Kwerbic languages

The Kwerbic, or Greater Kwerba, languages are a family of just under a dozen Papuan languages spoken in Indonesia.

Kwerbic
Greater Kwerba
West Foja Range
Geographic
distribution
New Guinea
Linguistic classificationNorthwest Papuan?
Subdivisions
Glottologkwer1242

Classification

The Kwerba family is clearly established. Its closest relative appears to be Isirawa. Mawes is added by Ross (2005), but not retained by Usher; Isirawa was rejected by Ross, but retained by Usher and by Donohue (2002). Usher also adds Kapauri–Sause.

Capell (1962) proposed placing Kwerba and Isirawa in a Dani–Kwerba proposal, which was retained in Stephen Wurm's 1975 Trans–New Guinea phylum. Malcolm Ross (2005) removed them and linked them with another erstwhile branch of TNG in a Tor–Kwerba proposal. Usher follows Ross, but adds the Nimboran languages as well.

Foley (2018)

Foley (2018) provides the following classification.[1]

Kwerba

Isirawa / Saberi

Airoran

Samarokena

Bagusa

Kauwera / Kaowerawedj

Kwerba / Air Mati

Kwerba Mamberamo / Nopuk

Trimuris

Usher (2020)

Usher uses the label 'West Foja Range' to avoid the ambiguity of the name 'Kwerb(a/ic)'.[2]

West Foja Range

Isirawa

Masep

Kapauri–Sause

Kapauri

Sause

Apauwar River
Apauwar Coast

Airoran

Samarokena

Kwerba

Kwerba (Sasawa)

Kwerba Mamberamo (Nopuk)

Trimuris

Bagusa

Kauwera

Basic vocabulary

Basic vocabulary in Kwerba family languages (Isirawa, Kwerba, Kauwera, Samarokena) listed by Foley (2018) is provided below. Data for Samarokena is limited, but clear cognates linking Samarokena to the other Kwerba languages include the words for ‘fire’, ‘man’, ‘stone’, and ‘sun’ (note that hV- is assumed to be an accretion).[1]

Kwerba family basic vocabulary
glossIsirawaKwerbaKauweraSamarokena
‘bird’aprekaijetinkaceten
‘blood’asmɪrakumwasac
‘bone’awakakkaka
‘eat’na-nanam
‘egg’cawarfakoretinəmmehinia
‘eye’nueranukwenuk
‘fire’anivasirabaserhesida
‘ground’uisiuesiuera
‘hair’perisiranerijniric
‘I’ecocoata
‘leg’tenitɪnictenij
‘louse’negwanneːnun
‘man’ɪana-anaana
‘one’mriaberiasabicoha
‘penis’tauntautaua
‘see’warɪ-wa-uwarim
‘sky’onoonisunis
‘stone’batitontonobəta
‘sun’sobeabijabichabesia
‘tooth’wanakwanəkwan
‘tree’wararaicic
‘two’napnɪnenemwanninicened
‘water’pupitupitewbipihina
‘we’neninonenoniːna
‘woman’aviesis
‘you (sg)’ameamama

See also

References

  1. Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". 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. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  2. New Guinea World, West Foja Range
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
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