According to Hammarström (2008), it is being passed on to children and is not in immediate danger.
External relationships
Yetfa is not close to other languages. Ross (2005), following Laycock & Z’Graggen (1975), places Biksi in its own branch of the Sepik family, but there is little data to base a classification on. The similarities noted by Laycock are sporadic and may simply be loans; Ross based his classification on pronouns, but they are dissimilar enough for the connection to be uncertain. Usher found it to be a Southern Pauwasi language. Foley (2018) classifies it as a language isolate.[2]
Foley (2018b: 295-296) notes that first person pronoun and third-person singular masculine pronoun in Yetfa match pronouns found in Sepik languages, with some resemblances such as nim ‘louse’ with proto-Sepik *nim ‘louse’, and wal ‘ear’ with proto-Sepik *wan. However, Foley (2018b) considers the evidence linking Yetfa to the Sepik family to be insufficient, thus classifying Yetfa as a language isolate until further evidence can be found.[3]
Pronouns
Pronouns from Ross (2005):
I
nyo
we
nana
thou
pwo
you
so
s/he
do
they
dwa
Pronouns from Kim (2005), as quoted in Foley (2018):[2]
Yetfa independent pronouns
sg
pl
1
na
no
2
po
so-na-m
3
do
do-na-ma
Basic vocabulary
Basic vocabulary of Yetfa from Kim (2006), quoted in Foley (2018):[4][2]
Yetfa basic vocabulary
gloss
Yetfa
‘bird’
dau
‘blood’
dueal
‘bone’
fan
‘breast’
nom
‘ear’
wal
‘eat’
ɲa
‘egg’
nela
‘eye’
i
‘fire’
yao
‘give’
ni-
‘go’
la-
‘ground’
permai
‘hair’
framai
‘hear’
wi-
‘I’
na(wo)
‘leg’
yop
‘louse’
nim
‘man’
nam
‘moon’
dirmanel
‘name’
met
‘one’
kəsa
‘road, path’
mla
‘see’
am-
‘sky’
aklai
‘stone’
tekop
‘sun’
imenel
‘tongue’
mor
‘tooth’
doa
‘tree’
yo
‘two’
daisil
‘water’
ket
‘we’
no(wo)
‘woman’
romo
‘you (sg)’
po(wo)
‘you (pl)’
sonam
The following basic vocabulary words are from Conrad & Dye (1975)[5] and Voorhoeve (1975),[6] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[7]
gloss
Yetfa
head
fran; ᵽr᷈an
hair
fra may; ᵽʌřamai
eye
i; ʔiʔ
nose
ndor
tooth
ɔřa; rwa
tongue
moR᷈
louse
ni:m; yim
dog
say
pig
mbaR᷈; mualə
bird
rawi
egg
řonǏa
blood
ndwal
bone
fan
skin
tol; toR᷈
tree
yau; yo; yɔ
man
nam
woman
namiyaA
sun
məlel
water
kel; kɛr᷈
fire
yaʋ; yau
stone
təkoup; tɩkɔᵽ
road, path
miaA
eat
ŋa; ntɛřᵽI
one
kəsa; kɛsa
two
ndyesel; tesyɛnsaR᷈
Sentences
There is very little sentence data for Yetfa. Some of the few documented Yetfa sentences are:[2]
(1)
do
3SG
mete
yesterday
ti-yo
come-TNS
do mete ti-yo
3SG yesterday come-TNS
‘She came yesterday’
(2)
do
3SG
muni
money
ɲ(a)-awa-te
1SG-father-DAT?
ni-yo
give-TNS
do muni ɲ(a)-awa-te ni-yo
3SG money 1SG-father-DAT? give-TNS
‘She gave money to my father.’
The Yetfa tense suffix -(y)o is also present in Tofanma.[2]
^ abcdefFoley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". 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. 433–568. ISBN978-3-11-028642-7.
^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. ISBN978-3-11-028642-7.
^Kim, So Hyun. 2006. Survey Report on the Yetfa Language of Papua, Indonesia. Unpublished report. Jayapura: SIL Indonesia.
^Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-B31