Yabem language

Yabem or Jabêm is an Austronesian language and a division of the Melanesian languages^[3] spoken natively (in 1978) by about 2,000 people at Finschhafen, which is on the southern tip of the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, despite historical evidence that shows the language originating in the northern coast.^[4] However, Yabem was adopted as local lingua franca along with Kâte^[5] for evangelical and educational purposes by the German Lutheran missionaries who first arrived at Simbang, a Yabem-speaking village, in 1885.^[6] Because the missionaries arrived first in Yabem was the first language which the missionaries created a writing system for because that was the language they first encountered when they arrived. They even created a school system to provide education for the Yabem community.

By 1939, it was spoken by as many as 15,000 people, and understood by as many as 100,000 (Zahn 1940). In the decade after World War II, the mission's network of schools managed to educate 30,000 students using Yabem as the medium of instruction (Streicher 1982). Although the usage of Yabem as a local lingua franca was replaced by Tok Pisin, which was used in informal everyday life such as religious meetings and the workplace,^[7] and English, which was used in more formal institutions such as education and government in the 1950s,^[5] Yabem remains one of the best documented Austronesian languages, with extensive instructional and liturgical materials (including many original compositions, not just translations from German or English) as well as grammars and dictionaries. The government wanted an easier assimilation to Western culture and values and access to their superior educational resources, so English was the most efficient language of instruction.^[8] Regardless, the transition from the usage of Kâte and Yabem, which are languages with local origins, to Tok Pisin and English, which are languages with foreign origins, affected the dynamic of the people and their view of language and the church in a somewhat negative light.

It also shares a close relationship with the Kela and Bukawa languages.^[4] In fact, many people who speak Bukawa also speak Yabem.

Yabem's current language status is "Threatened."^[9] Its alternative names include Laulabu, Jabem, Jabêm, Jabim, Yabim, and Yabêm.^[10]

Phonology

Vowels (orthographic)

Yabem distinguishes seven vowel qualities.

Consonants (orthographic)

Glottal stop, written with a -c, is only distinctive at the end of syllables. The only other consonants that can occur syllable-finally are labials and nasals: p, b, m, ŋ. The liquid /l/ is realized as either a flap [ɾ] or a lateral [l]. Syllable-structure constraints are most easily explained if labialized and prenasalized consonants are considered unit phonemes rather than clusters. However, Otto Dempwolff, who greatly influenced the German missionary orthographies in New Guinea, apparently did not sanction labialized labials, preferring instead to signal rounding on labials by the presence of a round mid vowel (-o- or -ô-) between the labial consonant and the syllable nucleus, as in vs. ômôêŋ 'you'll come' vs. ômêŋ 'he'll come' or ômôa 'you'll dwell' vs. ômac 'you'll be sick' (Dempwolff 1939). (Compare the orthographies of Sio and Kâte.)

Tone

Yabem has a simple system of register tone that distinguishes high-tone syllables from low-tone ones. In the standard orthography, high-tone syllables are unmarked, while the nuclei of low-tone syllables are marked with a grave accent, as in oc 'sun' vs. òc 'my foot' or uc 'breadfruit' vs. ùc 'hunting net'. Tone distinctions in Yabem appear to be of relatively recent origin (Bradshaw 1979) and still correlate strongly with obstruent voicing contrasts (although not in its closest relative, Bukawa). Only high tones occur in syllables with voiceless obstruents (p, t, k) while only low tone occurs in syllables with voiced obstruents (b, d, g). The fricative /s/ is voiced in low-tone syllables but voiceless in high-tone syllables. Other phonemes are neutral with respect to tone, that is, they can occur in either high-tone or low-tone environments.

Morphology

Pronouns and person markers

Free pronouns

First person plural inclusive and exclusive are not distinguished in the free pronouns, but are distinguished in the subject prefixes and the genitives.

Genitive pronouns

The short, underdifferentiated genitive forms are often disambiguated by adding the free pronoun in front.

Subject prefixes on verbs

Verbs are prefixed to show the person and number of their subjects. (The 1st person plural exclusive and 2nd person plural prefixes are homophonous but can be disambiguated by using the free pronouns in subject position.) The singular prefixes also distinguish Realis and Irrealis mood (which usually translates to Nonfuture vs. Future tense). Each prefix also has a high-tone (H) and a low-tone (L) allomorph to meet the tone requirements of each of five conjugation classes. (See Bradshaw 2001.)

Possessed nouns

Alienable vs. inalienable possession

Preposed genitive pronouns are used to mark alienable possession by humans, as in ŋoc àndu 'my house', nêm i 'your fish', nê jàc 'his brother-in-law (wife's brother)'. Inalienable possession is marked by suffixes directly on the nouns denoting the possessions, which are typically kinship relations and body parts. The underdifferentiated suffixes are often disambiguated by adding the free pronoun in front of the suffixed noun. The final -i on the plurals of kin terms is a distributive marker, indicating some but not all of the class to which the noun refers. (See Bradshaw & Czobor 2005:21-29.)

Inherent possession

Genitive relations for other than humans are not marked by either the genitive pronouns (for alienables) or the genitive suffixes (for inalienables). Instead, inherent possession of nouns as progeny or parts of wholes is marked by a prefix ŋa-, as in (ka) ŋalaka '(tree) branch', (lôm) ŋatau '(men's house) owner', and (talec) ŋalatu '(hen's) chick'. The same is true of adjectives (attributes of other entities) when derived from nouns, as in ŋadani 'thick, dense' (< dani 'thicket') or ŋalemoŋ 'muddy, soft' (< lemoŋ 'mud'). (See Bradshaw & Czobor 2005:26-31.)

