Yélî Dnye
Yele
Language isolate (sometimes grouped Yele-West New Britain)
Yélî Dnye is a language isolate spoken by roughly 4,000–5,000 people on Rossel Island, the easternmost island of the Louisiade Archipelago off Papua New Guinea. It has one of the largest phonemic inventories in the world (around 90 consonants, including doubly articulated stops and a contrast between simple and palatalized series), an extraordinarily complex portmanteau tense/aspect/person system with thousands of irregular verb forms, and gendered avoidance vocabulary (women avoid certain words associated with the sea).
Where it is spoken
87 core words in Yele
Sources
- Henderson, J. (1995) Phonology and Grammar of Yele, Papua New Guinea. Pacific Linguistics B-112.
- Levinson, S. C. (2022) A Grammar of Yélî Dnye: The Papuan Language of Rossel Island. De Gruyter Mouton (Pacific Linguistics 666).
- Levinson, S. C. (2013) The Island of Time: Yélî Dnye, the Language of Rossel Island. Frontiers in Psychology 4: 61.
- Glottolog: Yele
Words compared
Compared with languages in the same classification: Language isolate (sometimes grouped Yele-West New Britain)
| Meaning | Yele | Lhomi | Neko | Proto-Vietic | Comanche | Proto-Tocharian | Wichita |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | mbwaa /mbʷaː/ | ཆུ་ /tɕʰu˥/ | wai /wai/ | *ɗaːk /ɗaːk/ | paa /paː/ | *wär /wər/ | kicʔa /kitsʔa/ |
| Fire | ndê /ndə/ | མེ་ /me˥/ | titɛ /titɛ/ | *-laːs /-laːs/ | kuuna /kuːna/ | *pŭwār /puwaːr/ | heːcʔa /heːtsʔa/ |
| Sun | kââdî /kaːdɨ/ | ཉི་མ་ /ɲi˥ma˩/ | aatʌ /aːtʌ/ | — /—/ | taabe /taːbe/ | *kāunä /kaːunə/ | saːkhirʔa /saːkʰiɾʔa/ |
| Moon | d:ââ /dãː/ | ཟླ་བ་ /dawa˩/ | — /—/ | *b-laŋ /b-laŋ/ | mʉa /mɨa/ | *mēñē /meːɲeː/ | waːh /waːh/ |
| Star | pudu /pudu/ | སྐར་མ /karma˥/ | kumba /kumba/ | *k-raːw /k-raːw/ | tatsinuupi /tatsinuːpi/ | *scär /stsər/ | hiːkwirikʔa /hiːkʷiɾikʔa/ |
| Night | mgîdî /mɡɨdɨ/ | མཚན་མོ /tsʰemːu˥/ | — /—/ | *teːm /teːm/ | tukaani /tukaːni/ | *wyäṣi /wjəʂi/ | ckhaːrʔa /tskʰaːɾʔa/ |
| Rain | tpii /tpiː/ | — | wai /wai/ | *k-maː /k-maː/ | ʉmaarʉ /ɨmaːɾɨ/ | *sŭwese /suwese/ | — |
| Wind | yópu /jópu/ | — | — | — | nʉepi /nɨepi/ | *wyente /wjente/ | niweʔeːrʔa /niweʔeːɾʔa/ |
| Stone | chêêpî /tʃəːpɨ/ | རྡོ་ /do˥/ | — | — | tʉpi /tɨpi/ | — | — |
| Mountain | mbu /mbu/ | — | — | — | — | *ṣwyäle /ʂwjəle/ | — |
