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West Bomberai languages

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West Bomberai
Bomberai–Timor
Geographic
distribution
West New Guinea, East Timor
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologwest2604  (mainland West Bomberai)
timo1261  (Timor–Alor–Pantar)
Map: The West Bomberai languages of New Guinea
  The West Bomberai languages
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The West Bomberai languages are a family of Papuan languages spoken on the Bomberai Peninsula of western New Guinea and in East Timor and neighboring islands of Indonesia.

Languages

Two of the languages of the mainland, Baham and Iha, are closely related to each other; the third is distant, forming a third branch of the family along with the Timor–Alor–Pantar languages:[1]

Ross (2005) classified Timor–Alor–Pantar with the mainland West Bomberai languages, although this connection is not universally accepted. Usher found that the Timor–Alor–Pantar languages resides within the West Bomberai languages, and is not just their closest relative. This suggests that Timor–Alor–Pantar may have been the result of a relatively recent migration from New Guinea, perhaps arriving in the Timor area shortly before the Austronesian languages did.

Classification

Ross (2005) classifies Timor–Alor–Pantar with the West Bomberai languages, the two groups forming a branch within West Trans–New Guinea. Based on a careful examination of new lexical data, Holton & Robinson (2014) find little evidence to support a connection between TAP and TNG.[2] However, Holton & Robinson (2017) concede that a relationship with Trans-New Guinea and West Bomberai in particular is the most likely hypothesis, though they prefer to leave it unclassified for now.[3] Usher (2020) finds that the two mainland branches of the family are no closer to each other than they are to the Timor–Alor–Pantar languages, and has begun to reconstruct the West Bomberai protolanguage.[1]

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as:[1]

*p *t [*ts] *k *kʷ
*mb *nd [*ndz] *ŋɡ *ŋɡʷ
*m *n
*s
*w *l, *r *j

Prenasalized plosives do not occur initially, having merged with the voiceless plosives.

The vowels are *i *u *e *o *a *ɒ and the diphthong *ai.

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the free pronouns as:[1]

sg pl
1excl *[a/o]n *in
1incl *pi (?)
2 *k[a/o] *ki

Cognates

Protoforms of the 40 most-stable items[4] in the Swadesh list include the following.[1]

Proto–West Bomberai gloss
*am[i/u]n louse
*kira water
*kʷali ear
*k[i/u]m[i/u] die
*[a/o]n I
*kina eye
*tana hand/arm
*nai name
*war stone
*ami breast
*k[a/o] you
*[ja]ŋgal path
? tongue (*maŋg[a] voice/speech)
*aŋgin body/skin
*kaja rain
*waik blood
*ukʷan[i] one
*ma come
*tVmber mountain
*ni- we
*na[wa] eat/drink
*kena[t] see
*kʷel[e] skin/bark
*jambar dog

Lexical comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1975),[5] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[6]

gloss Baham Iha
head kendo-wame kanda
hair tawe kandaːtən
eye ki-ep kendep
tooth sin-tap mihin-tap
leg kueit kowk
louse min mən
dog yambar mbiar
pig kundur ndur
bird paru-baru je
egg un wund
blood wiek wek
bone ntoxar togar
skin pak ŋein
tree ado-kwiria adoːp
man namia nemeːr
sun kamini kimina
water kirya kra
fire yambur toom
stone war war
name nie ne
eat nowa nəw-
one ogono kwo
two -rik (he)rik

The following lexical data comparing West Bomberai with other languages of the Bomberai Peninsula and Geelvink Bay is from the Trans-New Guinea database[7] and Usher (2020),[8] unless noted otherwise.

