Mabɨŋ
Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
Situation
Mabɨŋ or Aisi Mabɨŋ, more commonly known as merely Aisi, also known as Musak in the literature, is spoken by approximately 355 people (1975) living in five villages, Banam, Garaligut, Kikerei, Musak and Sepu, located between the Ramu river to the south and the Sogeram to the north in the Usino Bundi district of Papua New Guinea's Madang province. The term Mabɨŋ /mabɨŋ/ means “no” wheras Aisi /aⁱ si/ means “why?' but the latter can also refer to Mabɨŋ's nearest relative Magɨ spoken immediately to the north. Musak is the name of a Mabɨŋ-speaking village (Z'graggen 1971: 62, 1975: 31, Daniels 2015: 766-768, 2016: 199-202.)
Sources
Kaspruś (n.d.) vocabulary of Musak and Sepu villages (unobtained)
Z'gaggen (1980: 1-80) 315 comparative terms and (p. 83) pronominal paradigms for Musak
Daniels (2010: 181-182) sketch phonology of and 70 reflexes of proto-Sgeram for Aisi
Daniels (2015: 356-392) 167 reflexes of Proto-Sogeram for and (pp. 766-882) grammar of Aisi Mabɨŋ of Musak village
Daniels (2020) (unobtained)
Phonology
Daniels (2015: 771-775) gives 10 to 13 consonants and 6 vowels for Aisi Mabɨŋ as follows:
| \m | n | ŋ | |
| p | t | s | k |
| b | d | g | |
| [w] | [ɾ] | [j] |
| i | ɨ | u |
| e | o | |
| a |
In addition to the simple vowels given above, two diphthongs are found as follows
| aⁱ | oᵘ |
This is nearly identical to the inventory given for Aisi Magɨ, with the sole exeption that back rising diophthong /oᵘ/ is /aᵘ/ in Aisi Magɨ.
Pronouns
Daniels (2015: 785-788) gives free pronouns for Aisi Mabɨŋ in four case forms as follows:
| subject | object | possessive | emphatic | |
| 1 sg. | ja | ja-ŋ | ja-ka | ja-bɨ |
| 2 sg. | na | na-ŋ | na-ka | na-bɨ |
| 3 sg. | nu | nu-ŋ | nɨ-ku | nɨ-bɨ- |
| 1 pl. | a-nɨ | a-nɨ-gunuŋ | a-n-du | a-m-bɨ |
| 2 pl. | na-ɾɨ | na-ɾɨ-gunuŋ | na-ɾɨ-kuŋ | na-ɾɨ-b |
| 3 pl. | nɨ-ɾɨ | nɨ-ɾɨ-gunuŋ | nɨ-ɾu-kuŋ | nɨ-ɾɨ-b |
Verbal morphology
Daniels (2015: 811-826) gives subject desinences for Aisi Mabɨŋ indicative final verbs in five tense paradigms as follows:
| immediate past | habitual | far past | future | counterfactual | |
| 1 sg. | -iŋ ~ -eŋ | -eɾ-iŋ | -s-iŋ | -b-jaŋ | -bɨ-ŋ |
| 2 sg. | -aŋ | -eɾ-aŋ | -s-aŋ | -beɾ-aŋ | -b-aŋ |
| 3 sg. | -i ~ -e | -eɾ-i | -s-i | -beɾ-Ø | -b-aɾ |
| 1 pl. | -aŋ | -eɾ-aŋ | -s-aŋ | -beɾ-aŋ | -b-aŋ ~ -bɨ-ɾ |
| -2 pl. | -aɾ | -eɾ-aɾ | -s-aɾ | -beɾ-aɾ | -b-asɨɾɨ |
| 3 pl. | -uŋ ~ -oŋ | -eɾ-uŋ | -s-uŋ | -beɾ-uŋ | -biɾ-uŋ |
Imperative verbs take an entirely different set of subject suffixes. They are not found on first persons:
| imperative | |
| 2 sg. | -o(k)~-i(k); -am |
| 3 sg. | -kuɾ |
| -2 pl. | -maⁱ(t); -ke(t) |
| 3 pl. | -kiɾ-uŋ |
Medial verbs are distinguished according to whether their subjects are the same as or different from the subject of the final verb:
| different subject | different subject | different subject | same subject | same subject | same subject | same subject | |
| unmarked | frustrative | desiderative | unmarked | desiderative | delayed | participle | |
| 1 sg. | -ɨk-iŋ | — | -(ɨ)bis ~ -bes | -i | -(ɨ)bis-i~-bes-i | -ta(-ŋa) | -(ɨ)ba |
| 2 sg. | -ɨnda | — | -(ɨ)bis ~ -bes | -i | -(ɨ)bis-i~-bes-i | -ta(-ŋa) | -(ɨ)ba |
| 3 sg. | -eg-i; -eg-ɨn-ɨŋ | -eg | -(ɨ)bis ~ -bes | -i | -(ɨ)bis-i~-bes-i | -ta(-ŋa) | -(ɨ)ba |
| 1 pl. | -ɨk-uŋ | — | -(ɨ)bis ~ -bes | -i | -(ɨ)bis-i~-bes-i | -ta(-ŋa) | -(ɨ)ba |
| -2 pl. | -og-i | — | -(ɨ)bis ~ -bes | -i | -(ɨ)bis-i~-bes-i | -ta(-ŋa) | -(ɨ)ba |
| 3 pl. | -og-i; -og-ɨn-ɨŋ | -og | -(ɨ)bis ~ -bes | -i | -(ɨ)bis-i~-bes-i | -ta(-ŋa) | -(ɨ)ba |