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Marind–Yaqai languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marind–Yakhai
Marind
EthnicityMarind people
Geographic
distribution
South Papua
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Subdivisions
  • Marind
  • Yaqay
Language codes
Glottologmari1437
Map: The Marind–Yaqai languages of New Guinea
  The Marind and Yaqai languages
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The Marind–Yaqai (Marind–Yakhai) languages are a well established language family of Papuan languages, spoken by the Marind-anim. They form part of the Trans–New Guinea languages in the classifications of Stephen Wurm and Malcolm Ross, and were established as part of the Anim branch of TNG by Timothy Usher.

Languages

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The languages are:

Proto-language

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Phonemes

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Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[2]

*m *n
*p *t *k
*b *d *g
*mb *nd *ŋg
*s *h
*w *j

Vowels are *a *e *i *o *u.

Pronouns

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The pronouns are:[1]

sg pl
1 *nok ?
2 *oɣ *eoɣ
3m *anep *anip
3f *anup

Classification

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The Marind languages were partially identified by Sidney Herbert Ray and JHP Murray in 1918; the family was filled out by JHMC Boelaars in 1950. It was incorporated into Trans–New Guinea by Stephen Wurm in 1975.

The Boazi languages were formerly classified as Marind.

Evolution

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Marind reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:[3]

  • kase ‘saliva’ < pTNG *kasipa ‘spit’
  • maŋgat ‘mouth’ < *maŋgat[a]
  • mudu-meŋ ‘belly’ < *mundu-maŋgV ‘heart’
  • mokom ‘fruit, seed’ < *maŋgV
  • saŋga ‘hand, finger, arm’ < *sa(ŋg,k)(a,i)l ‘hand, claw’
  • ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
  • de ‘tree’ < *inda
  • iwar ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
  • kuyu ‘cassowary’ < *ku(y)a

See also

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Further reading

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  • Drabbe, Petrus. 1950. Twee dialecten van de Awju-taal [Two dialects of the Awyu language]. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 106: 92–147.
  • Drabbe, Petrus. 1954a. Comparative Vocabulary 100 words in 24 languages. Posieux/Fribourg: Instituut Anthropos.
  • Drabbe, Petrus. 1954b. Talen en dialecten van zuid-west Nieuw-Guinea [Languages and Dialects of Southwest New Guinea]. Posieux/Fribourg: Instituut Anthropos.
  • Drabbe, Petrus. 1955. Spraakkunst van het Marind: Zuidkust Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea [A Grammar of Marind: South Coast of New Guinea]. Wien-Mödling: Drukkerij van het Missiehuis St. Gabriël.

References

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  1. ^ a b New Guinea World, Fly River
  2. ^ New Guinea World, Marind–Yakhai
  3. ^ Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". 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. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
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