Body parts
family language head hair ear eye nose tooth tongue leg blood bone skin breast
Trans-New Guinea Proto-Trans-New Guinea *kobutu; *kV(mb,p)utu; *mUtUna; *mVtVna *iti; *(nd,s)umu(n,t)[V]; *zumun *ka(nd,t)(i,e)C; *kat(i,e)C; *tVmV(d) *g(a,u)mu; *ŋg(a,u)mu; *(ŋg,k)iti [maŋgV]; *nVpV *mundu; *mutu *magata; *maŋgat[a]; *titi *balaŋ; *mbilaŋ; *me(l,n)e; *me(n,l)e *kani(n); *k(a,o)ond(a,o)C; *kitu *ke(ñj,s)a; *kesa *kondaC; *kwata(l,n) *gatapu; *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu *amu
West Bomberai Proto-Mbahaam-Iha[8] *kaˈnda *kʷⁱɛr *wⁱɛk *ˈtɔkar *pak *sɔn
Mor Mor idura sa nana nasona bana wabmina weten gina
Tanah Merah Tanahmerah breŋka; kidaso nisa; nua ka-bita; ndou eti; kioni kiwi; oto kinatera; sa naso; oro ele; katane
Mairasi Proto-Etna Bay[8] *-suɾu *ɸiɾa *mbiatu *-mbi *-ɾasi *-saɸia *-koɾa *iseɾe *tuɾa *(na)-kia *joku
Keuw Keuw[9] kpúunt téemé mlúul klókəә̀n mée áalì kpíi ntyéns mpáakəә́t túulí
East Cenderawasih Bay Bauzi dauha; ohula ohuta dogoi fako; faxo ɔmtɔ iso naba:; nao vasɛa; veiso fa; oveha sogoba; sɔkɔba ahudɛ
East Cenderawasih Bay Tunggare ʔohaha ohitaʔi hanua mou nal nahavei ha isaʔa
Burmeso Burmeso agum ihiro jenar araruro jago sar hiurap asi memiro
Abinomn Abinomn[8] dəm [amir] [ir] seide [is] ame
Nature
family language louse dog pig bird egg tree sun moon water fire stone path
Trans-New Guinea Proto-Trans-New Guinea *niman *n(e,i); *n(e)i; *n[e]i; *yak; *yaka[i]; *yanem *maŋgV; *munaka; *mun(a,u)ka *ida; *inda ~ *iñja *kamali; *kamuli; *ketana *kal(a,i)m; *kamali; *takVn; *takVn[V] *nok; *(n)ok; *ok(u); *ok[V] *inda; *k(a,e)dap; *k(a,e)(n,d)ap; *kambu; *k(a,o)nd(a,u)p *kamb(a,u)na; *(na)muna; *[na]muna
West Bomberai Proto-Mbahaam-Iha *mɛⁱn *jaˈmbar *[ku]ˈndur *wun *wiˈra *kaˈminV *kaˈpas *kiˈra *war
Mor Mor twoa afuna bia isa utreta wara seba sea taha puata
Tanah Merah Tanahmerah ia; miŋ ibe; yoku opo; tayna awə; finanaburu doŋ; no o; ono; taya soniŋ; weti bu; moda avonabe; siŋ kenade; oru
Mairasi Proto-Etna Bay *kumai *ansi *[ɸ]embe *sai *ete *tende *aŋgane *ɸat[e] *iɸoɾo *jaɸutu *kae
Keuw Keuw kómúul páupǝn bléemí kúd tandən dyúutǝn yél núup tóotí ngkéempúkə
East Cenderawasih Bay Bauzi vɔa; vwa vɛm; veme doho; dɔhɔ bume; bumɛ ʔo; ɔɔ uto ala; ala(meoho) ala valo; vaɔ üwa; vua kɛ; khe
East Cenderawasih Bay Tunggare ʔua weme doho dinarate ʔoʔo uto-me au mana urehe hahia
Burmeso Burmeso hati jamo sibo tohodo kohũp haman misiavo bau hor ako
Abinomn Abinomn dʒen səre wər sər mən wor jewon
Miscellaneous
family language man woman name eat one two
Trans-New Guinea Proto-Trans-New Guinea *abV; *ambi *panV; *pan(V) *ibi; *imbi; *wani *na; *na- *ta(l,t)(a,e)
West Bomberai Proto-Mbahaam-Iha *nami-sar *t[ɔ/u]mb[ɔ/u]r *nⁱɛ *nawa *ɔkʷɔ[nɔ]
Mor Mor hiamia inagenena masmore nadu kin
Tanah Merah Tanahmerah do; maopa nigia; wado anine; taue besika; naduma bi; wanitabo
Mairasi Proto-Etna Bay *koɸo *eɸei *u[w]ata *tana-(kau) *amoi
Keuw Keuw méeli úun núu bíisìp páid
East Cenderawasih Bay Bauzi data ɛ; ele æ; udeʔa væmtɛa; vamtia beasu; bɛhæsu
East Cenderawasih Bay Tunggare date ʔe ghayo duaʔa amaite
Burmeso Burmeso tamo ahau bomo neisano sor
Abinomn Abinomn

References

  1. ^ a b c d e New Guinea World, West Bomberai
  2. ^ Holton, Gary; Robinson, Laura C. (2014), "The linguistic position of the Timor-Alor-Pantar languages", in Klamer, Marian (ed.), Alor Pantar languages: History and Typology, Berlin: Language Sciences Press, pp. 155–198, doi:10.17169/langsci.b22.48
  3. ^ Holton, Gary; Robinson, Laura C. (2017), "The linguistic position of the Timor-Alor-Pantar languages", in Klamer, Marian (ed.), Alor Pantar languages: History and Typology Second Edition, Berlin: Language Sciences Press, pp. 147–190, doi:10.5281/zenodo.437098
  4. ^ Holman, Eric W., Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Viveka Velupillai, André Müller, Dik Bakker (2008). "Explorations in Automated Language Classification". Folia Linguistica, Vol. 42, no. 2, 331–354
  5. ^ Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-B31
  6. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  7. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  8. ^ a b c d Usher, Timothy (2020). "New Guinea World". Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  9. ^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". 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. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.