Asmat is a
Papuan language cluster
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
of
West New Guinea
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
.
Languages
The principal varieties, distinct enough to be considered separate languages, are:
*
Kamrau Bay (Sabakor):
New Guinea World, Kamrau Bay
/ref>
*Casuarina Coast
''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fam ...
(Kaweinag), the most divergent
*North and Central Asmat
** Citak (Kaünak)
** North Asmat
** Central Asmat (dialects: Keenok, Sokoni, Keenakap, Kawenak)
Ethnically, speakers are either Asmat or Citak.
Evolution
Below are some reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Pawley (2012):
Verbs
In Flamingo Bay Asmat, light verbs are combined with adjuncts to form predicative expressions.
References
External links
* PARADISEC
The Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) is a cross-institutional project that supports work on endangered languages and cultures of the Pacific and the region around Australia. They digitise reel-to ...
archive o
Asmat language recordingsAsmat
New Guinea World.
Kamrau Bay
New Guinea World.
{{Languages of Indonesia
Asmat-Kamoro languages
Languages of western New Guinea