Piame language
{{Short description|Sepik language of Papua New Guinea}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Piame
| states = Papua New Guinea
| region = East Sepik Province
| ethnicity = Hewa
| speakers = Less than 100
| date = 1988
| ref = {{Infobox language/ref|{{cite book|title=Some language and sociolinguistic relationships in the Upper Sepik region of Papua New Guinea}}}}
| familycolor = Papuan
| fam1 = Sepik
| fam2 = Sepik Hill
| fam3 = Southwest
| iso3 = pin
| glotto = piam1243
| glottorefname = Piame
| altname = Biami
}}
Piame, or Biami, is a Sepik language, which in 1988 was spoken in the village of Piame in northwestern Papua New Guinea.{{Cite web |title=Some language and sociolinguistic relationships - ProQuest |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1297882138 |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=www.proquest.com | id={{ProQuest|1297882138}} |language=en}}{{rp||page=249}}
Relationship to other languages
Piame is closely related to Niksek, with cognate percentages ranging from 44% to 53% for the different Niksek dialects.{{rp||page=249}}
Sociolinguistics
In 1988, it was spoken by less than a hundred people, in the single village of Piame.{{rp||page=249}} The village was primarily monolingual. Two or three men had begun to learn Tok Pisin, the lingua franca of Papua New Guinea.{{rp||page=254}}
The language is today described as moribund.{{Cite web |title=Glottolog 5.1 - Piame |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/piam1243 |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=glottolog.org}}{{Cite web |date=2013-06-03 |title=Piame {{!}} Ethnologue |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/pin/ |access-date=2025-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603190438/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/pin/ |archive-date=3 June 2013 }}
Vocabulary
The table below is a sample of words in Piame:{{rp||page=261}}
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Piame !English |
| pasikofi
|afternoon |
| bawe
|arrow |
| mokuawo
|baby |
| mekia
|back |
| wɔřou |
| a yopakaři
|chin |
| yabi
|dog |
| peni
|ear |
| yelia kaia
|egg |
| wauwuo
|fat |
| aise
|father |
| mɔmiyaři məməni moku'awo
|girl |
| yelia kowane
|good |
| kouřinobo
|hair |
| nɔti
|hand |
| u'kwəti
|knee |
| misaři
|knife |
| mekwa
|leaf |
| yelia meisa
|long |
| məmini'nɔni
|man |
| ake/kɔřisib̵ab̵e
|many |
| ka'lami
|neck |
| ake/akutu
|new |
| akelmeisi
|old |
| mekwa
|one |
| a'kaifɔ/fɔ
|pig |
| nou
|rain |
| wamo
|rat |
| kařinei
|sand |
| yelia nɔpo
|short |
| fɔ'yəni
|tail |
| sawi
|taro |
| you'wei
|vine |
| akaipəsi
|wallaby |
| a'sei
|water |
| kařu
|yam |
| nɔifi
|yesterday |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Sepik languages}}
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}
Category:Languages of East Sepik Province
{{papuan-lang-stub}}