Sumuri language

Sumuri or Sumeri (one of two Papuan languages also known as Tanah Merah) is a language spoken in Sumuri District, Teluk Bintuni Regency on the Bomberai Peninsula by about a thousand people.

Not to be confused with Sumerian language.
This article is about the "Tanah Merah" language spoken on Bomberai Peninsula on the western coast of Papua. For the "Tanah Merah" language spoken on Tanahmerah Bay on the northern coast of Papua, see Tabla language.
Sumuri
Sumeri
Tanah Merah
RegionSumuri District, Teluk Bintuni Regency, West Papua (Bapai Rover and Gondu River areas)
EthnicitySumuri
Native speakers
(500 cited 1978)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3tcm
Glottologtana1288
ELPTanahmerah
Map: The Sumeri language of New Guinea (located at left, in the Bird's Head)
  The Sumeri language
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

Distribution

In Sumuri District of Teluk Bintuni Regency, Sumuri people reside in Tofoi (district capital), Materabu Jaya, Forada, Agoda, Saengga, Tanah Merah Baru, Onar Lama, and Onar Baru villages.[2]

Classification

In the classifications of Malcolm Ross (2005) and Timothy Usher (2020), Sumeri forms an independent branch of the Trans–New Guinea family, but Palmer (2018) classifies it as a language isolate.[3] It does not fit in with any of the established branches of TNG, but based on what little data there is, it would seem to be closest to either the Berau Gulf branches (i.e. South Bird's Head, West Bomberai etc.) or the Asmat–Mombum languages and their relatives further east.

Sumeri has previously been linked to the Mairasi languages, but those do not share the TNG pronouns of Sumeri. The Sumeri pronouns are:

sgpl
1ex na-feakiria
1in kigokomaka
2 ka-feaki-fia

There are no 3rd-person personal pronouns, only demonstratives. The pronouns appear to reflect pTNG *na 1sg, *ga 2sg, and *gi 2pl.

Vocabulary

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

glossTanah Merah
headbreŋka; kidaso
hairnisa; nua
eyeka-bita; ndou
tootheti; kioni
legkiwi; oto
louseia; miŋ
dogibe; yoku
pigopo; tayna
birdawə; finanaburu
eggdoŋ; no
bloodkinatera; sa
bonenaso; oro
skinele; katane
treeo; ono; taya
mando; maopa
sunsoniŋ; weti
waterbu; moda
fireavonabe; siŋ
stonekenade; oru
namenigia; wado
eatanine; taue
onebesika; naduma
twobi; wanitabo

See also

References
  • 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.

Notes
  1. Sumuri at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0.
  3. Palmer, Bill (2018). "Language families of the New Guinea Area". 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. 1–20. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  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.
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