Elseng language


Elseng is a poorly documented Papuan language spoken by about 300 people in the Indonesian province of Papua. It is also known as Morwap, which means "what is it?" ‘Morwap’ is vigorously rejected as a language name by speakers and government officials.
Elseng is spoken in :id:Omon, Gresi Selatan, Jayapura|Omon village, :id:Gresi Selatan, Jayapura|Gresi Selatan district, Jayapura Regency; it is also called Tabu or Tapu.
Laycock classified Elseng as a language isolate, but noted pronominal similarities with the Border languages. Ross included it in Border because of these similarities, but noted that it does not appear to share any lexical similarities with the family. However, this may be an effect of the paucity of data on Elseng. Foley similarly classifies Elseng as an isolate.

Phonology

Consonants:
Vowels:

Pronouns

Pronouns are:

Basic vocabulary

Elseng basic vocabulary from Menanti, quoted in Foley :

Sentences and phrases

Example sentences and phrases in Elseng: