Yale

Yale is a language isolate spoken in Papua New Guinea, by about 600 people. Glottolog rates it shifting.

Yale · 3.8°S 141.6°E

An isolate: no relationship to any other known language has been demonstrated.

The Yalë language, also known as Yadë, Nagatman, or Nagatiman, is spoken in northwestern Papua New Guinea. It may be related to the Kwomtari languages, but Palmer (2018) classifies it as a language isolate.

There were 600 speakers in 1991 and 30 monolinguals at an unrecorded date. Yalë is spoken in Nagatiman (3.744917°S 141.471593°E / -3.744917; 141.471593 (Nagatiman)) and several other villages of Green River Rural LLG in Sandaun Province. Foley (2018) reports a total of six villages.

Yalë is in extensive trade and contact with Busa, a likely language isolate spoken just to the south. Yalë has complex verbal inflection and SOV word order.

From Wikipedia · Yalë language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in Yale

Meaning	Word	Romanization
person	hoh*
eye	naba*
ear	ahulu7*
nose	yElu*
tooth	Eninu7*
tongue	aLiZi7*
hand	tuba*
blood	winu7*
bone	ElEbu*
skin	Zibu7*
knee	sk3pu*
breast	maba*
liver	manibu*
water	tu
fire	ahuji7*
star	sik3tuba7*
stone	anizi7*
mountain	patini7*
tree	ti*
leaf	taba7*
night	kuLapi*
dog	kali7*
fish	mu7*
louse	miba7*
one	Zuwa7*
two	teLE*
come	Esi*
path	ar3gE7*
new	tihu7*