The Koiarian languages Koiari are a small family of

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, a region corresponding to the country Papua New Guinea as well as parts of Indonesia. Trans–New Guinea is perhaps ...

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 ...

" (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 Koita (, before 1940: Κίττα - ''Kitta'') 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. Koita is known for its many Maniot pyrgoi (war tower ...

– 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. Languag ...

: *''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 is a language of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. Although it is also known as Managalasi, which the Summer Institute of Linguistics regards as pejorative possibly because it is a corruption of Hiri Motu phrase meaning the equivalent of "know ...

: *''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.