Maypaw language
| Maypaw | |
|---|---|
| Maypaw | |
| Pronunciation | /majpaw/ |
| Ethnicity | Xuni |
| Language family | Ngerupic languages
|
| Early forms: | Wa Ñi language
|
| Writing system | Maypaw script |
| Official status | |
| Official language in | Quaxin Xun |
| CWS code | myp |
The Maypaw or Maypawh language is a Ngerupic language which is widely spoken in Quaxin Xun, where it has co-official status with two other Ngerupic languages of Quaxin Xun, Hlung and Ndxiixun.
Phonology
Maypaw has a tone system consisting of three tone/phonation combinations: low modal, mid creaky, and high modal. It does not have contrastive nasal vowels, unlike many other Mañic languages.
Grammar
Syntax
Maypaw is strongly head-initial. It has a copula, which is dropped in the present realis. Relative clauses use a relative particle and a gap. Clause conjunctions have same-subject and switch-reference forms.
Morphology
Nominal morphology is minimal, consisting mostly of an enclitic used to denote the plural. Prepositions inflect for the object of the preposition. These inflections, which derive from Mañi nominal gender/possession markers, are unpredictable. Verbs inflect for several categories: evidentiality + subject (fused), object (of a transitive verb), tense, and mood.