Kiwaian languages
Language family of New Guinea From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kiwaian languages form a language family of New Guinea. They are a dialect cluster of half a dozen closely related languages.[1] They are grammatically divergent from the Trans–New Guinea languages, and typically have singular, dual, trial, and plural pronouns.[2]
| Kiwaian | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | a primary language family |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | kiwa1251 |
Map: The Kiwaian languages of New Guinea
The Kiwaian languages
Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
Classification
The Trans–New Guinea identity of Kiwaiian is supported by a relatively large number of basic lexical items. Ross (2005) tentatively linked Kiwaiian to the erstwhile language isolate Porome. However, the evidence is only two pronouns, and the connection has not been accepted by other researchers.
Languages
Kiwaian languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.[3]
| Language | Location | Population | Alternate names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Kiwai | Kiwai Rural LLG | 20,000 | Island Kiwai |
| Wabuda | Kiwai Rural LLG | 2,750 | |
| Bamu | south Bamu Rural LLG | 6,310 | |
| Northeast Kiwai | West Kikori Rural LLG | 6,000 | Urama |
| Kerewo | West Kikori Rural LLG | 1,090 | |
| Morigi | West Kikori Rural LLG | ? |
Proto-language
Phonemes
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[4]
*m *n *p *t *s *k *b *d *g *w *ɾ
*i *u *e *o *a
Pronouns
Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as,[4]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *mo | *nimo |
| 2 | *oɾo | *nigo |
| 3 | ? | *nei |
Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[4]
| gloss | Proto-Kiwai |
|---|---|
| head/hair | *kepuɾu |
| hair/feather | *mus[ua] |
| ear | *gaɾe |
| eye | *idomaɾi |
| nose | *wodi |
| tooth | *ibo(-nVɾV) |
| tongue | *uototoɾo[p/b]e |
| leg/foot | *sakiɾo |
| blood | *kaɾima; *sa[w]i |
| bone | *soɾo |
| skin/bark | *tama |
| breast | *amo |
| louse | *nimo |
| dog | *[k]umu |
| bird | *wowogo |
| egg/fruit | *kikopu |
| tree | *nuk₂a; *kota |
| man/male | *dubu |
| woman | *oɾobo; *upi |
| sun/day | *saɾik₂i; *si[w]io |
| moon | *sagomi; *owe |
| water | *kobo |
| fire | *keɾa |
| stone | *(nok₂oɾa-)kopi |
| path | *gabo |
| name | *paini, *paina |
| eat/drink | *oɾuso (sg.), *iɾiso (pl.) |
| one | *nak[o/u] |
| two | *netoa |
Evolution
Kiwaian reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[2]
Southern Kiwai language:
- magota ‘mouth’ < *maŋgat[a]
- amo ‘breast < *amu
- gare ‘ear’ < *kand(e,i)k(V]
- pitu ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,u)t(i,u)[C]
- baba ‘father’ < *mbapa
- sagana ‘moon’ < *takVn[V]
- tuwo ‘ashes’ < *sumbu
- era ‘tree’ < *inda
- nimo ‘louse’ < *niman
- epuru ‘head’ < *kV(mb,p)utu
- kopu ‘short’ < *kutu(p,mb)a
- abida ‘sister’ < *pi(n,nd)a
Other languages:
References
Further reading
External links
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