The Madang or Madang–Adelbert Range languages are a
language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hist ...
of Papua New Guinea. They were classified as a branch of
Trans–New Guinea by
Stephen Wurm
Stephen Adolphe Wurm ( hu, Wurm István Adolf, ; 19 August 1922 – 24 October 2001) was a Hungarian-born Australian linguist.
Early life
Wurm was born in Budapest, the second child to the German-speaking Adolphe Wurm and the Hungarian-sp ...
, followed by
Malcolm Ross.
William A. Foley concurs that it is "highly likely" that the Madang languages are part of TNG, although the pronouns, the usual basis for classification in TNG, have been "replaced" in Madang. Timothy Usher finds that Madang is closest to the
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 and confirmed by Timothy Usher, who ...
and other families to its west, but does not for now address whether this larger group forms part of the TNG family.
[Madang]
/ref>
The family is named after Madang Province
Madang is a province of Papua New Guinea. The province is on the northern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea and has many of the country's highest peaks, active volcanoes and its biggest mix of languages. The capital is the town of Madang.
D ...
and the Adelbert Range
Adelbert Range is a mountain range in Madang Province, north-central Papua New Guinea. The highest point of the mountains is at .
The Northern Adelbert languages and Southern Adelbert languages are spoken in the region.
Fauna and flora
As with ...
.
History
Sidney Herbert Ray
Sidney Herbert Ray (28 May 1858 – 1 January 1939) was a British comparative and descriptive linguist who specialised in Melanesian languages.Papers and field notes relating to his linguistic work are held bSOAS Special Collections/ref>
In 189 ...
identified the Rai Coast family in 1919. In 1951 these were linked with the Mabuso languages by Arthur Capell
Arthur Capell (28 March 1902 – 10 August 1986) was an Australian linguist, who made major contributions to the study of Australian languages, Austronesian languages and Papuan languages.
Early life
Capell was born in Newtown, New South Wales ...
to create his Madang family. John Z'graggen
John Z'graggen (born Hans Anton Z'graggen on 24 June 1932 in Schattdorf, Canton of Uri, Switzerland; died 20 May 2013 in Menzingen, Switzerland) was a Swiss Roman Catholic priest, missionary, linguist, and anthropologist known for his extensive wo ...
(1971, 1975) expanded Madang to languages of the Adelbert Range and renamed the family Madang–Adelbert Range, and Stephen Wurm
Stephen Adolphe Wurm ( hu, Wurm István Adolf, ; 19 August 1922 – 24 October 2001) was a Hungarian-born Australian linguist.
Early life
Wurm was born in Budapest, the second child to the German-speaking Adolphe Wurm and the Hungarian-sp ...
(1975) adopted this as a branch of his Trans–New Guinea phylum. For the most part, Malcolm Ross's (2005) Madang family includes the same languages as Z'graggen Madang–Adelbert Range, but the internal classification is different in several respects, such as the dissolution of the Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...
branch.
Internal classification
The languages are as follows:
* '' Bargam'' (Mugil)
*Central Madang
** Croisilles (reduced, = Northern Adelbert Range)
** Mabuso
** Mindjim
** Rai Coast (reduced; > South Madang)
** '' Yamben''
*West Madang
** Southern Adelbert Range (Sogeram and Tomul Rivers)
** Kalam
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
(Kaironk River)
*East Madang
**'' Wasembo''
** Yaganon
The time depth of Madang is comparable to that of Austronesian or Indo-European.
Pronouns
Ross (2000) reconstructed the pronouns as follows:
:
These are not the common TNG pronouns. However, Ross postulates that the TNG dual suffixes *-le and *-t remain, and suggests that the TNG pronouns live on as Kalam
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
verbal suffixes.
Evolution
Madang family reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:
Family-wide innovations
*pTNG *mbena ‘arm’ > proto-Madang *kambena (accretion of *ka-)
*pTNG *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C ‘fingernail’ > proto-Madang *timbi(n,t) ( metathesis)
*pTNG *(n)ok ‘water’ replaced by proto-Madang *yaŋgu
Croisilles
Garuh language:
*''muki'' ‘brain’ < *muku
*''bi'' ‘guts’ < *simbi
*''hap'' ‘cloud’ < *samb(V)
*''balamu'' ‘firelight’ < *mbalaŋ
*''wani'' ‘name’ < * ni ‘who?’
