Amto–Musan is 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 h ...
of two closely related but mutually unintelligible
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 ...
,
Amto and
Siawi, spoken along the
Samaia River
The Samaia River or Simaia River is a river in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. Simaia Riverat Geonames.org (cc-by) post updated 2011-06-05; database downloaded 2015-06-22 The river flows through Green River Rural LLG.
Various Papuan language ...
of
Sandaun Province
Sandaun Province (formerly West Sepik Province) is the northwesternmost mainland province of Papua New Guinea. It covers an area of 35,920 km2 (13868 m2) and has a population of 248,411 (2011 census). The capital is Vanimo. In July 1998 the a ...
of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.
Languages
Foley (2018) and Usher (2020) agree that the family consists of two languages.
;Amto–Musan / Samaia River family
*
Amto (Ki)
*
Musan
Musan County is a county in central North Hamgyong province, North Korea. It borders the People's Republic of China to the north, across the Tumen River. It is divided into one ''ŭp'', six labor districts, and fifteen ''ri''. The county sea ...
(Musian, Siawi)
External relationships
Amto–Musan was left unclassified by Ross (2005) (see
Papuan languages#Ross classification) due to lack of data; Wurm (1975) had posited it as an independent family. The family has
typological similarities with the
Busa language isolate, but these do not appear to demonstrate a genetic relationship.
Timothy Usher links the Amto–Musan languages to their neighbors, the
Arai languages and the
Pyu language in as Arai–Samaia stock.
Foley (2018) classifies them separately as an independent language family.
Foley also notes that due to heavy contact and trade with
Left May languages
The Left May or Arai languages are a small language family of half a dozen closely related but not mutually intelligible languages in the centre of New Guinea, in the watershed of the Left May River. There are only about 2,000 speakers in all. Fo ...
, Amto–Musan languages have borrowed much cultural vocabulary from Left May.
Cognates
Amto-Musan family cognates listed by
Foley (2018):
:
Possible cognates between the Amto-Musan and
Left May families:
:
Possible loanwords reflecting the close trade relationship between Amto-Musan and Left May speakers:
*‘arrow’
Amto ''lamu'',
Musan
Musan County is a county in central North Hamgyong province, North Korea. It borders the People's Republic of China to the north, across the Tumen River. It is divided into one ''ŭp'', six labor districts, and fifteen ''ri''. The county sea ...
''namu'',
Ama ''lamu''
*‘stone’:
Amto ''tabeki'',
Musan
Musan County is a county in central North Hamgyong province, North Korea. It borders the People's Republic of China to the north, across the Tumen River. It is divided into one ''ŭp'', six labor districts, and fifteen ''ri''. The county sea ...
''tipeki'', Bo ''təpəki'',
Ama ''tomoki''
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Conrad & Dye (1975), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:
:
References
External links
Amto-Musan languages database at TransNewGuinea.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amto-Musan languages
Arai–Samaia languages
Languages of Sandaun Province