Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
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The language most commonly known as Yelmek (Jélmèk) in the literature is spoken by 350 people (1950) living in at least four villages, Yelwayab on the Wanam River, Woboyu, Dudaling and Bibikem … (Drabbe 1950: 549, q.v. Boelaars 1950: 19, 25.) Properly speaking, Yelmek is only one of four subgroups of the language, alongside Yab (Jab,) Nggarum and Dib (Drabbe 1950: CITE, Nevermann 1952: CITE.)
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Drabbe (1950: CITE) and Nevermann (1952: CITE) recognize three or four dialects of Yelmek as follows:
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Geurtjens (1933: 398-433) 455 comparative terms for Jab(sch)
Drabbe (1950) grammar and (pp. 566-574) 417 comparative terms for Jélmèk of Jélwàjab village
Nevermann (1952) ethnographic notes, language notes and up to (pp. 81-82) 90 comparative terms for Jab(ga) of Bibikem and Imbáke villages, Galum (Nggarum) of Wobui and Dudalem villages, Dib(ga) of Dib village, and Ilwajab village
Drabbe (1950: 549) gives 11 consonants and 8 vowels for Jélmèk as follows:
| m | n | ŋ | |
| p | t | k | |
| mb | nd | ||
| w | l | j |
| i | y | u |
| e | ə | o |
| ɛ | ||
| a |
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Drabbe (1950: 550-551) gives pronouns for Jélmèk in four case forms as follows:
| subject | oblique | poss. subject | poss. oblique | |
| 1 sg. | ŋəl | ŋəl-əl | ŋl-awk | ŋl-ak-i |
| 2 sg. | aw | aw-ol | aw-awk | aw-awk-i |
| 3 sg. | ew | eb-i | eb-awk | eb-awk-i |
| 1 pl. | ŋag | ŋag-ol | ŋ-awk | ŋ-awk-i |
| 2 pl. | ɛl | ɛl-el | ɛl-awk | ɛl-awk-i |
| 3 pl. | em | em-i | em-awk | em-awk-i |
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Drabbe (1950: 557-559, 560-561) gives full desinence paradigms for four Jélmèk verbs /mɛ-/ “break rope”, /ŋoli-/ “carry”, /(a)li-/ “ask for” and suppletive stem /-wɛ- (a)kəlm-/ “come”, as well as the highly irregular verb “be”, in three tenses.
Present tense forms are given as follows:
| break rope | carry | ask for | come | ||
| mɛ- | ŋoli- | -li- | -wɛg- | ||
| 1 sg. | -ama/-mɛ | mɛ-mɛ | ŋoli-ama | po-li-ama | k-wɛg-ama |
| 2 sg. | -a/-aga/-ø | mɛ-ø | ŋoli-a | nə-li-a | k-wɛg-aga |
| 3 sg. | -a/-ø | mɛ-ø | ŋoli-a | nə-li-a | k-wɛg-a |
| 1 pl. | -a/-ø | mɛ-ø | ŋoli-a | ko-li-a | k-wɛg-a |
| 2 pl. | -aga/-a | mɛ-ga | ŋoli-a'ga | nə-li-aga | k-wɛg-a |
| 3 pl. | -a/-aga/-ø | mɛ-ø | ŋoli-a | nə-li-a | k-wɛg-aga |
The present tense forms of “be” appear to be entirely irregular:
| be | |
| 1 sg. | pamu |
| 2 sg. | kaməwɛ |
| 3 sg. | kəm |
| 1 pl. | paŋow |
| 2 pl. | kaŋoga |
| 3 pl. | ŋape |
Past tense forms are given as follows:
| break rope | carry | ask for | come | be | ||
| mɛ- | ŋoli- | -li- | -wɛ-/-kəlm- | mjei-/ŋwai- | ||
| 1 sg. | mɛ-pma | ŋoli-pma | wo-li-pma | wɛ-gɛni | mjei-ma | |
| 2 sg. | mɛ-pwɛ | ŋoli-pu'a | nə-li-pu'a | wɛ-gɛni-a | mjei-wa | |
| 3 sg. | mɛ-pə | ŋoli-pu | wa-li-pu | k-wɛ-gɛni | mjei-ø | |
| 1 pl. | mɛ-pə | ŋoli-pu | wo-li-pu | pa-kəlm-ani | ŋwai-ma | |
| 2 pl. | mɛ-puga | ŋoli-pu'ga | wo-lu-pu'a | ka-kəlm-aniga | ŋwai-ga | |
| 3 pl. | mɛ-pə | ŋoli-pu | ŋa-li-pu | ke-kəlm-ani | ŋwai-ø | |
Future tense forms are given as follows:
| break rope | carry | ask for | come | be | ||
| mɛ- | ŋoli- | ali- | wɛmo-/akəlm- | ŋajak- | ||
| 1 sg. | mɛ-ka | ŋoli-ka | ali-ka | wɛmo-ka | ŋaja-ka | |
| 2 sg. | mɛ-ø | ŋoli-ø | ali-ø | wɛmo-ø | ŋajak-ø | |
| 3 sg. | mɛ-p | ŋoli-p | ali-p | wɛmo-p | ŋajak-əp | |
| 1 pl. | mɛ-pɛ | ŋoli-pa | ali-pa | akəlm-eka | ŋajak-pa | |
| 2 pl. | mɛ-gɛ | ŋoli-go | ali-go | akəlm-ege | ŋajak-go | |
| 3 pl. | mɛ-pɛ | ŋoli-pa | ali-pa | akəlm-ep | ŋajak-pa | |
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