Yam | |
---|---|
Morehead River | |
Geographic distribution | Morehead River watershed, New Guinea |
Linguistic classification | A primary language family
|
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | more1255 |
Map: The Yam languages of New Guinea Yam languages Trans–New Guinea languages Other Papuan languages Austronesian languages Australian languages Uninhabited |
The Yam languages, also known as the Morehead River languages, are a family of Papuan languages. They include many of the languages south and west of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian West Papua.
The name Morehead and Upper Maro River refers to the area around the Morehead and Maro rivers. Most of the languages are found between these rivers, but the Nambu subgroup are spoken east of the Morehead. Evans (2012) refers to the family instead with the more compact name Yam. This name is motivated by a number of linguistic and cultural items of significance: yam (and cognates) means "custom, tradition"; yəm (and cognates) means "is"; and yam tubers are the local staple and of central cultural importance.
Ross (2005) tentatively includes the Yam languages in the proposed Trans-Fly – Bulaka River family. More recently (Evans 2012) has argued that this is not justified and more data has to be gathered. Evans (2018) classifies the Pahoturi River languages as an independent language family. [1]
Yam languages have also been in intensive contact with Marind and Suki speakers, who had historically expanded into Yam-speaking territories via headhunting raids and other expansionary migrations. [1]
Internal classification of the Yam languages: [2]
Wichmann (2013) did not find a connection between the branches in his automated comparison. [3]
Yam languages are spoken by up to 3,000 people on both sides of the border in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In Papua New Guinea, Yam languages are spoken in Morehead Rural LLG, Western Province. In Papua, Indonesia, Yam languages are spoken in Merauke Regency. [1]
Yam languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below. [1] Geographical coordinates are also provided for some villages. [4]
See also: Districts of Papua (Indonesian Wikipedia)
The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for the family are,
I/we | *ni |
you | *bu |
s/he/they | *be |
Many Yam languages display vowel harmony, including in Nambu and Tonda languages. [1]
The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970) [5] and Voorhoeve (1975), [6] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: [7]
gloss | Kanum | Yei |
---|---|---|
head | mel | kilpel |
hair | mel-kata | peab |
eye | si | cur |
tooth | tor | ter |
leg | tegu | cere |
louse | neːmpin | nim |
dog | krar | jeu |
pig | kwer | becek |
bird | sento | yarmaker |
egg | bel | mekur |
blood | mbel | gul |
bone | mbaːr | gor |
skin | keikei | paːr |
tree | per | per |
man | ire | el-lu |
sun | koŋko | mir |
water | ataka | kao |
fire | mens | benj |
stone | melle | mejer |
name | iu | ore |
eat | anaŋ | cenye |
one | namper | nampei |
two | yempoka | yetapae |
Below are some turtle names in Yam languages, along with names in Suki: [8] : 378
Turtle species | Arammba (Serki) | Neme (Keru) | Nama Wat (Daraia) | Nama Was (Mibini) | Guntai (Wando) | Blafe (Wereave) | Rema (Metafa) | Suki (Suki, Puka-duka) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elseya branderhorsti | M’bay | Fisor | Fisor Fifi | Rawk Rawk Sutafnarr | Chelba | Nthelon | Forr | Medepka |
Elseya novaeguineae | Fisor | |||||||
Emydura subglobosa | Maro Kani | Ngani Fisor | Mani Fisor | Mare Sutafnarr | Mare Chelba | Ntharase; Mari Nthelon | Mari Forr | Tegma; i Anki Kan |
Chelodina parkeri | Kunkakta | Kunkakta | ||||||
Chelodina rugosa | Tomba Kofe Fisor | Mbuirr | Weya Sutafnarr | Mbroyer | Fisuwar | Tanfer Marr Forr | ||
Chelodina novaeguineae | Fasar Kani | Mboro arr | Mbro arr | Magipinini | ||||
Carettochelys insculpta | Budu Susa | Garr | Budu Susa | |||||
Pelochelys bibroni | Sokrere | Kiye Eise | ||||||
Emydura sp. aff. worrelli | Riskap Kani |
All species are consumed by humans except for Chelodina novaeguineae , which is avoided due to its pungent odor. Carettochelys insculpta and Elseya branderhorsti are prized for their large sizes, with E. branderhorsti particularly valued for its plastron. [8]
The Mantion–Meax or (South)East Bird's Head languages are a language family of three languages in the "Bird's Head Peninsula" of western New Guinea, spoken by all together 20,000 people.
