A Preliminary Sketch of Yokoim Phonology and Morphology

Yokoim, also known as Karawari and Tabriak, is a language of the Lower Sepik family\ud (Ramu-Lower Sepik phylum) spoken by ~2,000 speakers as of 2009 in the villages of Kundiman,\ud Manjamai, and Konmei in the Karawari river region, East Sepik Province, Papua New\ud Guinea (PNG). Yokoim is an endangered language threatened by the spreading dominance\ud of Tok Pisin, a national prestige language. In many communities, there remains only a\ud passive knowledge of Yokoim, as children no longer learn the language. This thesis is a\ud preliminary study of the language based on data collected by Prof. David Harrison and Dr.\ud Greg Anderson in 2010. It will center on analyzing the Yokoim phonology and morphology,\ud especially nominal, pronominal, verbal, and adjectival morphology. It will also touch upon\ud the counting system and Yokoim semantics and morphosyntax