Sobei is one of the Sarmi languages spoken in three villages (Sarmi, Sawar, and Bagaiserwar) near the district center of Sarmi in Papua province of Indonesia. Ethnologue (2005) cites two third-party population estimates of 1,000 and 1,850, while Sterner estimates the population at 1,500 (1975) and 2,000 (1987), based on actual residence in the area.
Sobei distinguishes alienable possession from inalienable possession by directly suffixing nouns in the latter type of relationship, principally body parts and kin terms. The morphophonemics are often complex: natu’ 'my child', natun 'his/her child', netrirse 'our child(ren)', netrise 'their child(ren)'; dabu'sa'a 'my head', dabusa'a 'his/her head', debrirsa'a 'our heads', debrisa'a 'their heads' (Sterner 1987). The following paradigm of the inalienably possessed noun tema- 'father' is from Sterner (1976). The intermediate -ri- before the possessive suffix serves as a plural marker. As an independent pronoun, ri is 3rd person plural ('they'). Some kin terms that do not take the possessive suffixes nevertheless have plural forms ending in -(r)i: wawa-ri 'uncle-PL', tinan-i 'mother-PL', nabai-yi 'cousin-PL' (Sterner 1976).
Person
Singular
Plural
1st person inclusive
tema-ri-rse
1st person exclusive
tema-'
tema-ri-mse
2nd person
tema-m
tema-ri-mse
3rd person
tema-n
tema-ri-se
Independent pronouns[]
Person
Singular
Plural
1st person inclusive
rer
1st person exclusive
ya
mim
2nd person
u
yam
3rd person
e
ri
Verbs[]
Sobei verb stems can include a number of aspectual, reciprocal, modificational, or directional affixes, but every verb is minimally prefixed to show the grammatical person and number of its subject and grammatical mood (realis or irrealis). Mood markers differ according to whether the stem is simple or complex, and some classes of verbs show stem allomorphy in their conjugational paradigms. (See Sterner 1987.)
Person/Number
Realis 'come'
Irrealis 'come'
1SG
yomi
ima
2SG
umi
ama
3SG
ema
ama
1PL INCL
timi
tama
1PL EXCL
mimi
'a'ma
2PL
mimi
'a'ma
3PL
rimi
riama
Person/Number
Realis 'make'
Irrealis 'make'
1SG
yofi
yafei
2SG
ufi
afei
3SG
efei
afei
1PL INCL
tifi
tafei
1PL EXCL
mifi
'a'fei
2PL
mifi
'a'fei
3PL
rifi
riafei
Person/Number
Realis 'cry'
Irrealis 'cry'
1SG
yotin
itan
2SG
utin
atan
3SG
etan
atan
1PL INCL
titin
tatan
1PL EXCL
mitin
'a'tan
2PL
mitin
'a'tan
3PL
ritin
riatan
Person/Number
Realis 'eat'
Irrealis 'eat'
1SG
win
an
2SG
win
kin
3SG
an
an
1PL INCL
tin
ta'an
1PL EXCL
min
'e'kin
2PL
min
'e'kin
3PL
rin
riekin
Person/Number
Realis 'be'
Irrealis 'be'
1SG
wen
wan
2SG
wen
en
3SG
den
an
1PL INCL
ten
tan
1PL EXCL
men
'e'en
2PL
men
'e'en
3PL
ren
rie'en
External links[]
Paradisec has two collections of Arthur Cappell's materials (AC1, AC2) that include Sobei language materials.
Sterner, Joyce K. 1987. Sobei verb morphology reanalyzed to reflect POC studies. Oceanic Linguistics 14:146-167.
Sterner, Joyce K. 1976. A comprehensive look at Sobei phrases and words. In From Baudi to Indonesian: Studies in linguistics, ed. by Ignatius Suharno and Kenneth L. Pike, pp. 153–176. Jayapura, Cenderawasih University and the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Sterner, Joyce K. 1975. Sobei phonology. Oceanic Linguistics 14:146-167.
Sterner, Robert H. 1975. Sobei verb inflection. Oceanic Linguistics 14:128-145.