Upper Yuat languages

(Redirected from Upper Yuat River languages)

The Upper Yuat languages consist of two small language families, namely Arafundi and Piawi, spoken in the region of the upper Yuat River of New Guinea. The connection was first suggested by William A. Foley[2] and confirmed by Timothy Usher, who further links them to the Madang languages.[1]

Upper Yuat
Upper Yuat River
Geographic
distribution
Upper Yuat River watershed, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationNortheast New Guinea and/or Trans–New Guinea
Subdivisions
GlottologNone

Upper Yuat languages display more typological similarities with Trans-New Guinea than the other neighboring language families of the Sepik-Ramu basin (namely the Lower Sepik-Ramu and Yuat families).[2] The Madang languages are frequently included in Trans–New Guinea classifications, but the connection is not yet demonstrated.

The Piawi languages are morphologically much simpler than the Arafundi languages.[2]

Pronouns edit

Pronouns are:[2]

Proto-Upper Yuat pronouns
sg pl
1 *ni *an ~ *aŋ
2 *na *ne
3 *nu

The individual languages are as follows:[2]

Harway Hagahai Pinai    Lower
Arafundi
Upper
Arafundi
Awiakay
1sg nɨ-ɡə ŋɨ-ɡə nɨ-ɡa ɲɨŋ niŋ niŋ
2sg na-ɡo na-ɣə na-ɡa nan nan nan
3sg nu-ɡʷə nə-ɣʷə an an
1du as as as
2/3du nɨɲ nen neɲ
1pl an-ɡə an-ɡə nanə-ɡa
2/3pl ɲɨ-ɡə ɲe-ɡə ɲi-ɡa noŋ noŋ noŋ

3rd-person *nu (number uncertain) corresponds to Piawi 3 singular and Arafundi 2/3 plural, *ne to Piawi 2/3 plural and Arafundi 2/3 dual.

Phonology edit

Upper Yuat languages typically have 7 vowels:[2]: 236 

i ɨ u
e ə o
a

References edit

  1. ^ a b New Guinea World, Upper Yuat River
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.

Further reading edit

  • Davies, J. and Comrie, B. "A linguistic survey of the Upper Yuat". In Adams, K., Lauck, L., Miedema, J., Welling, F., Stokhof, W., Flassy, D., Oguri, H., Collier, K., Gregerson, K., Phinnemore, T., Scorza, D., Davies, J., Comrie, B. and Abbott, S. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 22. A-63:275-312. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1985. doi:10.15144/PL-A63.275