Yapen languages (Austronesian)

Not to be confused with Yapen languages (Papuan).

Yapen
Geographic distribution	Yapen Island, Western New Guinea, Indonesia
Linguistic classification	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Central–Eastern South Halmahera–West New Guinea Cenderawasih Bay Yapen
Proto-language	Proto-Yapen
Subdivisions	Central–Western Eastern
Language codes
Glottolog	yape1249

The Yapen languages are the branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken on Yapen Island and the nearby isle of Cenderawasih Bay, both in Papua province of northeastern Indonesia.

They share Yapen Ιsland with the Papuan Yawa languages.

Historical morphology

Reconstructions of subject markers and inalienable possessive markers for Yapen proto-languages according to Kamholz (2015). Note that V = vocalic conjugation, C = consonantal conjugation:

Proto-Yapen:

1sg.	*y- (V), *ya- (C)	1pl.	*t- (incl.), *am- (excl.)
2sg.	*bu- (V), *-u- (C)	2pl.	*m-
3sg.	*dy- (V), *-i- (C)	3pl.	*si-

1sg.	*-ku, *-ni	1pl.	*ta-...-mi (incl.), *ama-...-mi (excl.)
2sg.	*-mu	2pl.	*mi-...-mi
3sg.	*-n-pai	3pl.	*si-...-mi

Proto-Western Yapen (Proto-Central–Western Yapen):

1sg.	*y- (V), *ya- (C)	1pl.	*tat- (incl.), *amat- (excl.)
2sg.	*bu- (V), *-u- (C)	2pl.	*met-
3sg.	*dy- (V), *-i- (C)	3pl.	*set-

1sg.	*-ku, *-ni	1pl.	*ta-...-mi (incl.), *ama-...-mi (excl.)
2sg.	*-mu	2pl.	*me-...-mi
3sg.	*-n-pai, *-na-ni	3pl.	*se-...-mi

Proto-Central Yapen:

1sg.	*y- (V), *ya- (C)	1pl.	*tat- (incl.), *amat- (excl.)
2sg.	*w- (V), *-u- (C)	2pl.	*met-
3sg.	*dy- (V), *-i- (C)	3pl.	*et-

1sg.	*-u, *-ni	1pl.	*ta-...-mi (incl.), *ama-...-mi (excl.)
2sg.	*-mu	2pl.	*me-...-mi
3sg.	*-nempai, *-na-ni	3pl.	*se-...-mi

Proto-Eastern Yapen:

1sg.	*ay- (V), *a- (C)	1pl.	*t- (incl.), *nam- (excl.)
2sg.	*b- (V), *-u- (C)	2pl.	*mi-
3sg.	*d- (V), *-i- (C)	3pl.	*si-

1sg.	*ai-	1pl.	*ta- (incl.), *na- (excl.)
2sg.	*me-	2pl.	*mi-
3sg.	*ne-	3pl.	*si-

Languages

From Kamholz (2024):

• Yapen
  • Western (Central–Western)
    • Ambai
    • Ansus
    • Marau
    • Wandamen
    • Woi
    • Central
      • Munggui
      • Pom
      • Papuma
      • Serui-Laut
      • Busami
  • Eastern
    • Kurudu
    • Wabo

Lexical reconstructions

Reconstruction of lexemes found in Proto-Yapen according to Gasser (2017).

Proto-Yapen	Gloss
*apai	'bow'
*tawai	'snake'

Further reading

• Kamholz, David (2015). The reconstruction of Proto-SHWNG morphology
• Kamhold, David (2024). "Historical linguistics of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea subgroup". In Alexander Adelaar; Antoinette Schapper (eds.). The Oxford Guide to the Malayo-Polynesian Languages of Southeast Asia. Oxford University Press. pp. 181–187. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198807353.003.0012.