| Mother | pye /pje/ | ཨ་མ་ /ʔama˩/ | — /—/ | *meːʔ /meːʔ/ | pia /pia/ | *mācer /maːtser/ | eciyeːh /etsijeːh/ |
| Father | mî /mɨ/ | ཨ་པ་ /ʔapa˩/ | — /—/ | *bɔːʔ /bɔːʔ/ | ahpʉ /ahpɨ/ | *āppo /aːppo/ | taːtah /taːtah/ |
| I | nê /nə/ | ང /ŋa˩/ | na /na/ | *soː /soː/ | nʉ /nɨ/ | *ñäś /ɲəɕ/ | nacʔih /natsʔih/ |
| You | nyi /ɲi/ | ཁྱོད /kʰjø˥/ | ga /ɡa/ | *miː /miː/ | ʉnʉ /ɨnɨ/ | *tuwe /tuwe/ | nasʔih /nasʔih/ |
| We | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tanʉ / nʉnʉ /tanɨ / nɨnɨ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Name | pi /pi/ | མིང /miŋ˩/ | iwi /iwi/ | — /—/ | nahnia /nahnia/ | *ñēmä /ɲeːmə/ | hissaːrʔa /hissaːɾʔa/ |
| Head | mbodo /mbodo/ | — | pit /pit/ | *k-loːk /k-loːk/ | paapi /paːpi/ | *ćäpālä /tɕəpaːlə/ | — |
| Eye | ngwolo /ŋʷolo/ | མིག་ /mik˥/ | ta /ta/ | *mat /mat/ | puui /puːi/ | *ëk /ək/ | kirikʔa /kiɾikʔa/ |
| Ear | ngwene /ŋʷene/ | — | asipi /asipi/ | *saːj /saːj/ | naki /naki/ | *kleutsān /kleutsaːn/ | — |
| Tooth | nyóó /ɲóː/ | སོ /so˥/ | maati /maːti/ | *k-saŋ /k-saŋ/ | tama /tama/ | *keme /keme/ | aːkʔa /aːkʔa/ |
| Tongue | dêê /dəː/ | ལྕེ /tɕila˥/ | melepi /mɛlepi/ | *laːs /laːs/ | eeko /eːko/ | *käntwo /kəntwo/ | hacʼa /hatsʔa/ |
| Hand | kêê /kəː/ | ལག་པ་ /lakpa˩/ | — /—/ | *siː /siː/ | moʼo /moʔo/ | *ṣar /ʂar/ | iskʔa /iskʔa/ |
| Foot | yi /ji/ | རྐང་པ /kaŋpa˥/ | tar /tar/ | *ciɲ /ciɲ/ | naape /naːpe/ | *peine /peine/ | asʔa /asʔa/ |
| Heart | gha /ɣa/ | སྙིང་ /ɲiŋ˥/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | pihi /pihi/ | *āräñce /aːrəɲtse/ | sikicʔa /sikitsʔa/ |
| Bone | dînê /dɨnə/ | རུས་པ /ryːpa˥/ | — /—/ | *ɟaːŋ /ɟaːŋ/ | tsuhnipʉ /tsuhnipɨ/ | *āyä /aːjə/ | kiːsʔa /kiːsʔa/ |
| Blood | wêê /wəː/ | ཁྲག /tʰak˥/ | — /—/ | *t-muːʔ /t-muːʔ/ | — /—/ | *yä́sar /jə́sar/ | waːckicʔa /waːtskitsʔa/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | yi /ji/ | ཤིང་ /ɕiŋ˥/ | tei /tei/ | *gəl /gəl/ | huupi /huːpi/ | — /—/ | tiyaːhkw /tijaːhkʷ/ |
| Dog | w:ââ /wãː/ | ཁྱི་ /kʰi˥/ | gonʌ /ɡonʌ/ | *ʔa-cɔːʔ /ʔa-cɔːʔ/ | sarii /saɾiː/ | *ku /ku/ | kiciyeːh /kitsijeːh/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | waʔoo /waʔoː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fish | te /te/ | ན /na˥/ | nom /nom/ | *ʔa-kaːʔ /ʔa-kaːʔ/ | pekwi /pekʷi/ | — /—/ | kaːcʔa /kaːtsʔa/ |
| Bird | ńmê /ɲmə/ | — | nuŋ /nuŋ/ | *ciːm /ciːm/ | huutsuu /huːtsuː/ | — | ichir /itsʰiɾ/ |
