Uhunduni languages

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Uhunduni, also known as Damal (Damal-kal) and Amung (Amung-kal) after two of its dialects, is the language of the Amung people and Damal people. It is a Trans–New Guinea language that forms an independent branch of that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005). However, it is treated as an isolate by Palmer (2018).[2] This language family is also called Ingkipilu in a classification by Anton Moeliono. The word Damal came from the Dani people, while Uhunduni came from the Moni people.[3]

Uhunduni
Damal
Amung
RegionCentral Papua: central highlands, Paniai Regency, Beoga and Ilaga sub-districts; Asmat, Deiya, Mimika, and Puncak regencies, north and south Puncak Jaya; possibly Lanny Jaya and Nduga regencies.
EthnicityAmung people, Damal people
Native speakers
14,000 (2000)[1]
Trans–New Guinea
Language codes
ISO 639-3uhn
Glottologdama1272
ELPDamal
Map: The Amung language of New Guinea
  The Amung language
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

Dialects are Amongme, Amung, Damal, Enggipilu.

Classification

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Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Uhunduni to be classified as part of Trans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between Uhunduni and proto-Trans-New Guinea.[4]

  • no- ‘eat’ < *na-
  • mo- come’ < *me-
  • mini- ‘sit’ < *mVna-
  • eme- ‘give’ < *mV-

Pronouns

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Ross (2005) lists the pronouns as:

singular dual plural
1 na iru enoŋ
2 a erop
3 na nuŋ

Iru is an inclusive dual.

Vocabulary

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The following basic vocabulary words of Damal (Uhunduni) are from the Trans-New Guinea database,[5] citing Voorhoeve (1975).[6]

gloss Damal
head niŋok
hair niŋatok
eye noŋop
tooth naik
leg dok; nok
louse ma
dog mitim
pig bow
bird elato; olem
egg olemagam
blood nimang
bone dok; nok
skin nigip
tree em
man me
sun ul
water o; uk; ut
fire ka; kanelep
stone kela
name nem
eat nowin
one amenkak
two au; u

Literature

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The New Testament in Damal was published in 1988.

  • Damal people and CMA. 1988. Haik-A Ongam Kal: Perjanjian Baru Dalam Bahasa Damal [Haik-A Ongam Kal: The New Testament in Damal]. Jakarta: Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia.

References

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  1. ^ Uhunduni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Palmer, Bill (2018). "Language families of the New Guinea Area". 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. 1–20. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. ^ Budhisantoso, S.; Simanulang, Binsar; Guritno, Sri. "Masyarakat Terasing Amungme di Irian Jaya" (PDF). Kemdikbud. p. 31. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  6. ^ Voorhoeve, C.L. 1975. Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  • 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.