Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
Maklew is spoken by approximately 200 people (2010) living in Welbuti village on the Mawek river, a tributary of the Bulaka, in the Okaba subdistrict of the Merauke regency of Indonesia's Papua province. According to Lebold, Kriens and de Vries, children are abandoning the use of Maklew in favor of Indonesian. Residents of Welbuti report two other villages, Woboyu and Dodolim, in which the same language is alleged to be spoken in a dialect Drabbe calls Nggarùm (Drabbe 1950: 49, Lebold, Kriens and de Vries 2010: 8, 14, 16, 25, q.v. p. 7.)
Drabbe (1950) grammar and (pp. 566-574) 422 comparative terms for Maklèw
Nevermann (1952) gives ethnographic notes, language notes and up to (pp. 81-82) 90 comparative terms for Makleu(ga) of Welbuti village
Lebold, Kriens and de Vries (2010: 46-52) 239 comparative terms for Maklew of Welbuti
Drabbe (1950: 549) gives 15 consonants and 8 vowels for Maklèw as follows:
| m | n | ŋ | |
| p | t | k | |
| mb | nd | ŋg | |
| f | s | h | |
| w | l | j |
| i | y | u |
| e | ||
| ɛ | ə | ɔ |
| a |
[under construction]
…
Drabbe (1950: 550-551) gives pronouns for Maklèw in three case forms as follows:
| subject | oblique | possessive | |
| 1 sg. | ŋəllo | ŋəl-el ≈ ŋl-el | ŋəl-aŋ ≈ ŋl-aŋ |
| 2 sg. | obe | aw-ol | aw-aŋ |
| 3 sg. | ib | ib-el | ib-aŋ |
| 1 pl. | ŋag | ŋag-ol | ŋag-aŋ |
| 2 pl. | omle | al-el | al-aŋ |
| 3 pl. | imel | iml-el | iml-aŋ |
[under construction]
Drabbe (1950: 552-556) gives Maklèw desinence paradigms for the root /-pəs-/ “jump” in five basic tense forms as follows:
| present/today | yesterday | distant past | future | imperative | ||
| 1 sg. | ep-pəs-'oma | ema-pəs-ø | eme-ŋa-pəs-'oma | bema-pəs-ka | ||
| 2 sg. | ep-pəs-'o | ema-pəs-ø | eme-ŋa-pəs-'o | beba-pəs-ø | ||
| 3 sg. m. | ep-pəs-'o | ema-pəs-ø | eme-i-ps-'a | beba-pəs-p | ||
| 3 sg. f. | ep-a-ps-'o | ema-pəs-ane | em-a-pəs-'pu | bia-pəs-pe | ||
| 1 pl. | ema-pəs-ø | ema-pəs-ø | eme-ima-ps-'a | bema-pəs-ba | ||
| 2 pl. | ema-pəs-'woga | ema-pəs-'woga | eme-ima-pəs-'aga | bia-pəs-boga | ||
| 3 pl. | ema-pəs-'wa | ema-pəs-'wa | em-o-pəs-'pu | bia-pəs-'bopa | ||
| 1 dl. | epo-p's-o | ema-pəs-ø | eme-ŋapo-ps-'o | bia-pəs-pa | ||
| 2 dl. | epo-ps-'oga | ema-pəs-'woga | eme-ima-pəs-'a | bia-pəs-ga | ||
| 3 dl. | epo-ps-'o | ema-pəs-'wa | em-o-pəs-'pu | bia-pəs-pa | ||
(Bracketed forms are not directly attested but are inferred from the text.)
Durative aspect is distinguished in three tense forms as follows. The present/today past/yesterday past and distant past forms are preceded by the participle phrase /pəs-wo l/:
| today/yesterday | distant past | future | ||
| 1 sg. | ||||
| 2 sg. | ||||
| 3 sg. m. | ||||
| 3 sg. f. | ||||
| 1 pl. | ||||
| 2 pl. | ||||
| 3 pl. | ||||
| 1 dl. | ||||
| 2 dl. | ||||
| 3 dl. | ||||
Negative … tenses as follows:
| present/today | yesterday | distant past | future | |||
| 1 sg. | ||||||
| 2 sg. | ||||||
| 3 sg. m. | ||||||
| 3 sg. f. | ||||||
| 1 pl. | ||||||
| 2 pl. | ||||||
| 3 pl. | ||||||
| 1 dl. | ||||||
| 2 dl. | ||||||
| 3 dl. | ||||||
Negative durative … :
| today/yesterday | distant past | future | ||
| 1 sg. | ||||
| 2 sg. | ||||
| 3 sg. m. | ||||
| 3 sg. f. | ||||
| 1 pl. | ||||
| 2 pl. | ||||
| 3 pl. | ||||
| 1 dl. | ||||
| 2 dl. | ||||
| 3 dl. | ||||
The irregular verb “be” is given in three tense forms as follows (pp. 580-581):
| present | past | future | ||
| 1 sg. | em-'ak | eim'aka | bema-ŋajk-ka | |
| 2 sg. | eme-n | eimna | beba-ŋajk-ø | |
| 3 sg. m. | a | e'jokwa | beba-ŋajk-ap | |
| 3 sg. f. | 'akane | aku'pu | bia-ŋajk-ap | |
| 1 pl. | eme-b | eimeba | bema-ŋaik-a'ni | |
| 2 pl. | eme-'boga | eime'baga | bia-ŋajk-a'ga | |
| 3 pl. | a'ba | eiba | bia-ŋajk-apa | |
| 1 dl. | em-'aŋgo | eimama | bia-ŋajk-a'pa | |
| 2 dl. | em-a'ŋo-ga | eima'naga | bia-ŋaijk-ga | |
| 3 dl. | 'aŋo | eiŋ'wa | bia-ŋajk-pa | |
Verbal objects are given for future forms of … verbs as follows. No dual forms are given:
…