Arapesh languages

Last updated
Arapesh
Ethnicity Arapesh people
Geographic
distribution
eastern Sandaun Province and northern East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classification Torricelli
  • Arapesh
Subdivisions
Glottolog arap1279
Torricelli languages map.svg
The Torricelli languages as classified by Foley (2018)

The Arapesh languages are several closely related Torricelli languages of the 32,000 Arapesh people of Papua New Guinea. They are spoken in eastern Sandaun Province and northern East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

Contents

The Arapesh languages are among the better-studied of Papuan languages and are most distinctive in their gender systems, which contain up to thirteen genders (noun classes) with noun-phrase concordance. Mufian, for example, has 17 noun classes for count nouns plus two extra noun classes, i.e. proper names and place names. [1] (See that article for examples.)

Phonology

The most notable feature of the Arapesh phoneme inventory is the use of labialization as a contrastive device.

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain labialized plain labialized
Nasal m n ɲ
Stop voiceless t k
voiced d ɡ ɡʷ
Fricative s h
Flap ɾ
Lateral l

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i ɨ u
Mid e ə o
Low a

Arapesh syllables have the structure (C)V(V)(C), though monosyllables always contain coda consonants.

Higher central vowels /ɨ ə/ sometimes break up consonant clusters in the middle of words.

Pronouns

Pronouns in Arapesh and other related Torricelli languages: [2]

KombioMountain
Arapesh
Southern
Arapesh
UrimUratAruopKayik
1sgapmyek~eikaeʔkupmŋamamkəmex
2sgyiknɲak~ɲekinəʔkitnninyikiyox
3sgkɨlənan~naniənənkilkindintəno
1plan(t)okok~kwakwiapəmenpoimendikupox

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from the Trans-New Guinea database: [3]

gloss Abu' Arapesh [4] Bukiyip [5]
headbʌrʌkʰaberag
hairbʌrʌkʰa
earɛligʌatah
eyeŋʌimnabep
nosemutu
toothnʌluhnau̥h̥
tongueʌhʌkʌjaham
legburʔahaijag
lousenumunʌl
dognubʌtnybat
pigbul
birdʌlimilaramir
eggʌlhuʌbjuhuryb
bloodusibɛlausibør
bonepisitʌnʌgelbøløpigør
skinbeni'kohjageniu̥h̥
breastnumʌb
treelʌ·wʌklawag
manʌʔlemʌnaraman
womannumʌtoara- matoku
sunuʔwʌhaun
moon'ʌ'unaun
waterʌbʌlbør
fireunihnih̥
stoneutʌmutom
road, pathiʌh
nameɛigil
eat'nʌsʌh
oneetin
twobiəsbium

Grammar

Recent shifts have moved Arapesh languages from the typical Papuan SOV to a SVO order, along with a corresponding shift in adpositional order. Most modifiers usually precede the noun, though as a result of changes in word order genitives and nouns do not have a fixed order.

The language's unique gender system is largely based on the ending of the noun. There are cognate pairings of each gender for singular and plural numbers. The whole gender system, unlike most of the comparable complexity in Niger–Congo languages, is sex-based: Gender IV is for all female beings and Gender VII for male ones. Arapesh culture forbids the use of personal names, so that kinship nouns are used extensively to address even intimate relatives.

Arapesh languages also have a system of verbal nouns: there by default belong to gender VIII.

Gender agreement, along with that for person and number, occurs with all adjectives, numerals and interrogative pronouns and the subject and object of verbs. Verbs in Arapesh languages are inflected by means of prefixes. The basic template for this inflection is the order SUBJECT-MOOD-ROOT.

Related Research Articles

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Bukiyip (Bukiyúp), or Mountain Arapesh, is an Arapesh language (Torricelli) spoken by around 16,000 people between Yangoru and Maprik in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. Bukiyip follows the SVO typology. The Arapesh languages are known for their complex noun-phrase agreement system.

Mufian, or Southern Arapesh, is an Arapesh language (Torricelli) of Papua New Guinea. Dialects are Supari, Balif, Filifita (Ilahita), Iwam-Nagalemb, Nagipaem; Filifita speakers are half the population, at 6,000 in 1999. It is spoken in 36 villages, most of which are located within Bumbita-Muhian Rural LLG, East Sepik Province. It is also spoken in Supari ward of Albiges-Mablep Rural LLG.

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The Wogamus languages are a pair of closely related languages,

References

  1. Alungum, John; Conrad, Robert J.; Lukas, Joshua (1978). "Some Muhiang Grammatical Notes". In Loving, Richard (ed.). Miscellaneous Papers on Dobu and Arapesh. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 89–130.
  2. Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". 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. 197–432. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "Language Family: Torricelli". TransNewGuinea.org. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  4. Summer Institute of Linguistics Language Survey of Abu, 1975.
  5. Laycock, D. C. (1968). "Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea". Oceanic Linguistics. 7 (1): 36–66. doi:10.2307/3622846. JSTOR   3622846.

Further reading