Mbahaam–Iha languages
The Mbahaam–Iha languages are a pair of Papuan languages spoken on the Bomberai Peninsula of western New Guinea. The two languages, Baham (Mbaham) and Iha, are closely related to each other.
| Mbahaam–Iha | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | West New Guinea, Bomberai Peninsula |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | nucl1641 |
Proto-language
Phonemes
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as:[1]
*m *n *p *t *k *kʷ *mb *nd *ŋg *ŋgʷ *s *w *r *j
Prenasalized plosives do not occur initially, having merged with the voiceless plosives.
The vowels are *i *u *ɛ *ɔ *a and the diphthongs *iɛ *ɛi.
Pronouns
Usher (2020) reconstructs the free pronouns as:[1]
sg pl 1excl *[a/ɔ]n [*mbi] 1incl *in 2 *k[a/ɔ] *ki 3 *m[a/ɔ] *mi, *wat
Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[1]
gloss Proto-Mbahaam-Iha Mbahaam Iha head *kaˈnda kndaː kanda ear *kʷⁱɛr kpʷujɛr pɛr eye k(i)jɛp kɛndɛp blood *wⁱɛk wijɛk wɛk bone *ˈtɔkar tɔ(ː)qar tɔqar skin *pak paːk pak breast *sɔn sɔːn hɔn ~ sɔn louse *mɛⁱn miːn mɛin dog *jaˈmbar jambaːr mbiar pig *[ku]ˈndur kunduːr ndur egg *wun uːn wun tree *wiˈra wurʲaː ~ wɛrʲaː wɛrɛ ~ wrɛ man/male *nami-sar nami-ha nɛmɛ-har woman/female *t[ɔ/u]mb[ɔ/u]r tumbu- (tɔ-)tɔmbɔr sun *kaˈminV kamiːni kimina moon *kaˈpas kabaːs kabah water *kiˈra krija kara stone *war waːr war name *nⁱɛ nʲiɛ nɛ eat *nawa nɔwa nɔwa ~ nawa- one *ɔkʷɔ[nɔ] ɔqɔnɔ pɔ
Protoforms of the 20 most-stable items[2] in the Swadesh list include the following.[1]
gloss Proto-Mbahaam–Iha *mɛin louse ? two *kiˈra water *kʷiɛr ear *kimi die *[a/ɔ]n I ? liver ? (k(i)jɛp / kɛndɛp) eye *tan hand *kɔmɛn hear *wiˈra, aˈtɔkʷ tree, tree/wood *ˈsɛjir fish *niɛ name *war stone ? tooth *sɔn breast *k[a/ɔ] you ? path *ˈtɔkar bone ? tongue (*mak voice/language)
References
- New Guinea World, Mbaham–Iha
- Holman, Eric W., Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Viveka Velupillai, André Müller, Dik Bakker (2008). "Explorations in Automated Language Classification". Folia Linguistica, Vol. 42, no. 2, 331–354
- Usher, Timothy and Antoinette Schapper, 2018. "The lexicons of the Papuan languages of the Onin Peninsula and their influences". In Antoinette Schapper, ed. Contact and substrate in the languages of Wallacea part 2. NUSA 64: 39–63.
External links
- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Mbahaam–Iha
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