Arafundi languages

Last updated
Arafundi
Alfendio
Arafundi River
Geographic
distribution
Arafundi River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classification Madang – Upper Yuat [1]
Glottolog araf1243
ELP Alfendio

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.

Contents

Alfendio is an old synonym for Arafundi, from when it was still considered a single language.

Languages

The Arafundi languages form a dialect continuum where language boundaries are blurred. [2]

The Arafundi languages are, [1]

Kassell, et al. (2018) recognize Andai, Nanubae, and Tapei. [3]

Foley (2018) cites Hoenigman (2015) for 'Upper Arafundi' and 'Lower Arafundi', as well as listing Awiakay and 'Imboin'. [2] However, the scope of these names is somewhat confused. Usher notes,

Hoenigman (2015: 46 after Hoenigman and Evans 2013) designates Nanubae as Lower Arafundi and Andai–Meakambut as Upper Arafundi, with what we guess to be Tapei labelled simply Imboin after the name of a village where Tapei (Awim) as well as Andai (Namata) and Awiakay (Karamba) are spoken (Kassell, MacKenzie and Potter 2017: 13.) However, she assigns the Tapei-speaking Awim village to the Lower Arafundi language, which contradicts our data from Haberland (1966: 62-64) and Kassell, MacKenzie and Potter (2017: 48-54). [1]

An Enga-based pidgin is also used by speakers of Arafundi languages.

Classification

Laycock (1973) grouped the Arafundi languages with the Ramu languages, although (according to his comments in the introduction) this grouping was apparently impressionistic and not based on either reconstructive work or lexicostatistics. Ross (2005) retains Laycock's grouping without comment. However, Foley (2005) does not include Arafundi within Ramu, and Ethnologue (2009) shows them as an independent family. Foley has suggested instead that the Arafundi and Piawi languages may be related (Comrie 1992), a position confirmed by Timothy Usher. [4]

Proto-language

Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Arafundi River by Usher (2020) are: [1]

glossProto-Arafundi River
head*kopa
hair/feather(s)*tum[a]
ear*kund[a]
nose*pok
tooth*kandz[a]
tongue*taTumat[a]
foot/leg*panamb[a]
blood*kombet-
bone*jekimb[a]
skin*kumb[a]-; *tut[a]
breast*ji[t/s]
louse*emuŋg
dog*tawa[m/mb]
pig*jat
bird*kenet
egg*mund[a]
tree*jes
man*nuŋgum
woman*nam
sun*kVjom
moon*kepa
water*jomb
fire*jamb
stone*naŋgum
name*membi[a]
eat/drink*nembV-
two*kamin, *kondamin

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Piawi languages are a small family of Papuan languages spoken in the Schraeder Range of the Madang Highlands of Papua New Guinea that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal. They are now connected to the Arafundi and Madang languages.

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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.

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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,

Tama languages

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.

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 Iwam languages are a small family of two clearly related languages,

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

The Papi and Asaba languages form a small family of two somewhat distantly related languages of northern Papua New Guinea, namely Papi and Suarmin (Asaba).

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 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.

Tapei is an Arafundi language of Papua New Guinea. It is close to Nanubae; the name Alfendio was once used for both.

The Wogamus languages are a pair of closely related languages,

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Usher, Timothy (2020) New Guinea World, Arafundi River
  2. 1 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. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. Kassell, Alison, Bonnie MacKenzie and Margaret Potter. 2018. Three Arafundi Languages: A Sociolinguistic Profile of Andai, Nanubae, and Tapei . SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2017-003.
  4. NewGuineaWorld Arafundi and Upper Yuat Rivers [ permanent dead link ]