| Egg | w:uu /wũː/ | — | — | *k-ləːŋʔ /k-ləːŋʔ/ | noyo /nojo/ | — | nikwiːkʔa /nikʷiːkʔa/ |
| Bear | mbeyê /mbejə/ | དོམ /dom˩/ | — | *c-guːʔ /c-guːʔ/ | — | — | — |
| Horse | hósi /hósi/ | — | — | *m-ŋəːʔ /m-ŋəːʔ/ | puuku /puːku/ | *yäkwe /jəkwe/ | — |
| House | ngomo /ŋomo/ | ཁྱིམ་ /kʰim˥/ | — /—/ | *ɲaː /ɲaː/ | kahni /kahni/ | *wostŭ /wostu/ | akhaːrʔa /akʰaːɾʔa/ |
| Honey | mty:aa /mtʲãː/ | — | — | — | — | *ḿətə /mʲətə/ | — |
| Salt | ntii /ntiː/ | ཚྭ་ /tsʰa˥/ | — | *ɓɔːjʔ /ɓɔːjʔ/ | — | — | — |
| Wine | wain /wain/ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Book | puku /puku/ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eat | ma /ma/ | ཟ་ /sa˩/ | nei /nei/ | *ʔan /ʔan/ | tʉhkarʉ /tɨhkaɾɨ/ | — /—/ | kaʔac /kaʔats/ |
| Drink | ndanî /ndaˈnɨ/ | འཐུང་ /tʰuŋ˩/ | — /—/ | *ʔɔːŋʔ /ʔɔːŋʔ/ | hibi /hibi/ | — /—/ | kikʔa /kikʔa/ |
| One | ngmidi /ŋmidi/ | གཅིག་ /tɕik˥/ | — /—/ | *moːc /moːc/ | sʉmʉ /sɨmɨ/ | *sems /sems/ | chiʔass /tsʰiʔass/ |
| Two | miyó /mʲó/ | གཉིས /ɲi˩/ | iri /iri/ | *haːr /haːr/ | waha /waha/ | *wë /wə/ | wic /wits/ |
| Three | pyile /pjile/ | གསུམ /ʰsum˥/ | tabe /tabe/ | *paː /paː/ | pahiitʉ /pahiːtɨ/ | *treyä /trejə/ | taw /taw/ |
| Five | limi /ʎimi/ | ལྔ /ʰŋa˥/ | — | *ɗam /ɗam/ | moʼobetʉ /moʔoˈbetɨ/ | *pʼä́ñćä /pʲə́ɲtɕə/ | — |
| Hundred | yonoy:a /jonojã/ | — | — | — | — | *känte /kənte/ | — |
| Hello | mw:aandiye /mʷãːndije/ | བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས /taɕi˥ tele˩/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | marʉawe /maɾɨawe/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | mw:ââkó /mʷãːˈkɔ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ʉra /ɨɾa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | mb:aa /mbãː/ | ཡག་པོ་ /jakpo˩/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tsaatʉ /tsaːtɨ/ | — /—/ | acs /atss/ |
| New | kamî /kamɨ/ | — | — | *ɓəːjʔ /ɓəːjʔ/ | ʉkʉ /ɨkɨ/ | *ñäwe /ɲəwe/ | — |
| Red | mtyemtye /mtʲemtʲe/ | དམར་པོ /mar˥pu˩/ | kanb /kanb/ | *tɔh /tɔh/ | ekapi /ekapi/ | *rŭtäre /rutəre/ | kwhaːc /kʷʰaːts/ |
| White | kpaapîkpaapî /kpaːpɨkpaːpɨ/ | དཀར་པོ /kar˥pu˩/ | — | *k-laŋʔ /k-laŋʔ/ | tosaʼ /tosaʔ/ | *ārkwi /aːrkwi/ | — |
| Black | kpêdêkpêdê /kpədəkpədə/ | — | — | — | — | *erkent /erkent/ | — |
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