| Cenderawasih Bay | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear Cenderawasih Bay, West New Guinea | |
| Geographic distribution | Cenderawasih Bay, Western New Guinea, Indonesia |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian |
| Proto-language | Proto-Cenderawasih Bay |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | cend1238 |
The Cenderawasih languages, also known as Nuclear Cenderawasih Bay languages and approximately synonymous with West New Guinea languages, are a branch of Austronesian languages of Indonesia, found in the islands and shoreline of Cenderawasih Bay in the provinces of West Papua, Central Papua and Papua.
Most of the languages are only known from short word lists, but Biak, Wamesa, and Wooi are fairly well attested.
Reconstructions of subject markers and inalienable possessive markers for Cenderawasih Bay proto-languages according to Kamholz (2015). Note that V = vocalic conjugation, C = consonantal conjugation:
Proto-Cenderawasih Bay:
| 1sg. | *y- (V), *ya- (C) | 1pl. | *t- (incl.), *am- (excl.) |
| 2sg. | *aw- (V), *-u- (C) | 2pl. | *m- |
| 3sg. | *dy- (V), *-i- (C) | 3pl. | *si- |
| 1sg. | *-ku? | 1pl. | *ta-? (incl.), *-mi? (excl.) |
| 2sg. | *-mu | 2pl. | *-mu? |
| 3sg. | *-∅? | 3pl. | *si- |
Proto-Biakic:
| 1sg. | *y- (V), *ya- (C) | 1pl. | *t-, *to- (incl.), *nd-, *ndo- (excl.) |
| 2sg. | *w- (V), *wa-, *-w- (C) | 2pl. | *mt-, *mto- |
| 3sg. | *d- (V), *i-, *-y- (C) | 3pl. | *s-, *si- (anim.), *n-, *na- (inanim.) |
| 1sg. | *-na, *-ri | 1pl. | *to-...-sna (incl.), *nto-...-sna (excl.) |
| 2sg. | *-mi, *-mri | 2pl. | *mto-...-sna |
| 3sg. | *-na, *-ri | 3pl. | *si-...-sna |
Proto-Southwest Cenderawasih Bay:
| 1sg. | *j-?, *i- (C) | 1pl. | *t- (incl.), *am- (excl.) |
| 2sg. | *aw- (V), *a-u- (C) | 2pl. | *am-u- |
| 3sg. | *dy- (V), *i-i- (C) | 3pl. | *ih-i- |
| 1sg. | ? | 1pl. | *t-? (incl.), *-mi? (excl.) |
| 2sg. | ? | 2pl. | *-mu? |
| 3sg. | ? | 3pl. | *si- |
Proto-Yaur-Yerisiam:
| 1sg. | *j- (V), *i- (C) | 1pl. | *k- (incl.), *m- (excl.) |
| 2sg. | *agw- (V), *a-u- (C) | 2pl. | *am-u- |
| 3sg. | *dy- (V), *i-i- (C) | 3pl. | *ih-i- |
| 1sg. | ? | 1pl. | *k- (incl.), *m- (excl.) |
| 2sg. | *a- | 2pl. | *am-? |
| 3sg. | ? | 3pl. | *h- |
From Kamholz (2024):
Proto-Biakic, the ancestor of the Biakic languages, was reconstructed by Rich (2020).