Yimas language
Encyclopedia
The Yimas language is spoken by the Yimas people of Papua New Guinea
. It is a polysynthetic language
with (somewhat) free word order
. It is an ergative-absolutive language morphologically
but not syntactically
, although it has several other case-like relations encoded on its verbs. It has over 9 classes (genders) of nouns, and a unique number system.
It is an endangered language
, being widely replaced by Tok Pisin
, and to a lesser extent, English, and it is unclear if any youth are native Yimas speakers.
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. It is a polysynthetic language
Polysynthetic language
In linguistic typology, polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i.e., languages in which words are composed of many morphemes. Whereas isolating languages have a low morpheme-to-word ratio, polysynthetic languages have extremely high morpheme-to-word ratios.Not all languages can be...
with (somewhat) free word order
Word order
In linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the order of the syntactic constituents of a language, and how different languages can employ different orders. Correlations between orders found in different syntactic subdomains are also of interest...
. It is an ergative-absolutive language morphologically
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
but not syntactically
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
, although it has several other case-like relations encoded on its verbs. It has over 9 classes (genders) of nouns, and a unique number system.
It is an endangered language
Endangered language
An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language"....
, being widely replaced by Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country...
, and to a lesser extent, English, and it is unclear if any youth are native Yimas speakers.