Numerals

Traditional counting practices started with the digits of one hand, then continued on the other hand, and then the feet to reach '20', which translates as 'one person'. Higher numbers are multiples of 'one person'. Nowadays, most counting above '5' is done in Tok Pisin. As in other Huon Gulf languages, an alternate form of the numeral '1' (teŋ) functions as an indefinite article. The numeral luagêc '2' can similarly function as an indefinite plural indicating 'a couple, a few, some'. The numeral root ta '1' suffixed with the adverbial marker -geŋ renders 'one, only one', while the numeral '2' similarly suffixed (luàgêc-geŋ) renders 'only a few'. Reduplicated numerals form distributives: tageŋ-tageŋ 'one by one', têlêàc-têlêàc 'in threes', etc. (See Bradshaw & Czobor 2005: 52-54.)

Vocabulary

Due to the limited amount of consonants and vowels in the Yabem language, pronunciation is critical in order to get the correct meaning across. In some cases, simply changing the accent on a letter can change the meaning of a word entirely.^[5]

*Table taken from Tonogeneis in the North Huon Gulf Chain by Malcolm D. Ross ^[11]

References

• Bisang, Walter (1986). "Die Verb-Serialisierung im Jabêm." Lingua 70:131–162.
• Bradshaw, Joel (1979). "Obstruent harmony and tonogenesis in Jabêm." Lingua 49:189–205.
• Bradshaw, Joel (1983). "Dempwolff’s description of verb serialization in Yabem." In Amram Halim, Lois Carrington, and S. A. Wurm, eds., Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, vol. 4, Thematic variation, 177–198. Series C-77. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
• Bradshaw, Joel (1993). "Subject relationships within serial verb constructions in Numbami and Jabêm." Oceanic Linguistics 32:133–161.
• Bradshaw, Joel (1998). "Squib: Another look at velar lenition and tonogenesis in Jabêm." Oceanic Linguistics 37:178-181.
• Bradshaw, Joel (1999). "Null subjects, switch-reference, and serialization in Jabêm and Numbami." Oceanic Linguistics 38:270–296.
• Bradshaw, Joel (2001). "The elusive shape of the realis/irrealis distinction in Jabêm." In Joel Bradshaw and Kenneth L. Rehg, eds., Issues in Austronesian morphology: A focusschrift for Byron W. Bender, 75–85. Pacific Linguistics 519. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-485-5
• Bradshaw, Joel, and Francisc Czobor (2005). Otto Dempwolff's grammar of the Jabêm language in New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 32. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. ISBN 0-8248-2932-8
• Dempwolff, Otto (1939). Grammatik der Jabêm-Sprache auf Neuguinea. Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiet der Auslandskunde, vol. 50. Hamburg: Friederichsen de Gruyter.
• Ross, Malcolm (1993). "Tonogenesis in the North Huon Gulf chain." In Jerold A. Edmondson and Kenneth J. Gregerson, eds., Tonality in Austronesian languages, 133–153. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 24. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
• Streicher, J. F. (1982). Jabêm–English dictionary. Series C-68. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. (First compiled by Heinrich Zahn in 1917; later translated and revised by J. F. Streicher.)
• Zahn, Heinrich (1940). Lehrbuch der Jabêmsprache (Deutsch-Neuguinea). Zeitschrift für Eingeborenen-Sprache, Beiheft 21. Berlin: Reimer.

External links

• Yabem Wordlist at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database

Languages of Papua New Guinea
Official languages	English Hiri Motu Tok Pisin Papua New Guinean Sign Language
Major Indigenous languages	Adzera Amanab Awad Bing Barok Bimin Bola Bugawac Dedua Dobu Kâte Kobon Kovai Kuanua Kuman Kuot Kurti Lihir Mandara Mangseng Mbula Mende Mussau-Emira Mutu Nekgini Ngaing Nobonob Numanggang Nyindrou Pele-Ata Petats Ramoaaina Seimat Solong Somba-Siawari Suau Sulka Tobo Ura Vitu Waris
Other Papuan languages	Angan Akoye Angaataha Ankave Hamtai Kamasa Kawacha Menya Safeyoka Simbari Susuami Tainae Yagwoia Yipma Awin–Pa Awin Pa Binanderean Baruga Binandere Ewage Korafe Orokaiva Suena Yekora Zia Bosavi Aimele Beami Edolo Kaluli Kasua Onobasulu Sonia Chimbu–Wahgi Chuave Dom Golin Kandawo Kaugel Kuman Maring Melpa Narak Nii Nomane Salt-Yui Sinasina Tembagla Wahgi Duna–Pogaya Duna Pogaya East Kutubuan Fasu Fiwaga Foi East Strickland Fembe Gobasi Konai Kubo Odoodee Samo Engan Angal Bisorio Enga Huli Ipili Kewa Kyaka Lembena Samberigi Eleman Kaki Ae Keuru Opao Orokolo Toaripi Tairuma Ok–Oksapmin Bimin Faiwol Mian Ngalum Ninggerum Oksapmin Setaman Suganga Telefol Tifal Urap Yonggom Teberan Dadibi Folopa Tirio Abom Baramu Bitur Tirio Were Turama–Kikorian Ikobi Omati Rumu Larger Families Finisterre–Huon Kainantu–Goroka Madang Ramu–Lower Sepik Sepik Southeast Papuan Torricelli