Senu River | |
---|---|
Geographic distribution | Senu River region, Papua New Guinea |
Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families |
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | None kwom1263 (Kwomtari–Nai) |
![]() The neighboring Kwomtari–Nai and Fas language families |
The Senu River languages are a small language family spoken in the Senu River watershed of Papua New Guinea. They consist at least of the Kwomtari languages, Kwomtari and Nai, with several additional languages more distantly related to them.
The family consists of at least the two relatively closely related languages Kwomtari and Nai.
Baron adds the highly divergent language Guriaso:
Guriaso shares a small number of cognates with Kwomtari–Nai. Baron (1983) considers the evidence to be convincing when a correspondence between /ɾ~l/ and /n/ (from *ɾ) is established:
Gloss | Guriaso | Kwomtari |
---|---|---|
Verb suffixes (1pl, 2pl, 3pl) | -nɔ, -mɛ, -no | -ɾe, -mo, -ɾe* |
dog | map | mau |
ear | mətɛnu | futɛne |
crocodile | mɔməni | maməle |
small | tɔkəno | tɔkweɾo |
nose | apədu | tipu** |
* Compare Biaka -ɾo,-mo,-na.
** Metathesis of /p/ and /t/.
Usher further classifies Yale (Nagatman) with Guriaso, and adds Busa, all under the name "Senu River". [1]
There has been confusion over the membership of the Kwomtari family, apparently due to a misalignment in the publication (Loving & Bass 1964) of the data used for the initial classification. (See Baron 1983.) Because of this, Laycock classified the Kwomtari languages as part of a spurious Kwomtari–Fas family, which confusingly was also often called "Kwomtari" in the literature. However, Baron sees no evidence that the similarities are due to relationship. Usher likewise discounts the inclusion of the Fas languages. See Kwomtari–Fas languages for details.
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The Kwomtari–Fas languages, often referred to ambiguously as Kwomtari, are an apparently spurious language family proposal of six languages spoken by some 4,000 people in the north of Papua New Guinea, near the border with Indonesia. The term "Kwomtari languages" can also refer to one of the established families that makes up this proposal.
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The Left May–Kwomtari or Arai–Kwomtari languages are a possible small family of Papuan languages proposed by Malcolm Ross, which links the Left May (Arai) family with the Kwomtari–Fas proposal. However, the proposal is problematic; it's not clear if the Arai correspondences are with Kwomtari, with Fas, or with both, as Kwomtari–Fas is itself dubious.
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The Fas languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea.
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Fas is the eponymous language of the small Fas language family of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.
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Kwomtari is the eponymous language of the Kwomtari family of Papua New Guinea.
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Amanab Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. It is located along the border with Keerom Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia.
Green River Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. It is located along the border with Keerom Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia.
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