Sepik Iwam, or Yawenian, is a language of Papua New Guinea. It is the lexical basis of the Hauna trade pidgin.
It is spoken in villages such as Iniok () in Tunap/Hunstein Rural LLG of East Sepik Province.
Phonology + Consonants Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal Nasal Plosive Fricative Liquid Semivowel
+ Vowels Front Central Back Close Mid Open
Pronouns Sepik Iwam pronouns:
!colspan=2| !! singular !! dual !! plural |- !colspan=2| 1st person | ka || kərar || kəram |- !colspan=2| 2nd person | kə || kow || kom |- !rowspan=2| 3rd person ! masculine | si | rowspan="2" | sow | rowspan="2" | səm |- ! feminine | sa
Grammar Sepik Iwam subject agreement suffixes are:
{| class="wikitable" ! !! singular !! dual !! plural |- ! masculine | *-ən | rowspan="2" | *-o | rowspan="2" | *-əm |- ! feminine | *-a
The structure of this subject agreement paradigm can be traced back to Proto-Sepik, although the morphemes themselves do not seem to be directly related to the reconstructed Proto-Sepik forms. (See also Sepik languages#Gender.)
Like May River Iwam, Sepik Iwam has periodic tense, for instance the matutinal -iyakwok.Foley (2018:284)
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Further reading