*''wus'' ‘wind, breeze’ < *kumbutu
*''kalam'' ‘moon’ < *kala(a,i)m
*''neg-'' ‘to watch’ < *nVŋg- ‘see, know’
*''ma'' ‘taro’ < *mV
*''ahi'' ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
Pay language:
*''in-'' ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)-
*''kawus'' ‘smoke’ < *kambu
*''tawu-na'' ‘ashes’ < *sambu
*''imun'' ‘hair’ < *sumu(n,t)
*''ano'' ‘who’ < * ni
Kalam
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
Kalam language
Kalam is a Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Kobon, and shares many of the features of that language. Kalam is spoken in Middle Ramu District of Madang Province and in Mount Hagen District of Western Highlands Provin ...
(most closely related to the Rai Coast languages
The Rai Coast languages are a family of languages in the Madang stock of New Guinea.
Sidney Herbert Ray identified what was then known of the Rai Coast languages as a unit in 1919. They were linked with the Mabuso languages in 1951 by Arthur C ...
):
*''meg'' ‘teeth’ < *maŋgat *''md-magi'' ‘heart’ < *mundu-maŋgV
*''mkem'' ‘cheek’ < *mVkVm ‘cheek, chin’
*''sb'' ‘excrement, guts’ < *simbi
*''muk'' ‘milk, sap, brain’ < *muku
*''yman'' ‘louse’ < *iman
*''yb'' ‘name’ < *imbi
*''kdl'' ‘root’ < *kindil
*''malaŋ'' ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ
*''melk'' ‘(fire or day)light’ < *(m,mb)elak
*''kn-'' ‘to sleep, lie down’ < *kini(i,u)
*''kum-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''md- < *mVna-'' ‘be, stay’
*''nŋ-, ng-'' ‘perceive, know, see, hear, etc’ < *nVŋg-
*''kawnan'' ‘shadow, spirit’ < *k(a,o)
*''nan, takn'' ‘moon’ < *takVn *''magi'' ‘round thing, egg, fruit, etc.’ < *maŋgV
*''ami'' ‘mother’ < *am(a,i,u)
*''b'' ‘man’ < *ambi
*''bapi, -ap'' ‘father’ < *mbapa, *ap
*''saŋ'' ‘women’s dancing song’ < *saŋ
*''ma-'' ‘negator’ < *ma-
*''an'' ‘who’ < * ni
Rai Coast
Dumpu language:
*''man-'' ‘be, stay’ < *mVna-
*''mekh'' ‘teeth’ < *maŋgat *''im'' ‘louse’ < *iman
*''munu'' ‘heart’ < *mundun ‘inner organs’
*''kum-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''kono'' ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
*''kini-'' ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)
*''ra-'' ‘take’ < *(nd,t)a-
*''urau'' ‘long’ < *k(o,u)ti(mb,p)V
*''gra'' ‘dry’ < *(ŋg,k)atata
Southern Adelbert
Sirva language:
*''mun(zera)'' ‘be, stay’ < *mVna-
*''kaja'' ‘blood’ < *kenja
*''miku'' ‘brain’ < *muku
*''simbil'' ‘guts’ < *simbi
*''tipi'' ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,)ut(i,u)C ( metathesis)
*''iːma'' ‘louse’ < *iman
*''ibu'' ‘name’ < *imbi
*''kanumbu'' ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
*''mundu(ma)'' ‘nose’ < *mundu
*''kaːsi'' ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
*''apapara'' ‘butterfly’ < *apa(pa)ta
*''kumu-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''ŋg-'' ‘see’ < *nVŋg-
Proto-language
The following selected reconstructions of Proto-Madang by Ross (2014) are from the Trans-New Guinea database. Proto-Trans–New Guinea are from Andrew Pawley
Andrew Kenneth Pawley (born 1941 in Sydney), FRSNZ, FAHA, is Emeritus Professor at the School of Culture, History & Language of the ''College of Asia & the Pacific'' at the Australian National University.
Career
Pawley was born in Sydney but ...
and Harald Hammarström
Harald Hammarström (born 1977 in Västerås, Sweden) is a Swedish linguist. He is currently an Associate Senior Lecturer at Uppsala University. Hammarström is especially known for his extensive work on curating '' Glottolog'', a bibliographic da ...
(2018).
:
Notes
References
*
*Pawley, Ross, & Osmond, 2005. ''Papuan languages and the Trans New Guinea phylum''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 38–51.
CLDF Dataset
*Z'graggen, J A. (1980) A comparative word list of the Northern Adelbert Range Languages, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. (CLDF dataset on Zenodo )
External links
The Madang–Adelbert Range languages
in ''Multitree,'' showing both Z'graggen's and Wurm's classifications o longer functional as of 2014
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
*ELAR archive o
Documenting the Sogeram Language Family of Papua New Guinea
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea
Languages of Papua New Guinea
Madang–Upper Yuat languages