The Koiarian languages Koiari are a small family of
Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the "
Bird's Tail
The Papuan Peninsula, also known as the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Papua New Guinea, southeast of the city of Lae, that makes up the southeastern portion of the island of New Guinea. The peninsula is the easternmost extent of t ...
" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the
Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea.
Languages
The languages are:
* Koiaric branch (Koiari):
Grass Koiari,
Mountain Koiari–
Koitabu
* Baraic branch (
Managalas Plateau):
Barai–
Namiae,
Ese (Managalasi),
Ömie
Dutton (2010) classifies the Koiarian languages as:
*Baraic
**
Ömie
**
Barai–
Managalasi (incl.
Namiae)
*Koiaric
**
Mountain Koiari
**
Koita
Kitta or Koita ( el, Κοίτα) is a village in the Mani peninsula, Laconia, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Oitylo. It is built on top of a hill, overlooking the sea. Kitta is known for its many Maniot pyrgoi (war towers). Partiall ...
–
Grass Koiari
Proto-language
Pronouns
Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:
[New Guinea World, Owen Stanley Range]
/ref>
:
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary words of Proto-Koiarian and other lower-level reconstructions are from the Trans-New Guinea database:
Evolution
Koiarian reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:Koiari language
The Koiarian languages Koiari are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the "Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea.
Langua ...
:
*''muka'' ‘lump’ < *maŋgV ‘round object’
*''uni'' ‘egg’ < *mun(a,i,u)ka
*''idu'' ‘tree’ < *inda
*''iya'' ‘cassowary’ < *ku(y)a
*''karika'' ‘dry’ < *(ŋg,k)atata
*''muni'' ‘stone < *(na)muna
*''nana'' ‘older same-sex sibling’ < *nan(a,i)
*''u-tuvu'' ‘ashes’ < *kambu-sumbu
Managalasi language
Ese, or Managalasi, is a language of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. Dialects are Muaturaina, Chimona, Dea, Akabafa, Nami, Mesari, Averi, Afore, Minjori, Oko, Wakue, Numba, Jimuni, Karira. Perhaps 40% of speakers are monolingual.
It is spoken in ...
:
*''ata'' ‘bone’ < *kondaC
*''muka'' ‘lump’ < *maŋgV ‘round object’
*''iha'' ‘name’ < *imbi
*''uma'' ‘louse’ < *iman
*''uka'' ‘bird’ < *yaka
*''tuua'' ‘short’ < *tukumba *''muna'' ‘stone’ < *(na)muna
*''ija'' ‘tree’ < *inda
*''otoka'' ‘knee’ < *(k,ŋg)atuk
*''kora'' ‘dry’ < *(ŋg,k)atata
Phonotactics
Like the Binanderean languages
The Greater Binanderean or Guhu-Oro languages are a language family spoken along the northeast coast of the Papuan Peninsula – the "Bird's Tail" of New Guinea – and appear to be a recent expansion from the north. They were classified as a bra ...
, Barai and other Koiarian languages only allow for open syllables and do not allow final CVC.
References
Further reading
*Dutton, Tom. 2003
A dictionary of Koiari, Papua New Guinea, with grammar notes
Pacific Linguistics 534. Canberra: Australian National University.
Proto-Koiarian
''TransNewGuinea.org''. From Dutton, T.E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Proto-Koiariac
''TransNewGuinea.org''. From Dutton, T.E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Proto-Baraic
''TransNewGuinea.org''. From Dutton, T.E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
{{Papuan languages
Owen Stanley Range languages
Languages of Central Province (Papua New Guinea)
Languages of Oro Province