Iwam language
# Iwam language

May River Iwam, often simply referred to as Iwam, is a language of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

It is spoken in Iyomempwi (4°14′28″S 141°53′34″E﻿ / ﻿4.24117°S 141.89271°E﻿ / -4.24117; 141.89271﻿ (Imombi)), Mowi (4°17′42″S 141°55′45″E﻿ / ﻿4.294971°S 141.929199°E﻿ / -4.294971; 141.929199﻿ (Mowi)), and Premai villages of Tunap/Hunstein Rural LLG in East Sepik Province, and other villages on the May River.

## Phonology

### Vowels

In non-final positions, /u/ /o/, /i/, and /e/ are [ʊ] [ɔ], [ɪ], and [ɛ], respectively. /ə/ appears only in nonfinal syllables. When adjacent to nasal consonants, vowels are nasalized; nasalization may also occur when adjacent to word boundaries.

### Consonants

/p/ and /k/ are voiced fricatives ([β] and [ɣ]) respectively) when intervocalic and unreleased when final (/t/ is also unreleased when final). /ŋ/ is a nasal flap ([ɾ̃]) word-initially and between vowels. /s/ is [ts] initially and may otherwise be palatalized [sʲ]. Sequences of any consonant and /w/ are neutralized before /u/ where an offglide is always heard.

### Phonotactics

Bilabial and velar consonants and /n/ may be followed by /w/ when initial. Other initial clusters include /pr/, /kr/, /hr/, /hw/, and /hn/ and final clusters are /w/ or /j/ followed by any consonant except for /h/ or /ŋ/.

## Pronouns

May River Iwam $pronouns:^{:282}$

    sgdupl 1 ka/anikərərkərəm 2 kikorkom 3m si sor səm 3f sa

## Noun classes

Like the Wogamus languages, May River Iwam has five noun classes:

    classsemantic categoryprefixexample class 1 male human referentsnu- (adult males); ru- (uninitiated or immature males)yenkam nu-t man class.1-one ‘one man’ class 2 female human, children, or other animate referentsa(o)-owi a-ois duck class.2-two ‘two ducks’ class 3 large objectskwu-ana kwu-(o)t hand class.3-one ‘a big hand’ class 4 small objectsha-ana ha-(o)t hand class.4-one ‘a small hand’ class 5 long objectshwu-ana hwu-(o)t hand class.5-one ‘a long hand’

As shown by the example above for ana ‘hand’, a noun can take on different classes depending on the physical characteristics being emphasized.

## Vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words of Iwam are from Foley (2005) and Laycock (1968), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:

    glossIwam head mu ear wun eye nu nose nomwos tooth piknu tongue kwane leg wərku; wɨrku louse ŋən; nɨn dog nwa pig hu bird owit egg yen blood ni bone keew; kew skin pəw breast muy tree pae(kap); paykap man kam; yen-kam woman wik sun pi moon pwan water op; o(p) fire pay stone siya eat (n)ai; (nd)ai one oe; ruk; su two ŋwis
