Yali language
language in Highland Papua
Yali (Yaly, Jalè, Jaly) is a Papuan language of Indonesian New Guinea. The Yali people live east of the Baliem Valley, in the Western Highlands.
Dialectical differentiation is great enough that Ethnologue assigns separate codes to three varieties:
Pass Valley, also known as Abenaho, North Ngalik, and Western Yali; subdialects are Pass Valley, Landikma, Apahapsili.
Ninia, also known as North Ngalik and Southern Yali (Yali Selatan).
Angguruk, also known as Northern Yali.
However, almost nothing is known of this language. Not even the pronouns were attested for Ross (2005) to base a classification on.
Siegfried Zöellner, a German missionary, translated the Bible into Yali between 1960 and 1973.
Phonology
The phonology of the Yali language:
A /ɡ/ sound at the end of words is pronounced /ʁ/.
Basic words and phrases
The following is a list of basic words and phrases in the Yali language:
howam fano wellahen - how are you
waa waa - thank you
ninim ar - you're welcome
nomin - friend
fano - good
ari - that
du - this
eke - and
nune - speak/talk
inune - language
nare - man
nowam - my news/state
howam - your (sg.) news/state
wellahi - for myself
wellahen - for yourself
wallahen - for him/herself
wallahi - for ourselves
wellahep - for yourselves/themselves
fam - *end of statement particle
an nahien - I am pleased
an ari nindi - I like that
an den angge - I have
ar an nomin - S/he is my friend
an nomini - They are my friends
ar nomin fano - S/he is a good friend
ir an nomini Amerikoan - My friends are from America
an nune Yali inune fam - I speak Yali
Pronouns
These are the personal pronouns of the Yali language:
References
Ross, Malcolm (2005).
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