West Bomberai languages

West Bomberai
West Bomberai
Bomberai–Timor
Geographic; distribution	West New Guinea, East Timor
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea Berau Gulf West Bomberai; ;
Subdivisions	Karas; Mbahaam–Iha; Timor–Alor–Pantar;
Language codes
Glottolog	west2604 (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	*[a/o]n	*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	mõ	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

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e New Guinea World, West Bomberai
^ 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
^ 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
^ 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
^ 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
^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Usher, Timothy (2020). "New Guinea World". Retrieved 2020-12-31.
^ 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.

External links

Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–West Bomberai

[ngw-1] 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.

[TNG-org-7] Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.

[Usher-2020-8] Usher, Timothy (2020). "New Guinea World". Retrieved 2020-12-31.

[Foley-NWNG-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.

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