Salt-Yui language
Salt, or Yui, is a Trans–New Guinea language of Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea.
Basics
The following are some basic examples of phrases and nouns in Salt-Yui:| Salt-Yui | English translation or meaning |
| yahuno | Basic greeting |
| ere po | Basic farewell |
| na hana ___ | my name is ___ |
| na pimgi | i understand |
| ni han dalo | tell me your name |
| akio | don't touch this |
Pronunciation
Vowels
The following is how you pronounce certain vowels in Salt-Yui:- /a/ is pronounced as in father
- /e/ is pronounced as in peg
- /i/ is pronounced as in tin
- /o/ is pronounced as in more
- /u/ is pronounced as in put
Consonants
- r between vowels is flapped i.e. like 'd
'. And if placed at the end of a word it is not voiced but trilled. - l between vowels is flapped i.e. like '
d '. but if not, it has the same friction as the English 'l '. - ng is normally pronounced as in 'sing
', but if it is in the 2nd person it should be pronounced as a sequence of 'n+g ' Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns">Possessive pronouns">Possessive Pronouns
Most nouns may show ownership this way:| 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person | |
| Singular | -na | -ni | -ng |
| Plural | -na | -ni | -ng |
Example:
| Noun | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person |
| wa | wana | wani | wang |
Personal Pronouns">Personal pronoun">Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns are shown like this:| 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person | |
| Singular | na | ni | yali |
| Plural | na | ni | yali |
Verbs
The following is how to conjugate verbs with personal pronouns shown with an example:| 1st Person | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person | |
| Singular | digi | dimgi | dingi | dungwi |
| Plural | X | dimgi | dingi | dungwi |
| 1st Person | 1st Person | 2nd Person | 3rd Person | |
| Singular | dikigi | dikimgi | dikingi | dikungw |
| Plural | X | dikimgi | dikingi | dikungw |
As seen above, Salt-Yui has a special form for verbs with 'I alone'; why this is is still unknown.
Other example verbs:
| Salt-Yui | English |
| di/du | to be |
| mol | to be |
| ol | to do |
| ke pai | to live |
| ne/no | to eat/to drink |
| te/to | to give |
All of these verbs can follow the previous conjugations for verbs.
Adjectives
In Salt-Yui, adjectives usually follow the noun, here are some examples of adjectives in Salt-Yui:| Salt-Yui | English |
| migiga | small |
| obilga | small amount |
| miki | many |
| nol | red/pink |
| mori | blue/green |
| pege | white |
Numerals
There are five cardinal numerals that have been written down, which are the following:| Salt-Yui | English |
| taniga | one |
| sutani | two |
| suitai dire | three |
| sui sui dire | four |
| ana holulu | five |
Locatives
The following are examples of known locatives in Salt-Yui:| Salt-Yui | English |
| yolbi | down |
| manala | under |
| mibi | above |
| ala | in |
| mala | near |
| bina | beside, edge |