Mairasi
Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
Situation
Mairasi is spoken by 2,500 people (1991) living in 26 villages along the coast and inland between Triton Bay and Wandamen Bay in the Bird's Neck region of Indonesia's West Papua province (Peckham 1982: 94, 1991: 111, 141.)
Sources
Galis (1955-1956) 30 comparative terms for Kaniran
Anceaux (1956, 1958: 119-120) 10 comparative terms for Mairasi
Anceaux (n.d.) comparative vocabularies of Mairasi and Faranjao
Greenberg (n.d.) comparative vocabularies of Mairasi and Faranjao after Anceaux (n.d.)
Voorhoeve (1975: 101) 40 comparative terms for Mairasi after Anceaux (n.d.)
Peckham (1982) Mairasi verbal morphology
Peckham (1991) phonology of Mairasi of Lobo village
Peckham (1991: 173-180) 209 comparative terms for Mairasi
Walker unpublished survey vocabulary of Sisir obtained in digitalized form from Paul Whitehouse via the Summer Institute of Linguistics
Walker and Peckham unpublished survey vocabulary of Mairasi obtained in digitalized form from Paul Whitehouse via the Summer Institute of Linguistics
Phonology
Peckham (1991: 122-124, ibid.) gives 13 consonants and 5 vowels for Mairasi as follows:
| m | n | |||
| t | ʔ | |||
| b | d | g | ||
| ɸ | s | |||
| β | dʒ | |||
| w | ɾ | j |
| i | u | |
| o | ||
| ɛ | ||
| a |
[under construction]
Peckham stipulates that /n/ is realized as [ŋ] when followed by /g/.
…
Vowels may occur in any sequence, including geminate long vowels.
…
Pronouns
Peckham (1982: 75-76, 80-82, 1991 ibid.) gives Mairasi free pronouns and inalienable possessors as follows:
| nominative | inalienable | |
| 1 sg. | omo | o- |
| 2 sg. | nɛmɛ | nɛ- |
| 3 sg. | nani | na- |
| 1 pl. | ɛ:mɛ | ɛ:- |
| 2 pl. | ʔɛmɛ | ʔɛ- |
| 3 pl. | naʔɛn | nɛ- |
As is common throughout Trans New Guinea, the inalienable prefixes are also used to indicate indirect objects, as well as the subjects of some stative and experiential verbs.
Verbal morphology
[under construction]
Peckham (1982: 75-80, 82-86) …
| intransitive | transitive | detransitive | necessitative | |
| 1 sg. | -on | -omo | -oŋgai | -amu |
| 2 sg. | -ɛn | -ono | -onai | -nɛni |
| 3 sg. | -ɛn | -ɛmi | -ɛmai | -ami |
| 1 pl. | -ɛs | -osi | -osɛi | -asi |
| 2 pl. | -ɛi | -oi | -oiɛi | -oumu |
| 3 pl. | -ɛm | -ɛmi | -ɛŋgɛi | -ami |
Transitive subjects may be followed by direct objects, which may in turn be followed by indirect objects. Only animate objects are overtly indicated, inanimate objects being accompanied by the detransitive subject (above):
| direct object | indirect object | |
| 1 sg. | -oi | -ombi |
| 2 sg. | -ɛi | -nɛmbi |
| 3 sg. | -nai | -nambi |
| 1 pl. | -sɛm | -sɛmbim |
| 2 pl. | -ɛm | -ɛmbim |
| 3 pl. | -nɛβ | -nɛmbiβ |
Third person singular direct objects are shown below with preceding transitive subjects, with deleted segments shown in parentheses (p. 94):
| 1 sg. | -om(o)-nai |
| 2 sg. | -on(o)-nai |
| 3 sg. | -ɛm(i)-njai |
| 1 pl.. | -os(i)-njai |
| 2 pl. | -o(i)-njai |
| 3 pl. | -ɛm(i)-njai |
Imperatives occur only in the second person as follows:
| intransitive | transitive | detransitive | |
| 2 sg. | -nɛn | -nɛn | -oŋgai |
| 2 pl. | -ɛn | -oum | -oŋgɛi |
The forms of the inalienable possessor (above) are used on verbs to indicate indirect objects, as well as the subjects of some stative and experiential verbs.