The Kiwaian languages form 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 New Guinea. They are a dialect cluster of half a dozen closely related languages.
They are grammatically divergent from the Trans–New Guinea languages, and typically have singular, dual,
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...
, and plural pronouns.
Classification
The Trans–New Guinea identity of Kiwaiian is supported by a relatively large number of basic lexical items.
Ross (2005) tentatively linked Kiwaiian to the erstwhile
language isolate Porome. However, the evidence is only two pronouns, and the connection has not been accepted by other researchers.
Languages
* Kiwaian family:
Kiwai,
Bamu–Gama,
Kerewo–
Morigi,
Waboda
Kiwaian languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.
:
Proto-language
Phonemes
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:
[New Guinea World, Kiwai]
/ref>
:
:
Pronouns
Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as,[
:
]
Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[
:
]
Evolution
Kiwaian reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:Kiwai language
Kiwai is a Papuan language, or languages, of southern 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 bilon ...
:
*''magota'' ‘mouth’ < *maŋgat *''amo'' ‘breast < *amu
*''gare'' ‘ear’ < *kand(e,i)k(V]
*''pitu'' ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,u)t(i,u) *''baba'' ‘father’ < *mbapa
*''sagana'' ‘moon’ < *takVn *''tuwo'' ‘ashes’ < *sumbu
*''era'' ‘tree’ < *inda
*''nimo'' ‘louse’ < *niman
*''epuru'' ‘head’ < *kV(mb,p)utu
*''kopu'' ‘short’ < *kutu(p,mb)a
*''abida'' ‘sister’ < *pi(n,nd)a
Other languages:
* Waboda ''kepuru'' < *kV(mb,p)utu
* Kerewo ''bena'' ‘shoulder’ < *mbena ‘arm’
* Morigi kota ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok *N.E. Kiwai ''modi'' ‘nose’ < *mundu
* Bamu ''kukamu'' ‘cold’ < *kukam(o,u)
References
Further reading
*Wurm, S.A.
The Kiwaian Language Family
. In Franklin, K. editor, ''The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea''. C-26:217-260. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1973.
*Wurm, Stefan. 1951. ''Studies in the Kiwai Languages, Fly Delta, Papua, New Guinea''. Wien: Herold.
External links
* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Proto-Kiwai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiwai-Porome languages
Language families
Languages of Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
Languages of Gulf Province
Papuan languages