The Greater Binanderean or Guhu-Oro languages are a

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in h ...

spoken along the northeast coast of the

Papuan Peninsula The Papuan Peninsula, also known as the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Papua New Guinea, southeast of the city of Lae, that makes up the southeastern portion of the island of New Guinea. The peninsula is the easternmost extent of t ...

– the "Bird's Tail" of New Guinea – and appear to be a recent expansion from the north. They were classified as a branch of the

Trans–New Guinea languages Trans–New Guinea (TNG) is an extensive family of Papuan languages spoken on the island of New Guinea and neighboring islands ‒ corresponding to the country Papua New Guinea as well as parts of Indonesia. Trans–New Guinea is the third-la ...

by Stephen Wurm (1975) and Malcolm Ross (2005), but removed (along with the related Goilalan languages) by Timothy Usher (2020). The Binandere family proper is transparently valid; Ross connected it to the Guhu-Semane isolate based on pronominal evidence, and this has been confirmed by Smallhorn (2011). Proto-Binanderean (which excludes Guhu-Samane) has been reconstructed in Smallhorn (2011).

Language contact

There is evidence that settlements of people speaking Oceanic languages along the Binanderean coast were gradually absorbed into inland communities speaking Binanderean languages (Bradshaw 2017). For instance, the SOV word order of

Papuan Tip languages The Papuan Tip languages are a branch of the Western Oceanic languages consisting of 60 languages. Contact All Papuan Tip languages, except Nimoa, Sudest, and the Kilivila languages (all spoken on islands off the coast of mainland Papua New G ...

is due to Binanderean influence.Bradshaw, Joel (2017). Evidence of contact between Binanderean and Oceanic languages. ''Oceanic Linguistics'' 56:395–414. Korafe displays significant influence from Oceanic languages. Meanwhile, Maisin, spoken in

Oro Province Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The province covers 22,800 km2, and has 176,206 inhabitants (2011 census). The province shares l ...

, is an

Oceanic language The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...

with very heavy Binanderean influence and shows characteristics typical of

mixed languages A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgin ...

. Spoken in

Morobe Province Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands ...

, Guhu-Samane is divergent, which may be due to extensive historical contact with Oceanic languages such as Numbami.

Classification

Greater Binanderean consists of the Guhu-Samane language and the Binanderean languages proper. Smallhorn (2011:444) provides the following classification: *Greater Binanderean ** Guhu-Samane **Binanderean *** Yekora ***North Binanderean **** Suena **** Zia ***Nuclear Binanderean **** Binandere ****South Binanderean *****Orokaivic ****** Aeka (Northern Orokaiva) ****** Orokaiva ****** Hunjara (Mountain Orokaiva) *****Coastal Binanderean ****** Notu-Yega (Ewage) ****** Gaena-Korafe ****** Baruga However, South Binanderean and Nuclear Binanderean are non-genealogical linkages. Usher (2020), who calls the Binanderean languages proper "Oro" after

, classifies them very similarly, apart from not reproducing the non-cladistic linkages:New Guinea World – Guhu-Oro
/ref> *Guhu–Oro (= Greater Binanderean) ** Guhu-Samane **Oro (= Binanderean) *** Binandere *** Yekora *** Ewage-Notu ***Suena–Zia (= North Binanderean) **** Suena **** Zia ***Central Oro (= Orokaivic) **** Aeka **** Orokaiva **** Hunjara ***Southeast Oro (= Coastal Binanderean, minus Ewage-Notu) **** Baruga **** Gaina–Korafe *****Gaina *****Korafe-Yegha

Demographics

Smallhorn (2011:3) provides population figures for the following Binanderean languages. * Guhu-Samane: 12,800 * Suena: 3,000 * Yekora: 1,000 * Zia: 3,000 * Mawae: 943 * Binandere: 7,000 (including Ambasi) * Aeka: 3,400 * Orokaiva: 24,000 * Hunjara: 8,770 * Notu: 12,900 (including Yega) * Gaena: 1,410 * Baruga: 2,230 * Doghoro: 270 * Korafe: 3,630 ;Total: about 80,000

Proto-language

Pronouns

Ross (2005) reconstructs both independent pronouns and verbal person prefixes: : Only 1sg continues the Trans-New Guinea set.

Vocabulary

The following selected reconstructions of Proto-Binanderean and other lower-level reconstructions are from the Trans-New Guinea database: :

Evolution

Greater Binanderean reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are: Binandere language: * ‘lightning’ < * * ‘nose’ < * * ‘kidney, testicles’ < * ‘internal organs’ * ‘eye’ < * * ‘sap’ < * ‘sap, milk’ * ‘breast’ < * * ‘head’ < * * ‘teeth’ < * ‘tooth’ * ‘spittle’, - ‘to spit’ < * ‘to spit’ * ‘father’ < * * ‘man’ < * * ‘tree’ < * * ‘stone’ < * * ‘darkness’ < * ‘night’ * ‘lightning’ < * ‘(fire)light’ * ‘fire’ < * ‘ashes’ * ‘bird’ < * * ‘eat, drink’ < * * ‘to blow’ < * + verb * ‘short’ < * Korafe language: * ‘egg’ < * ‘internal organs’ * ‘urine’ < * * ‘burning stick’ < * ‘ashes’ * ‘give’ < * * ‘hear, understand’ < * ‘know’ Suena language: * ‘destitute’ < * ‘orphan, widow and child’ * ‘mother’ < * * ‘night’ < * * ‘taro’ < * * ‘netbag’ < * Yega language: * ‘ear’ < *

Phonotactics

Like the

Koiarian languages The Koiarian languages Koiari are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the " Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea. Langu ...

, Binanderean languages only allow for open syllables and do not allow final CVC.

References

* * Smallhorn, Jacinta Mary (2011). ''The Binanderean languages of Papua New Guinea: reconstruction and subgrouping''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

External links

* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Guhu–Oro
Anglican Holy Communion in Binandere, digitized by Richard Mammana and Charles Wohlers
Benunu tepo ae sakrament da kandoari ae ekalesia da jimbo nenei ainda book England da ekalesia da jimbo ango
(1959)

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

digitized by Richard Mammana *King, Copland. 1927. ''Grammar and Dictionary of the Binandere Language, Mamba River, North Division, Papua''. Sydney: D.S. Ford

{{Languages of Papua New Guinea Greater Binanderean languages, Binanderean–Goilalan languages Languages of Oro Province