Asmat languages

Asmat is a Papuan language cluster of South Papua.

Asmat
EthnicityAsmat, Citak
Geographic
distribution
Asmat Regency and Mappi Regency, South Papua
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Subdivisions
Glottologasma1257

Languages

The principal varieties, distinct enough to be considered separate languages, are:[1]

Ethnically, speakers are either Asmat or Citak.

Evolution

Below are some reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Pawley (2012):[3]

proto-Trans-New GuineaAsmat (Flamingo Bay)
*maŋgat[a] ‘teeth, mouth’me
*(m,mb)elak ‘light, lightning’mer
*niman ‘louse’(Kamoro namo)
*na- ‘eat’na-
*ni, *nu ‘IPL’na ‘1PL.incl’, na(r) ‘1PL.excl’
*mun(a,i,u)ka ‘egg’manaka
*niman ‘louse’(cf. Kamoro namo)
*kasin ‘mosquito’isi
*mbena ‘arm’man [ban]
*mb(i,u)t(i,u)C ‘fingernail’fit
*imbi ‘name’yipi
*si(mb,p)at[V] ‘saliva’(me)sep
*(mb,p)ututu- ‘to fly’(?) pimedial
*kV(mb,p)(i,u)t(i,u) ‘head’kuwus
*inda ‘fire’(Central Coast Asmat isi)
*tututu[ku] ‘straight’toror
*k(i,u)tuma ‘night, morning’iram
*tututu[ku] ‘straight’toror
*ti, *titi ‘tooth’ji
*ata ‘excrement’asa
*(ŋg,k)atata ‘dry’soso
*kV(mb,p)(i,u)t(i,u) ‘head’kuwus
*kasin ‘mosquito’(Citak Asmat isi)
*inda ‘fire’(Central Coast Asmat isi)
*ke(nj,s)a ‘blood’es
*maŋgV ‘compact round object’moko-per ‘navel’
*mun(a,i,u)ka ‘egg’manaka
*ke(nj,s)a ‘blood’es
*kasin ‘mosquito’(Central Asmat isi)
*k(i,u)tuma ‘night, morning’yiram
*kV(mb,p)(i,u)t(i,u) ‘head’kuwus
*(m,mb)elak ‘light, lightning’(Flamingo Bay Asmat mer ‘lightning’)
*ya ‘3SG’a

Verbs

In Flamingo Bay Asmat, light verbs are combined with adjuncts to form predicative expressions.[4]

  • e- ‘do’
    • atow e- /play do/ ‘play’
    • caj e- /copulate do/ ‘copulate’
    • yan e- /ear do/ ‘listen’
  • yi- ‘say’
    • po yi- /paddle say/ ‘paddle’
    • yan yi- /ear say/ ‘hear’
    • mesa yi- /saliva say/ ‘spit’
  • af- ‘hit’
    • yaki af- /sneeze hit/ ‘sneeze’
    • namir af- /death hit/ ‘die’
    • omop af- /blow hit/ ‘beat’

References

  1. 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.
  2. New Guinea World, Kamrau Bay
  3. Pawley, Andrew (2012). Hammarström, Harald; van den Heuvel, Wilco (eds.). "How reconstructable is proto Trans New Guinea? Problems, progress, prospects". History, Contact and Classification of Papuan Languages. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea (Language & Linguistics in Melanesia Special Issue 2012: Part I): 88–164. hdl:1885/38602. ISSN 0023-1959.
  4. Foley, William A. (2018). "The morphosyntactic typology of Papuan languages". 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. 895–938. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.