Uhunduni languages

Uhunduni, also known as Damal (Damal-kal) and Amung (Amung-kal) after two of its dialects, is the language of the Amung people and Damal people. It is a Trans–New Guinea language that forms an independent branch of that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005). However, it is treated as an isolate by Palmer (2018).^[2] This language family is also called Ingkipilu in a classification by Anton Moeliono. The word Damal came from the Dani people, while Uhunduni came from the Moni people.^[3]

Uhunduni
Damal
Amung
Region	Central Papua: central highlands, Paniai Regency, Beoga and Ilaga sub-districts; Asmat, Deiya, Mimika, and Puncak regencies, north and south Puncak Jaya; possibly Lanny Jaya and Nduga regencies.
Ethnicity	Amung people, Damal people
Native speakers	14,000 (2000)[1]
Language family	Trans–New Guinea West Papuan Highlands (Irian Highlands) Amung–Dem Uhunduni
Language codes
ISO 639-3	uhn
Glottolog	dama1272
ELP	Damal
Map: The Amung language of New Guinea   The Amung language   Other Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Uninhabited

Dialects are Amongme, Amung, Damal, Enggipilu.

Classification

Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Uhunduni to be classified as part of Trans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between Uhunduni and proto-Trans-New Guinea.^[4]

• no- ‘eat’ < *na-
• mo- come’ < *me-
• mini- ‘sit’ < *mVna-
• eme- ‘give’ < *mV-

Pronouns

Ross (2005) lists the pronouns as:

	singular	dual	plural
1	na	iru	enoŋ
2	a		erop
3	na		nuŋ

Iru is an inclusive dual.

Vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words of Damal (Uhunduni) are from the Trans-New Guinea database,^[5] citing Voorhoeve (1975).^[6]

gloss	Damal
head	niŋok
hair	niŋatok
eye	noŋop
tooth	naik
leg	dok; nok
louse	ma
dog	mitim
pig	bow
bird	elato; olem
egg	olemagam
blood	nimang
bone	dok; nok
skin	nigip
tree	em
man	me
sun	ul
water	o; uk; ut
fire	ka; kanelep
stone	kela
name	nem
eat	nowin
one	amenkak
two	au; u

Literature

The New Testament in Damal was published in 1988.

• Damal people and CMA. 1988. Haik-A Ongam Kal: Perjanjian Baru Dalam Bahasa Damal [Haik-A Ongam Kal: The New Testament in Damal]. Jakarta: Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia.

References

1. Uhunduni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Palmer, Bill (2018). "Language families of the New Guinea Area". 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. 1–20. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
3. Budhisantoso, S.; Simanulang, Binsar; Guritno, Sri. "Masyarakat Terasing Amungme di Irian Jaya" (PDF). Kemdikbud. p. 31. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
4. Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". 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. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
5. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
6. Voorhoeve, C.L. 1975. Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

• Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.