Asmat–Kamrau languages

The Asmat – Kamrau Bay languages are a family of a dozen Trans–New Guinea languages spoken by the Asmat and related peoples in southern Western New Guinea. They are believed to be a recent expansion along the south coast, as they are all closely related, and there is little differentiation in their pronouns.

Asmat–Kamrau
EthnicityAsmat people etc.
Geographic
distribution		southern coast and Kamrau Bay of Indonesian New Guinea
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Subdivisions
  • Kamrau (Sabakor)
  • Asmat–Kamoro
Glottologasma1256
Map: The Asmat–Kamrau languages of New Guinea
  The Asmat–Kamrau languages
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

Languages

The languages are:[1][2]

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[5]

mn
p[t]k
b[d]ɟɡ
[ɸ]s
wrj

There is near complementary distribution between *p and *ɸ. *t and *d are marginal, appearing in only a few words. *r does not occur initially. There are no consonant clusters.

Vowels are *a *e *i *o *u.

Pronouns

Ross (2005) reconstructs the proto-Asmat–Kamoro pronouns as:

sgpl
1 *no[ro]*na[re]
2 *o[ro]/we[rV]*ca[re]
3 *a[re]

Usher (2020) reconstructs the free proto–Asmat–Kamrau Bay pronouns as:[5]

Proto-Asmat–Kamrau
sgpl
1 *no-rV*na-rV
2 *o-rV*ɟa-rV
3 *a-rV
  
Proto-Kamrau
sgpl
1 *nor*nar
2 *or-or*er-er
3 *ar-ar
  
Proto-Asmat–Kamoro
sgpl
1 *no-ro*na-rV
2 *o-ro*ca-rV
3 *a-rV

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[5]

glossProto-Asmat-KamrauProto-Kamrau BayProto-Asmat-KamoroProto-AsmatProto-Muli Strait
head *uɸu*jebin*ufu*kowisi 'head/skull'*ɣo̝p 'head/hair'; *uɔndVro̝m 'head/skull'
hair *ɸini*ɸin*fini*ɸinV 'hair/feather(s)'*sin
ear *jiɸ[a/o]ne*jaɸ[a/o]m*jafane*jaɸane*ie̝pær
eye *manaN*manam*mana*mana*musiɣ
nose *miC*mik*mi*mi*mæne̝ɣ 'nose/tip'
tooth *siC*sik*sisi*sisV*ziɣ
tongue *komane*[a]mam*komane*komVne*ndupæn
foot/leg *mawu*mawu*mawu*mawi*kaŋg 'leg'
blood/red *ese*et*ese*ir 'blood'
fruit/seed/bone *eake*eke*eake
skin/bark *ɸu*pitini*pitʲini*par
breast *awo*awo*awo*abuɣ
louse *amo*om*amo*am
dog *juwuɾi*iwuɾ*juwuri*juwVɾi*i[u]bui
pig *oɸo*ok*ofo*up
bird *geɟ*sakV
egg *[a]sa*asa*sa*sa
tree/wood *ose*o*ose*to̝ 'tree'
man/male *bewu*nam 'man/person'
woman *ɟawoɟa*jawoɟa*cawoca*jipitʲi*ie̝t 'woman/wife'
sun *jawu*asi 'sun/day'*jawu*jawi*zaua
moon *buɾa*buɾa*pura*piɾa*irind
water *m[oi/ui]*moɟ*mui*mui*mo̝i
fire/firewood *usa*usa*usa*jusa*ua[nd/r] 'fire'
stone *jeta*eta*j[e]ka*mæte̝
path *matoC; *mak*mato
name *uwase*u*uwase*juwase*ur
eat/drink *n[a]-*n[a]-*n[e/a]*ne-*no̝ku
one *ɟawa[kV]*-ɟawa*cawak[e/a]*tʲawaka
two *kaboma*aboma*kapoma; *jam[i/u]nV

Evolution
See also: Asmat language § Evolution

Proto-Asmat-Kamoro reflexes (Voorhoeve 2005)[6] of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma, as listed in Pawley & Hammarström (2018):[7]

  • *fiti ‘fingernail’ < pTNG *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C
  • *isi ‘mosquito’ < *kasin
  • *ese ‘blood’ < *kenja
  • *masap or *masip ‘saliva’ < *si(mb,p)atV
  • *yi ‘urine’ < *[si]si
  • *asa ‘excrement’ < *asa
  • *manaka ‘eye’ < *mun(a,e,i)ka
  • *sisi ‘tooth’ < *(t,s)i(t,s)i
  • *yirama ‘night’ < *k(i,u)tama
  • *tama ‘morning’ < *k(i,u)tama
  • *na- ‘eat’ < *na-

References
  1. New Guinea World, Asmat – Kamrau Bay
  2. Usher, Timothy; Suter, Edgar (2020). "The Asmat-Muli Languages of Southwestern New Guinea" (PDF). Language & Linguistics in Melanesia. Port Moresby: Journal of the Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea. 38. ISSN 0023-1959.
  3. New Guinea World, Kamrau Bay
  4. New Guinea World, Asmat–Kamoro
  5. "Asmat-Kamrau Bay - newguineaworld".
  6. Voorhoeve, Clemens L. 2005. Asmat-Kamoro, Awyu-Dumut and Ok: An enquiry into their linguistic relationship. In Pawley, Andrew and Robert Attenborough and Golson, Jack and Hide, Robin (eds.), Papuan Pasts: Studies in the Cultural, Linguistic and Biological History of the Papuan-speaking Peoples, 145-166. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
  7. Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". 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. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.

Bibliography
  • Drabbe, Piet. 1953. Spraakkunst van de Kamoro-taal. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
  • Drabbe, Piet. 1963. Drie Asmat-dialecten. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, No. 42. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
  • 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.
  • Voorhoeve, C.L. 1965. The Flamingo Bay Dialect of the Asmat language. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, No. 46. The Hague. doi:10.26530/OAPEN_613367
  • Voorhoeve, C.L. 1968. "The Central and South New Guinea Phylum: a report on the language situation in south New Guinea." Pacific Linguistics, Series A, No. 16: 1–17. Canberra: The Australian National University.
  • Voorhoeve, C.L. 1975. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist, Preliminary Classification, Language Maps, Wordlists. Pacific Linguistics, Series B, No. 31. Canberra: The Australian National University.
  • Voorhoeve, C.L. 1980. The Asmat Languages of Irian Jaya. Pacific Linguistics, Series B, No. 64. Canberra: The Australian National University.
  • Wurm, Stephan Adolphe. 1983. The Papuan Languages of Oceania. Ars Linguistica 7. Tübingen: Narr.
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