Tobati language
{{Short description|Oceanic language spoken in Indonesia}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Tobati
|nativename={{lang|tti|Yotafa}}
|states=Indonesia
|region=Papua
|ethnicity=Tobati
|speakers=100
|date=2007
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Austronesian
|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
|fam3=Oceanic
|fam4=Western Oceanic
|fam5=North New Guinea
|fam6=Sarmi – Jayapura Bay
|fam7=Jayapura Bay
|iso3=tti
|glotto=toba1266
|glottorefname=Tobati
|map = Lang Status 40-SE.svg
|mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Tobati is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}
}}
Tobati, or Yotafa, is an Austronesian language spoken in Jayapura Bay in Papua province, Indonesia. It was once thought to be a Papuan language. Notably, Tobati displays a very rare object–subject–verb word order.Crowley, Terry; Lynch, John; Ross, Malcolm (2002). The Oceanic Languages. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 186-88
Phonology
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Consonants ! colspan="2" | ! Labial ! Dental ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar |
| colspan="2" | Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} | | | {{IPA link|n}} | {{IPA link|ɲ}} | {{IPA link|ŋ}}{{efn|Before a vowel realized as {{IPA|[ŋg]}}, otherwise nasalizes the preceding vowel.}} |
|---|
| rowspan="2" | Stop
! {{small|voiceless}} | | | | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|c}} | {{IPA link|k}} |
| {{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|b}} | | {{IPA link|d}} | | {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} | |
| rowspan="2" | Fricative
! {{small|voiceless}} | {{IPA link|ɸ}} | {{IPA link|f}} | | {{IPA link|s}} | {{IPA link|ʃ}} | {{IPA link|h}}{{efn|Displays free variation as {{IPA|[h~ɦ~x~ɣ]}}.}} |
| {{small|voiced}}
| | | | | | rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ɣ}}~{{IPA link|ɰ}} |
| colspan="2" | Approximant
| {{IPA link|w}} | | | | {{IPA link|j}} |
| colspan="2" | Rhotic
| | | | {{IPA link|r}} | | |
{{notelist}}
{{IPA|/f/}} also shows allophony as {{IPA|[p]}}. However, it does not behave as a stop (see below).
Tobati has a five-vowel system of /{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|o}} {{IPA link|u}}/, realized as /{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|ɛ}} {{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|ɔ}} {{IPA link|ʊ}}/ in closed syllables.
=Phonotactics=
Tobati permits three consonants in the onset, and at most a single consonant or a nasal-stop cluster in the coda.
Nasal-stop clusters only permit a nasal and a stop of the same place of articulation. For the {{IPA|/nd/}} sequence, {{IPA|/n/}} becomes dental [{{IPA link|n̪}}]. Neither the bilabial, consisting of {{IPA|/b/}} and the {{IPA|/f/}} allophone {{IPA|[p]}}, nor palatal nasal-stop clusters distinguish voice (i.e. they are {{IPA|[pm~bm]}} and {{IPA|[cɲ~d͡ʒɲ]}} respectively). The {{IPA|/Nk/}} sequence voices to {{IPA|[ŋg]}}.
References
{{reflist}}
{{North New Guinea languages}}
{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}
{{Languages of Indonesia}}
Category:Languages of Western New Guinea
Category:Object–subject–verb languages