Wordlists: Wauyai Maˈya and Batta

This dataset contains a spreadsheet in csv format containing basic words for two closely related Austronesian languages spoken in the Raja Ampat archipelago of northwest New Guinea: Batta and Wauyai Maˈya. Both languages belong to the Raja Ampat-South Halmahera branch of South Halmahera-West New Guinea. All primary data associated with this database is archived here: https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283/8573

The data in this collection comes from field trips in Raja Ampat. The Wauyai Maˈya data was collected in Waimalata hamlet between 16th-27th February 2023, from speakers Pilipus Gimla (born 1955) and Daniel Gaman (born 1960). The Batta data was collected in Yenenas village between 8th-20th December 2019 and 8th-12th March 2023, largely from speakers Ema Sawoy (born 1970) and Hans Sawoy (born 1978), with supplemental data from Henop Dey (born 1943), Martina Kapisa (born 1965), Magdalena Sauyai (born 1968), Martina Kapisa (born 1965), Septinus Mde (born 1952), and Yafed Kapisa (born 1955). Full metadata for all speakers can be found in the archive linked above.

In the dataset, a question mark '?' indicates that data is not available, and a double-hyphen '--' indicates that the word is not found in that variety. I use superscript numerals throughout the dataset to represent phonological tone. Lower numbers mark lower tone, thus: ¹ (Low tone), ¹² (Rise), ³ (High). Stress, which is not predictable in Wauyai Maˈya, is marked with an accent mark.

This dataset is associated with the following forthcoming paper:

Arnold, Laura. Forthcoming. Sketch grammars of Wauyai Maˈya and Batta: Two undocumented Austronesian languages of Raja Ampat, northwest New Guinea. For publication in Language Documentation and Conservation [accepted: 6 December 2024].