The Engan, or more precisely Enga – Southern Highland , languages are a small
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
Papuan languages
The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non- Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogr ...
of the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The two branches of the family are rather distantly related, but were connected by Franklin and Voorhoeve (1973).
[Karl J. Franklin and C. L. Voorhoeve. 1973. Languages near the intersection of the Gulf, Southern Highlands and Western Districts. In Karl J. Franklin (ed.), ''The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea'', 149-186. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.]
Name
The name "Engan" is often restricted to the northern branch of the family, to those languages transparently related to Enga, but also sometimes to the family as a whole.
Languages
The languages fall into three quite distinct branches: Engan proper, Huli, and Southern Highlands:
* North Engan (Engan proper):
Enga–
Kyaka–
Lembena,
Ipili,
Bisorio
Nete, also known as Bisorio, Malamauda, or Iniai, is an Engan language spoken in Papua New Guinea.
Classification
Glottolog classifies Nete and Bisorio as two languages within Outer Engan, a divergent group situated northward across the Cen ...
(Nete, Iniai)
* South Engan (Kewa–Huli)
**
Huli
**Southern Highlands:
Angal (Mendi),
Kewa;
Samberigi (Sau)
Classification
The Engan family constitutes a branch of the
Trans–New Guinea languages
Trans–New Guinea (TNG) is an extensive family of Papuan languages spoken on the island of New Guinea and neighboring islands ‒ corresponding to the country Papua New Guinea as well as parts of Indonesia.
Trans–New Guinea is the third-la ...
in the classification of
Malcolm Ross, but the evidence for this is weak.
There are a considerable number of resemblances with
Wiru. Borrowing has not been ruled out as the reason for this, though the pronouns are similar as well.
Proto-language
Phonemes
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:
:
Vowels are *i *e *a *o *u.
Pronouns
Pronouns are easy to reconstruct for the northern and southern branches, but much more difficult for Engan as a whole. Ross (2005) has the following for the singular, Wiru has been added for comparison:
:
Usher (2020) has not yet published reconstruction of Engan as a whole, but has done Engan proper:
[New Guinea World, Trans-Enga]
/ref>
:
Vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Trans Enga (Proto-Engan) by Usher (2020) are:[
:
]
Evolution
The Enga-Kewa-Huli reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma, if Engan languages are indeed members of the Trans-New Guinea family, are:
Enga:
*''mona'' ‘heart’ < *mundun
*''yaka'' ‘bird’ < *
*''lyaŋa'' ‘ashes’ < *
*''ŋaŋa'' ‘baby < *ŋaŋ(a)
* ‘mother’ < *
*''kuri'' ‘bone’ < *kondaC
*''kare'' ‘ear’ < *
*''ne-'' ‘eat’ < *na
* ‘father’ < *apa
*''iti'' ‘hair’ < *
*''endo'' ‘fire’ < *
*''lema'' ‘louse’ < *niman
*''kana'' ‘moon’ < *
*''mana'' ‘instructions’ < *mana
*''kitama'' ‘morning’ < *
*''kumi-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''re-'' ‘speak’ < *nde-
*''maa'' ‘taro’ < *mV
*''ita'' ‘tree’ < *inda
Huli:
*''ega'' ‘bird’ < *
*''na-'' ‘eat’ < *na-
*''aba'' ‘father’ < *apa
*''iri'' ‘hair’ < *
*''ira'' ‘tree’ < *inda
*''ma'' ‘taro’ < *mV
Kewa:
*''ama'' ‘mother’ < *
*''ibi'' ‘name’ < *imbi
*''iri'' ‘hair’ < *
*''uni'' ‘bone’ < *kwanjaC
*''apu'' ‘tail’ < *
*''lema'' ‘louse’ < *
*''oma'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''reka-'' ‘stand’ < *
*''la-'' ‘talk’ < *nde-
*''maa'' ‘taro’ < *mV
*''yaa'' ‘bird’ < *
Mendi
Mendi, Papua New Guinea, is the provincial capital of the Southern Highlands Province. The Lai River flows by the town. It is served by Mendi Airport. The town falls under Mendi Urban LLG.
Geography
The town is located in the Mendi River V ...
:
*''am'' ‘mother’ < *
*''ap'' ‘father’ < *apa
*''mbi'' ‘name’ < *imbi
*''ome-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
Vocabulary
Basic vocabulary of Enga and Kewa from William A. Foley (1986):[Foley, William A. (1986). ]
The Papuan Languages of New Guinea
'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
:
References
*
Further reading
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Engan
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
External links
* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Enga – Southern Highlands
**(ibid.
Trans-Enga
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea
Languages of Papua New Guinea
Papuan languages
Language families
Northeast New Guinea languages