Yaqay language

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
RegionIndonesia
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

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

Consonants
Consonants
Labial Dental /
Alveolar		 Postalveolar /
Palatal		 Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ (ŋ ⟨ngg⟩?)
Plosive voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t̪ ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ ʔ ⟨-k⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ d̪ ⟨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
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
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
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

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
  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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