Urat language

Urat
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionEast Sepik Province
Native speakers
7,000 (2017)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3urt
Glottologurat1244
ELPUrat

Urat (Wasep, Wusyep) is a Torricelli language spoken by a decreasing number of people in Papua New Guinea.

It is spoken by 2,480 people in Wasep Ngau (North Urat dialect), 2,060 in Wusyep Yihre (Central Urat dialect), 1,210 in Wasep Yam (South Urat dialect), and 550 in Wusyep Tep (East Urat dialect).[1][2]

Phonology

Unusually for a Papuan language, Urat has four voiceless liquids and semivowels, which are ɬ, r̥, w̥, and j̥. Urat consonants are:[3]

p t ʧ k ʔ
ᵐb ⁿd ᶮʤ ᵑg
s ʃ h
m n ɲ ŋ
l
ɬ
r
r̥
̥w j
w̥ j̥

Urat vowels are:[3]

i u
e o
a

Pronouns

Pronouns are:[3]

sg pl
1 ŋam poi
2 nin yip
3m kin tiŋe
3f ti

Further reading

  • Barnes, Barney. 1989. Urat Grammar Essentials. Unpublished manuscript. Ukarumpa, PNG: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

References

  1. ^ a b Urat at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  3. ^ a b c Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.