[4]

(1c):

te-ben

1SG-hit

miye-kiyem

child-little

te-ben miye-kiyem

1SG-hit child-little

'I hit a child'[4]

(1d):

n-auk

2SG-place

p-au

3SG.NH-at.SG

kamaser

place.mat

n-auk p-au kamaser

2SG-place 3SG.NH-at.SG place.mat

'You put it on a place mat'[5]

(1e):

ne-Moi

person-Moi

y-eek

3PL.H-know

yawa

sago.tree

k-ow

PROX.DEM

ne-Moi y-eek yawa k-ow

person-Moi 3PL.H-know sago.tree PROX.DEM

'Moi people knew this sago tree'[6]

(1f):

aa-ya-faagu

DU-3PL.H-collect

kawak

stone

n-uu-s

3PL.NH-at.PL-PERF

ow

DEM

aa-ya-faagu kawak n-uu-s ow

DU-3PL.H-collect stone 3PL.NH-at.PL-PERF DEM

'They both collected stones there' [7]

(1g):

aa-m-oka

DU-1PL.EXCL-assume

aa-n-ankar

DU-2PL-cheat

mam

1PL.EXCL

aa-m-oka aa-n-ankar mam

DU-1PL.EXCL-assume DU-2PL-cheat 1PL.EXCL

'We both thought that the two of you cheated us' [7]

(1h):

ara

breadfruit.tree

n-eesin

3PL.NH-fruit

n-oolok

3PL.NH-fall

n-osu

3PL.NH-to

aali

below

ara n-eesin n-oolok n-osu aali

breadfruit.tree 3PL.NH-fruit 3PL.NH-fall 3PL.NH-to below

'Fruits of the breadfruit tree fell down'

As can be seen in the examples (1d) and (1f) and elaborated on by Menick, elements corresponding to prepositions in English share characteristics with verbs, which is why the conclusion can be made that the lexical category of adpositions is absent in Moi.[6]

Nominal morphology

Inalienable nouns are obligatorily marked by prefixes for the possessor agreement (see example (1h) ara n-eesin 'breadfruit fruits', literally 'breadfruit tree its fruits')

Negation

To negate a clause, the particle dau following the verb is used:

(2a):

ne-Moi

person-Moi

y-eek

3PL.H-know

dau

NEG

yawa

sago.tree

k-ow

PROX.DEM

ne-Moi y-eek dau yawa k-ow

person-Moi 3PL.H-know NEG sago.tree PROX.DEM

'Moi people did not know this sago tree'[6]

The same particle can also negate a noun phrase:

(2b):

ne-Moi

person-Moi

dau

NEG

y-eek

3PL.H-know

yawa

sago.tree

k-ow

PROX.DEM

ne-Moi dau y-eek yawa k-ow

person-Moi NEG 3PL.H-know sago.tree PROX.DEM

'not the Moi people knew this sago tree'[6]

(2c):

ne-Moi

person-Moi

y-eek

3PL.H-know

yawa

sago.tree

k-ow

PROX.DEM

dau

NEG

ne-Moi y-eek yawa k-ow dau

person-Moi 3PL.H-know sago.tree PROX.DEM NEG

'the Moi people knew not this sago tree'[6]

Aspect

The verb -ein indicates perfective aspect. It can also be indicated by the means of the suffix -s appended to the verb, cf ex. (1f) above.

(3):

ya-sak

3PL.H-cross

Kalasowo

river.name

aali-ow

below-DEM

p-ein

3SG.NH-finish

y-umu

3PL.H-leave:PL

ya-sak Kalasowo aali-ow p-ein y-umu

3PL.H-cross river.name below-DEM 3SG.NH-finish 3PL.H-leave:PL

'After they had crossed the Kalasowo river, they left.'
Literally: 'they crossed the Kalasowo river down there, it was finished, they left'[6]

References
  1. Moi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Menick, Raymond (1995). Moi, a language of the West Papuan phylum: A preview. Baak, Connie and Bakker, Mary and van der Meij, Dick (eds.), Tales from a concave world: Liber amicorum Bert Voorhoeve: Leiden University. pp. 55–73.
  3. Menick, Raymond H. (1996). "Verb sequences in Moi" (PDF). Studies in Irian languages. 1: 41.
  4. Menick (1996), p. 42
  5. Menick (1996), p. 47
  6. Menick (1996), p. 43
  7. Menick (1996), p. 50
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