South Pauwasi languages

The South Pauwasi languages are a likely small language family of New Guinea, potentially consisting of Yetfa, Kimki, Lepki, Murkim and Kembra.^[1]

South Pauwasi
Yetfa – South Pauwasi River
Geographic distribution	Papua: Pegunungan Bintang Regency
Linguistic classification	Pauwasi South Pauwasi
Subdivisions	Yetfa Kimki Lepki–Murkim
Glottolog	None

Classification

Usher (2020) classifies the languages as follows,^[1]

Yetfa – South Pauwasi River

• Yetfa
• South Pauwasi River
  • Kimki
  • Lepki–Murkim
    • Kembra
    • Lepki
    • Murkim

The relationship of the five languages was recognized in the early 2000s as Paul Whitehouse assembled unpublished data from the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Usher classifies them as a branch of the Pauwasi language family.^[1] Søren Wichmann (2013) agrees that Murkim and Lepki at least appear to be very closely related.^[2] Foley (2018) accepts that Kembra, which is very poorly attested, may be related as well.^[3]

Cognates

Some cognates connecting the languages are as follows. There are also loanwords in common with Pyu.^[1]

South Pauwasi cognates

gloss	Yetfa	Kimki	Kembra	Lepki	Murkim
water	ket, kel	di	er	kɛl	kel
two			kais	kaisi	kais
head		anok		no-tɛl	anok
leaf		bwaitʰ (?)		-βai	bwaik
skin/bark		it-'ba		jit	jaitʰ
worm		briɸ		brɛp	breɸ
louse	(n)jim	-nim	nim	nɪm	ɪm
hair		itʰ	-jet	jɛt
ear		bwa		bwi	bwi
eye	iː	ɛ̃	ji	jɛ-mɔn
coconut		was-		wæjs	wais-
speech	ma	mi		mi-	mi
knife	tema	tma		tə̆'ma	tma
canoe	kuf	õːp		kuβ	kuɸ
shit	ɲan	ain		-ɲa	njah ~ iãh
person		ap ~ aɸ	rá-	ra	ɸra
egg	nela		-lĕl	dɛl	nel
fire/wood	jao (tree)		já	ja	jo ~ ja-
house	nam	meː		nim	mi
laugh	mamla			-mwel-o	mwalo
this	si	si			si
cloud	kos			kos-	kos-
tongue		arbak		braw	prouk
tail			nókwa	jouk	jakʷat~ɲakʷat
white		lʊ		dol-	lol
far		uje~udʒe		w̆ijɛ	wije~uje-
come		-ki-		guj-	kʷi
1pl		name			nakme
2pl		same			sakme-re

References

1. New Guinea World, South Pauwasi River
2. Wichmann, Søren. 2013. A classification of Papuan languages. In: Hammarström, Harald and Wilco van den Heuvel (eds.), History, contact and classification of Papuan languages (Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, Special Issue 2012), 313-386. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.
3. Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.

External links

• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, proto–South Pauwasi River