Amto–Musan languages

Amto–Musan is a language family of two closely related but mutually unintelligible Papuan languages, Amto and Siawi, spoken along the Samaia River of Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea.

Amto–Musan
Samaia River
Geographic
distribution
Samaia River, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationArai–Samaia or independent language family
  • Amto–Musan
Subdivisions
Glottologamto1249

Languages

Foley (2018) and Usher (2020) agree that the family consists of two languages.[1][2]

Amto–Musan / Samaia River family

External relationships

Amto–Musan was left unclassified by Ross (2005) (see Papuan languages#Ross (2005)) 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.[3]

Foley (2018) classifies them separately as an independent language family.[1] Foley also notes that due to heavy contact and trade with Left May languages, Amto–Musan languages have borrowed much cultural vocabulary from Left May.[1]

Cognates

Amto-Musan family cognates listed by Foley (2018):[1]

Amto-Musan family cognates
glossAmtoMusan
‘bad’supuwarepioware
‘bird’aiʔai
‘black’towantewane
‘breast’nene
‘ear’yeʔe
‘eye’momene
‘fire’marimari
‘leaf’hesɛʔ
‘liver’teiteʔ
‘louse’nanunanu
‘man’kyuyɛnokono
‘mother’enainaʔ
‘nape’tipiyaritibiare
‘older brother’apɔaboʔ
‘road’momono
‘sago’tawe
‘tongue’hənehanɛ
‘tooth’iʔi
‘tree’amiameʔ
‘water’wiwi

Possible cognates between the Amto-Musan and Left May families:[1]

Possible Amto-Musan family
and Left May family cognates
glossAmtoMusanAmaNimoOwiniga
‘breast’nenenanonano
‘arm’nainoina
‘louse’naninanuanieni
‘tooth’iʔiii
‘water’wiwiiwawibi

Possible loanwords reflecting the close trade relationship between Amto-Musan and Left May speakers:[1]

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Conrad & Dye (1975),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[5]

glossAmtoSiawi
head twænani
hair (twæ) iwɔnanigi
ear ye
eye momene
nose niǏimʌ
tooth iʔi
tongue hæne; hʌnehanɛ
louse nanunani
dog soː
pig makinʌdiʔ
bird aiʔai
egg aiːiǏɔ
blood nʌkeihařʔ
bone haehařʔ
skin kaʔaoko
breast nene
tree amɩameʔ
man kyuyɛnokono
woman hamaʔeǏo
water wiːwi
fire mařimaǏi
stone tipekitʌbɛki
road, path momono
eat meːnepe
one ohusʌmo
two kiyaAhimolo

References

  1. Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  2. Samaia River, New Guinea World
  3. NewGuineaWorld, Arai and Samaia Rivers
  4. Conrad, R. and Dye, W. "Some Language Relationships in the Upper Sepik Region of Papua New Guinea". In Conrad, R., Dye, W., Thomson, N. and Bruce Jr., L. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 18. A-40:1-36. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-A40.1
  5. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
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