Border languages (New Guinea)

The Border or Upper Tami languages are an independent family of Papuan languages in Malcolm Ross's version of the Trans–New Guinea proposal.

Border
Tami River – Bewani Range
Geographic
distribution
New Guinea
Linguistic classificationNorthwest Papuan?
  • Border
Subdivisions
Glottologbord1247

Unlike the neighboring Sepik languages and many other Papuan language families of northern New Guinea, Border languages do not have grammatical gender or number (dual and plural forms).[1]

Name

The Border family is named after the Indonesia – Papua New Guinea border, which it spans. Other than the Border languages, the Skou, Senagi, Pauwasi, Anim, and Yam families also span the Indonesia – Papua New Guinea border.

Classification history

Cowan (1957) tentatively proposed a "Tami" family, named after the Tami River, that included the modern Border and Sko language families. Some of the previously unclassified languages did turn out to be Sko, and were added to that family; the remainder (including the languages of the upper Tami) constitute the Border family.

Languages

Laycock classified Morwap as an isolate, but noted pronominal similarities with Border. Ross included Morwap in Border but noted that they do not appear to share any lexical similarities. However, his Morwap data were quite poor. Usher included it as a branch of Border.

Foley (2018)

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

Border family

Usher (2020)

The Border languages are:[2]

 Tami River  
Bewani Range
 
 Upper Tami River 

Awyi

Taikat

 Bewani Range 

Manem

 Poal River 

Ainbai

Pagi

Kilmeri (Mbo)

 Bapi River 
 Southwest 

Sowanda (Waina)

Punda

Umeda

Amanab

Auwe-Daonda

Imonda

Waris

Morwap (Elseng)

Senggi (Viid)

He does not mention Ningera, subsuming it into another language.

Pronouns

The pronouns that Ross (2005) reconstructs for proto-Border are the following:

I*kaexclusive we*kia- ?
inclusive we*bile ?
thou*jeyou ?
s/he*ihethey*ihe- ?

Foley (2018) lists pronouns for the following five Border languages.[1]

Border family pronouns
TaikatKilmeriAmanabWarisImonda
1incl nukobipipəl
1excl kukokakaka
2 kebede ~ neneyene
3 kiehehiehe

Cognates

Border family cognates (Awyi, Taikat, Kilmeri, Waris, Imonda) listed by Foley (2018):[1]

Border family cognates
glossAwyi / TaikatKilmeriWaris / Imonda
‘bone’sagərkilikəl
‘cloud’tiktik
‘eat’na-ni-ne-
‘egg’sursusui
‘eye’nondofdobnof
‘house’yayipyɛf
‘moon’usɛwɪswɛs
‘sun’kɛwomɒkɒmba
‘tongue’marielberməde
‘tooth’lu
‘tree’diriti
‘water’obeapupo

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1971, 1975),[3][4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[5]

glossAwyiTaikatManemSowandaViidWaris
head naŋger; naŋgərbagərbagarmosokrepekku
hair jento; tabakta; tar; tattamog-tse; mog-tšetea; tɛa
ear keatokeatkafŋeoŋgokatenaŋku
eye najo; nayonondornofrugoknownop
nose nubrunakanpastbosokpeŋelomus
tooth kakaembisonunalklelo
tongue mariemtemelikrominde
leg malketəkamogormiŋgakmoŋlamoŋgola
louse tukuekuku
dog eəl; wŋlurure; urêwandrunde
pig wotwotaŋ; arogtsesar mejan; sar meyanmi
bird noj; noynorjoŋ jor; yoŋ; yorteafutuawa
egg suŋulsursuiŋ; suirsuktusuul
blood keanejafor; yaforpsoŋkotapninetowol
bone sakərsagərkaŋ; karkekkekəi; kəl
skin fəkerfager; fagɛrtofŋo; tofrolopokkeptowol
breast mə̃maŋ; martotmandrtɛt
tree tiditititi
man kirkirknigiŋ; knigirowakdutənda
woman kurukorahajamanuŋwabejemenaŋguabe
sun mentaokewom; kɛwomusamokombapolaokumba
moon kuŋgəruusɛweswuleswoswɛs
water wobia; wobioobeapupoapopo
fire taodowsawsuetowsue
stone sersərsukxunkwondrhon
road, path məŋgirmeomonofomnamonamuna
name unhanabae
eat anɛ; nanananekem; nɛkɛmnane
one maŋguaŋgoa; [ŋgoa]guenomoŋgoirmoŋgaumuŋasəl
two naŋgersampaŋsambagatamblasambla

Migration history

200–250 years ago, Bewani speakers rapidly expanded and migrated towards neighboring regions, which started off chain migrations among various peoples of the region. The migration of Bewani speakers split up the territory of Kwomtari speakers, and Fas was displaced to the swampy area of Utai (3.390507°S 141.583997°E / -3.390507; 141.583997 (Utai)). The displaced Fas speakers then expanded further east into One territory, causing conflicts between the Fas and One peoples in the Kabore area (3.314106°S 141.840799°E / -3.314106; 141.840799 (Kabore 1)).[6]

The Pagei, Bewani, Bo, and Ningera peoples expanded down the Pual River to displace speakers of Inner Skou and Serra Hills languages. Inner Skou speakers were then forced to migrate, displacing Barupu/Warapu speakers (Piore River branch). Bewani speakers, however, were not able to expand eastward into the lowland swampy areas occupied by Busa and Yale speakers, who were themselves pushed out of the more fertile hills into the lowland swamps. Westward expansion of Bewani speakers was halted by fighting in Kaure territory.[6]

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. New Guinea World
  3. Voorhoeve, C.L. "Miscellaneous Notes on Languages in West Irian, New Guinea". In Dutton, T., Voorhoeve, C. and Wurm, S.A. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 14. A-28:47-114. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1971. doi:10.15144/PL-A28.47
  4. Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-B31
  5. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  6. Donohue, Mark; Crowther, Melissa (2005). "Meeting in the middle: interaction in North-Central New Guinea". 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. 167–184. ISBN 0-85883-562-2. OCLC 67292782.
  • 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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