Tama languages

Last updated
Tama
Geographic
distribution
Sepik River basin, Papua New Guinea: just to the south of Nuku town in eastern Sandaun Province
Linguistic classification Sepik
Glottolog sepi1256
Sepik as classified by William A. Foley.svg
The Sepik languages as classified by Foley (2018)

The Tama languages are a small family of three clusters of closely related languages of northern Papua New Guinea, spoken just to the south of Nuku town in eastern Sandaun Province. They are classified as subgroup of the Sepik languages. Tama is the word for 'man' in the languages that make up this group.

Contents

Yessan-Mayo and Mehek are the best documented Tama languages. [1]

Languages

Usher (2020) classifies the Tama languages as follows, [2]

Tama

Foley (2018), following Donald Laycock, provides the following classification. [1]

Tama

Kalou is actually related to Amal. [3]

Phonology

The Tama languages distinguish /r/ and /l/, unlike many other Papuan languages that have only one liquid consonant. [1]

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Laycock (1968), [4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: [5]

gloss Mehek Pahi Yessan-Mayo [6] Yessan-Mayo (Warasai dialect)
headterfataraʔweytara
earnamrawapraywanwan
eyelakwoniaʔweyla; ləla
nosewiliŋkifikihinwiraŋkɨ; raŋkihaŋki
toothmpipiaʔweylər; lirrir
tonguetawultafəkitawləkawul
legsuwahuwatowa; warəsowa
lousenunumnunumnɨ; niniʔ
dogwalawaʔaywalawale
pigfor
birdfenrefeydeyapapu
egglakwoyaʔweyyen; yɨnyan
bloodkefunefumnapnap
boneyefayefayaha
skinlikifuhumwas
breastmukumuwimu; mukwmukw
treemoːmuymemeʔ
mantamatamatama; taməkama
womantawatawataːka
sunnampulnapuyyabəl; yampəlyampəl
moonnekwanefʔalup; lɨyflüp
waterokwuoʔwiok; okwokw
firekiriirʔik-er; kərkər
stonearkwohijopeypapapə
eata(m)
onewurɨ
twolisifufeskes

Related Research Articles

Abau is a Papuan language spoken in southern Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea, primarily along the border with Indonesia.

The Sepik–Ramu languages are an obsolete language family of New Guinea linking the Sepik, Ramu, Nor–Pondo, Leonhard Schultze (Walio–Papi) and Yuat families, together with the Taiap language isolate, and proposed by Donald Laycock and John Z'graggen in 1975.

The Left May or Arai languages are a small language family of half a dozen closely related but not mutually intelligible languages in the centre of New Guinea, in the watershed of the Left May River. There are only about 2,000 speakers in all. Foley (2018) classifies them separately as an independent language family, while Usher (2020) links them with the Amto–Musan languages.

The Ramu–Lower Sepika.k.a.Lower Sepik–Ramu languages are a proposed family of about 35 Papuan languages spoken in the Ramu and Sepik river basins of northern Papua New Guinea. These languages tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.

Sepik languages Papuan language family

The Sepik or Sepik River languages are a family of some 50 Papuan languages spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea, proposed by Donald Laycock in 1965 in a somewhat more limited form than presented here. They tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.

May River Iwam, often simply referred to as Iwam, is a language of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

Lower Sepik languages Language family of Papua New Guinea

The Lower Sepik a.k.a. Nor–Pondo languages are a small language family of East Sepik Province in northern Papua New Guinea. They were identified as a family by K Laumann in 1951 under the name Nor–Pondo, and included in Donald Laycock's now-defunct 1973 Sepik–Ramu family.

The Ramu languages are a family of some thirty languages of Northern Papua New Guinea. They were identified as a family by John Z'graggen in 1971 and linked with the Sepik languages by Donald Laycock two years later. Malcolm Ross (2005) classifies them as one branch of a Ramu – Lower Sepik language family. Z'graggen had included the Yuat languages, but that now seems doubtful.

Middle Sepik languages Groups of Sepik languages

The Middle Sepik languages comprise diverse groups of Sepik languages spoken in northern Papua New Guinea. The Middle Sepik grouping is provisionally accepted by Foley (2018) based on shared innovations in pronouns, but is divided by Glottolog. They are spoken in areas surrounding the town of Ambunti in East Sepik Province.

Upper Sepik languages

The Upper Sepik languages are a group of ten to a dozen languages generally classified among the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea.

Sepik Hill languages Sepik language branch of Papua New Guinea

The Sepik Hill languages form the largest and most ramified branch of the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea. They are spoken along the southern margin of the Sepik floodplain in the foothills of Central Range of south-central East Sepik Province.

The Grass languages are a group of languages in the Ramu language family. It is accepted by Foley (2018), but not by Glottolog. They are spoken in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, with a small number of speakers also located just across the provincial border in Madang Province.

The Ottilien or Watam-Awar-Gamay languages languages are a small family of clearly related languages,

Ram languages

The Ram languages are a small group of 3 languages spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. They are spoken directly to the northeast of the Yellow River languages and directly to the south of the Wapei languages, both of which are also Sepik groups. Ram is the word for 'man' in the languages that make up this group.

The Nukuma languages are a small family of three clearly related languages:

The Mongol–Langam, Koam, or Ulmapo languages are a language group of Keram Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea belonging to the Ramu language family. Foley (2018) includes them within the Grass languages, but they were not included in Foley (2005).

The Arafundi languages are a small family of clearly related languages in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. They are conjectured to be related to the Piawi and Madang languages. They are named after the Arafundi River.

The Lower Ramu or Ottilien–Misegian languages consist of two branches in the Ramu language family. They are all spoken in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

Kambota.k.a.Ap Ma, is a Keram language of Papua New Guinea. Compared to its nearest relative, Ambakich, Kambot drops the first segment from polysyllabic words.

The Wogamus languages are a pair of closely related languages,

References

  1. 1 2 3 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.
  2. Tama, New Guinea World
  3. Amal–Kalou, New Guinea World
  4. Laycock, Donald C. 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics , 7 (1): 36-66.
  5. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea" . Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  6. Foley, W.A. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". In Pawley, A., Attenborough, R., Golson, J. and Hide, R. editors, Papuan Pasts: Cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. PL-572:109-144. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2005.