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Goilalan languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Goilalan
Wharton Range
Geographic
distribution
Wharton Range, Central Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationBinanderean–Goilalan[1]
  • Goilalan
Language codes
Map: The Goilalan languages of New Guinea
  The Goilalan languages
  Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The Goilalan or Wharton Range languages are a language family spoken around the Wharton Range in the "Bird's Tail" of New Guinea. They were classified as a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages by Stephen Wurm (1975), but only tentatively retained there in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005) and removed entirely by Timothy Usher (2020).[2]

Languages

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The languages are,[2]

The languages are clearly related, especially northern Biagai, Kunimaipa, and Weri, which might be considered divergent dialects.[citation needed]

Pronouns

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Pronouns are:

  • Northern: 1SG ne, 2SG ni, 3SG pi
  • Tauade/Fuyug: 1SG na, 2SG nu

Tauade also has the possessive pronouns ne-ve, ni-e.

Vocabulary comparison

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The following basic vocabulary words are from SIL field notes (1973, 1975, 1980), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[3]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. ʒuvalo, kupal'iai for “two”) or not (e.g. gadolo, kepapaí for “ear”). Notice the very low number of cognate pairs.

gloss Fuyug Tauade
head hul ha; ondobe kɔrɔtɔ
hair are; hul haluma awutu
ear gadolo kepapaí
eye hul li; im tavai
nose hul hunga; unge kiːtʰ
tooth hul usi nɔtɔvai
tongue hul asese aivi
leg soga lɔ'vai
louse hi dautʰ
dog ho; oi kɔveřa
pig ovo pɔřu
bird nemba; nembe kide
egg hulombo mutuwu
blood tana il'iví
bone hude keniví
skin hul hoda; ode kɔtipai
breast hul duda data
tree i'i eata
man a'a; an baře
woman amu; amuri iva
sun evuli vatava
moon hama ɔne
water ʒu ipi
fire oki e'na·m
stone zo evi'ti
road, path enamba; inambe bɔřiƀařa
name ifa ape'te
eat huni nene ɔmei nai
one fida kɔne
two ʒuvalo kupal'iai

Evolution

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Fuyuge reflexes of purported proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[4]

  • baba ‘father’ < *mbapa
  • sabe ‘saliva’ < *si(mb,p)at
  • magata ‘mouth, jaw’ < *maŋgat[a]
  • mele-pila ‘tongue’ < *mele-mbilaŋ
  • imu ‘eye’ < *(ŋg,k)amu
  • ije ‘tree’ < *inda

References

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  1. ^ "New Guinea World, Oro – Wharton Range". Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  2. ^ a b NewGuineaWorld - Wharton Range
  3. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  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.
  • 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.