The Trans-Fly – Bulaka RiverakaSouth-Central Papuan languages form a hypothetical family of Papuan languages. They include many of the languages west of the Fly River in southern Papua New Guinea into southern Indonesian West Papua, plus a pair of languages on the Bulaka River a hundred km further west.
The Mek languages are a well established family of Papuan languages spoken by the Mek peoples. They form a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005).
The Alor–Pantar languages are a family of clearly related Papuan languages spoken on islands of the Alor archipelago near Timor in southern Indonesia. They may be most closely related to the Papuan languages of eastern Timor, but this is not yet clear. A more distant relationship with the Trans–New Guinea languages of the Bomberai peninsula of Western New Guinea has been proposed based on pronominal evidence, but though often cited has never been firmly established.
The Timor–Alor–Pantar (TAP) languages are a family of Papuan (non-Austronesian) languages spoken in Timor, Kisar, and the Alor archipelago in Southern Indonesia.
The Duna–Pogaya (Duna–Bogaia) languages are a proposed small family of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Voorhoeve (1975), Ross (2005) and Usher (2018), consisting of two languages, Duna and Bogaya, which in turn form a branch of the larger Trans–New Guinea family. Glottolog, which is based largely on Usher, however finds the connections between the two languages to be tenuous, and the connection to TNG unconvincing.
The Kamula–Elevala languages are a small family of the Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the region of the Elevala River.
The Gogodala–Suki or Suki – Aramia River languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea, spoken in the region of the Aramia River. The four language are clearly related.
The Mombum languages, also known as the Komolom or Muli Strait languages, are a pair of Trans–New Guinea languages, Mombum (Komolom) and Koneraw, spoken on Komolom Island just off Yos Sudarso Island, and on the southern coast of Yos Sudarso Island, respectively, on the southern coast of New Guinea. Komolom Island is at the southern end of the Muli Strait.
The Finisterre languages are a language family, spoken in the Finisterre Range of Papua New Guinea, classified within the original Trans–New Guinea (TNG) proposal, and William A. Foley considers their TNG identity to be established. They share with the Huon languages a small closed class of verbs taking pronominal object prefixes some of which are cognate across both families, strong morphological evidence that they are related.
The Kolopom languages are a family of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005). Along with the Mombum languages, they are the languages spoken on Yos Sudarso Island.
The Demta–Sentani languages form a language family of coastal Indonesian Papua near the Papua New Guinea border.
West Bird's Head languages are a small family of poorly documented Papuan languages spoken on the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea.
Morori is a moribund Papuan language of the Kolopom branch of the Trans–New Guinea family. It is separated from the other Kolopom languages by the intrusive Marind family. All speakers use Papuan Malay or Indonesian as L2, and many know Marind.
Mor is a nearly extinct Trans–New Guinea language of Indonesia. It is spoken along the Budidi River and the Bomberai River on the Bomberai Peninsula.
Mandobo, or Kaeti, is a Papuan language of Mandobo District in Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, Indonesia.
The Boazi languages, also known as the Lake Murray languages, are a pair of languages in the Trans–New Guinea family, spoken near Lake Murray. They were previously classified in the Marind branch.
The Bensbach River is a river in southwestern Papua New Guinea. It is located just to the east of the Maro River in Merauke Regency, Indonesia, and just to the west of the Morehead River in Papua New Guinea.
The Morehead River is a river in southwestern Papua New Guinea. It is located just to the east of the Bensbach River, and to the west of the Fly River. The river flows through the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands.
Clemens Lambertus Voorhoeve is a Dutch linguist who specializes in Papuan languages.