Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
Sirva, known also as Sileibi, is spoken by perhaps 259 people (1975) living in four villages, Kamambu, Kumbuna, Musita and Sileibi, from the confluence of the Savai and Sogeram rivers in the west to the upper Gogol River in the east in the Middle Ramu district of Papua New Guinea's Madang province. Sirva /siɾβa/ is the name that speakers call their language; its meaning is unknown. Sileibi is the name of a Sirva-speaking village (Z'graggen 1975: 29, Daniels 2015: 658.)
Z'graggen (1980: 1-80) 317 comparative terms and (p. 81) pronominal paradigms for Sileibi
Daniels (2010: 179-180) sketch phonology of and (pp. 186-192) 61 reflexes of Proto-Sogeram for Sirva of Kamambu village
Daniels (2015: 356-392) 188 reflexes of Proto-Sogeram for and (pp. 658-755) grammar of Sirva of Kamambu village
Daniels (2020) (unobtained)
Daniels (2015: 662-667) gives 17 to 19 consonants and 7 vowels for Sirva of Kamambu village as follows:
| \m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| p | t | s | [tʃ] | k |
| mb | nd | nz | [ndʒ] | ŋg |
| β | ɣ | |||
| w | ɾ | j |
| i | ɨ | u |
| e | o | |
| a |
In addition to the simple vowels given above, six diphthongs are found as follows:
| uⁱ | ɨⁱ | ɨᵘ | iᵘ |
| aⁱ | aᵘ |
Daniels (2015: 681-683) gives free pronouns for Sirva of Kamambu village in three case forms as follows:
| subject | object | possessive | |
| 1 sg. | ja | ja-u | ja-ŋ |
| 2 sg. | na | na-u | na-ŋ |
| 3 sg. | mbe | n-u ~ n-uɣu | nɨ-ŋ |
| 1 pl. | a-ɾa | a-ɾ-u | a-ɾ-ɨŋ |
| 2 pl. | na-ɾa | na-ɾ-u~na-ɾ-uɣu | na-ɾ-ɨŋ |
| 3 pl. | mbi-ɾa | nu-ɾ-u | nɨ-ɾ-ɨŋ |
Inalienable possessors of kin terms are indicated by prefixes, by suppletion or both (Daniels 2015: 675-677.) These prefixes are undifferentiated by number. The first person possessor may be indicated by /a-/, /ja-/ or zero, the first of these being archaic. Examples unclude:
| root | 1 sg./pl. | 2 sg./pl. | 3 sg./pl. | |
| a- | na- | nɨ- | ||
| sister | ɾɨma | a-ɾɨma | na-ɾɨma | nɨ-ɾɨma |
| ja- | na- | n- | ||
| father | βa ~ wa/ŋindi | ja-βa | na-ŋindi | n-ua |
| Ø- | na- | n- | ||
| son-in-law | inum | Ø-inum | na-num | n-inum |
| grandfather | tata/sɨⁱ | Ø-tata | na-sɨⁱ | nɨ-sɨⁱ |
| ? | na- | nu- | ||
| son | ɣus | [ja-ŋ ɲa] | na-ɣus | nu-ɣus |
(The first person singular form of “son” /ja-ŋ ɲa/ means merely “my son”; q.v. /ja-ŋ/ 1 sg. possessive above.)
Kin terms may be marked for plural by the addition of one of a number of suffixes, /-nin/, /-ɲa/ or /-ɣaɾ -ŋgaɾ -nzaɾ/ the choice of which is lexically specified.
Daniels (2015: 704-725) gives subject desinences for Sirva indicative final verbs in five tense paradigms as follows, with habitual and future tenses marked by additions to the today past:
| today past | habitual | future | yesterday past | far past | |
| 1 sg. | -ɾi-n | -ɾaβa-ɾi-n | -βanan-di-n | -ma-n | -sɨ-n |
| 2 sg. | -ɾi-na | -ɾaβa-ɾi-na | -βanan-di-na | -ma-na | -sɨ-na |
| 3 sg. | -ɾi-Ø | -ɾaβa-ɾi-Ø | -βanan-di-Ø | -m-Ø | -s-a |
| 1 pl. | -ɾi-ɾ | -ɾaβa-ɾi-ɾ | -βanan-di-ɾ | -ma-ɾ | -sɨ-ɾ |
| -2 pl. | -ɾi-ɾa | -ɾaβa-ɾi-ɾa | -βanan-di-ɾa | -ma-ɾa | -sɨ-ɾa |
| 3 pl. | -mb-ɾi-Ø | -ɾaβa-mb-ɾi-Ø | -βana-mb-ɾi-Ø | -mbɨ-m-Ø | -mbɨ-s-a |
The constituents of these desinences are as follows:
| subject | |
| today past | -n |
| 2 sg. | -na |
| 3 sg. | -Ø |
| 1 pl. | -ɾ |
| -2 pl. | –ɾa |
| 3 pl. | -mb(ɨ)-…-Ø |
| tense | |
| today past | -ɾi- ~ -di- |
| yesterday past | -m(a)- |
| far past | -s(ɨ)- |
Irrealis or imperative verbs take an entirely different set of subject suffixes:
| imperative | |
| 1 sg. | -ɨnda |
| 2 sg. | -u |
| 3 sg. | — |
| 1 pl. | -ɨndaŋgɾa |
| -2 pl. | -uɣɾa |
| 3 pl. | -mb-andi |
| 1 dl. | -ɨndaŋ |
Medial verbs are distinguished according to whether their subjects are the same as or different from the subject of the final verb. The symbol <C>:in different subject simultanous forms symbolizes a segment redplicated from the root:
| different subject | different subject | same subject | same subject | |
| sequential | simultaneous | unmarked | desiderative | |
| 1 sg. | -ɨⁱ-n | -ɨⁱ-n-C-ɨⁱ-n | -a ~ -ɾa | -βana |
| 2 sg. | -ɣa-na | -ɣa-na-na | -a ~ -ɾa | -βana |
| 3 sg. | -ɨⁱ | -ɨⁱ-C-ɨⁱ | -a ~ -ɾa | -βana |
| 1 pl. | -ɣa-ɾ | -ɣa-ɾ-ɣa-ɾ | -a ~ -ɾa | -βana |
| -2 pl. | -ɣa-ɾa | -ɣa-ɾa-ɾa | -a ~ -ɾa | -βana |
| 3 pl. | -mb-ɨⁱ | -mb-ɨⁱ-mb-ɨⁱ | -a ~ -ɾa | -βana |
While the desiderative is usually medial, it can also function as a final verb in some contexts. It may be seen that /-βana/ is the same root as the future tense marker /-βanaN-/ above with regular loss of word-final nasal.