Waris language

Waris or Walsa is a Papuan language of northern New Guinea.

Waris
RegionSandaun Province, Papua New Guinea;
Waris District, Keerom Regency, Papua province, Indonesia
Native speakers
2,500 (2008)[1]
Border
  • Bewani Range
    • Bapi River
      • Waris
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3wrs
Glottologwari1266
ELPWaris
Coordinates: 3.294675°S 141.073027°E / -3.294675; 141.073027 (Wasengla Catholic Mission)

It is spoken by about 2,500 people around Wasengla (3.294675°S 141.073027°E / -3.294675; 141.073027 (Wasengla Catholic Mission)), Doponendi ward, Walsa Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea, and also by about 1,500 across the border in Waris District, Keerom Regency in the Indonesian province of Papua.[1][2]

Phonology

Monophthongs
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Near-open æ
Open a ɒ

Diphthongs and triphthongs
ViVɛVɑVɒVɔVu
iV iɑ
ɛV ɛɔɛu
ɑV ɑiɑɔ
ɒV ɒi
ɔV ɔiɔɑ
uV uiuɛuɑuɒ

There are two triphthongs, /ɔɑi/ and /uɛu/.

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n
Stop Voiceless p t k
Prenasalised ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Fricative β s x
Liquid trill r
lateral l
Semivowel w j

Classifiers

Classifier prefixes in Waris attach to verbs, and are determined via the physical properties of the object noun phrase being referred to. Many of them have parallels with independent verb roots, which may well be where they had originated from. Examples include:[3]

ex:

wonda

netbag

ka-m

1-DAT

mwan-vra-ho-o

CLF-get-BEN-IMP

wonda ka-m mwan-vra-ho-o

netbag 1-DAT CLF-get-BEN-IMP

‘Give me a netbag.’

ex:

nenas

pineapple

ka-m

1-DAT

li-ra-ho-o

CLF-get-BEN-IMP

nenas ka-m li-ra-ho-o

pineapple 1-DAT CLF-get-BEN-IMP

‘Give me a pineapple.’

ex:

nelus

greens

ka-m

1-DAT

ninge-ra-ho-o

CLF-get-BEN-IMP

nelus ka-m ninge-ra-ho-o

greens 1-DAT CLF-get-BEN-IMP

‘Give me some greens’

Many of these prefixes have lexical parallels with verb roots. The list of classifier prefixes is:[3]

classifier prefixsemantic categoryverb root parallel
mwan-soft pliable objects like net bags, skirts, bark mats
li-fruits like pineapples, ears of corn or pandanusle- ‘cut off oblong fruit’
vela-objects found inside a containervela- ‘remove’
put-spherical objects, commonly fruitspuet- ‘pick fruit’
ninge-food cooked and wrappedninge- ‘tie up’
vet-food removed from fire without wrapping
lɛ-leaf-like objects with no or soft stem
pola-leaf-like objects with hard stem
ih-grainy materialsih- ‘remove grainy material from a container’
tuvv-pieces cut from longer lengthstuvva- ‘chop into lengths’
kov-lengths of vinekovva- ‘cut off’

References
  1. Waris at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
  2. United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  3. 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.
  • Brown, Robert (1981). "Semantic aspects of some Waris predications". In Karl J. Franklin (ed.). Syntax and semantics in Papua New Guinea languages. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 93–123.
  • Brown, Robert (1988). "Waris case system and verb classification". Language and Linguistics in Melanesia. 19: 37–80.
  • Brown, Robert; Honoratus Wai (1986). Diksenari: Walsana moa Pisinna moa Englisna moa (A short dictionary of the Walsa [Waris] language, Tok Pisin and English). Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
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