The Kolopom languages are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Trans–New Guinea languages Trans–New Guinea (TNG) is an extensive Language family, family of Papuan languages spoken on the island of New Guinea and neighboring islands, a region corresponding to the country Papua New Guinea as well as Western New Guinea, parts of Indone ...

in the classifications of

Stephen Wurm Stephen Adolphe Wurm (, ; 19 August 1922 – 24 October 2001) was a Hungarian-born Australian linguist. Early life Wurm was born in Budapest, the second child to the German-speaking Adolphe Wurm and the Hungarian-speaking Anna Novroczky. ...

(1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005). Along with the

Mombum languages The Mombum languages, also known as the Komolom or Muli Strait languages, are a pair of Trans–New Guinea languages, Mombum (Komolom) and Koneraw, spoken on Komolom Island just off Yos Sudarso Island, and on the southern coast of Yos Sudarso ...

, they are the languages spoken on

Kolepom Island Kolepom Island or Pulau Yos Sudarso is an island separated by the narrow Muli Strait from the main island of New Guinea. It is part of the Merauke Regency, in the Indonesian province of South Papua. The island is leaf-shaped, about long with an a ...

(

Yos Sudarso Island Kolepom Island or Pulau Yos Sudarso is an island separated by the narrow Muli Strait from the main island of New Guinea. It is part of the Merauke Regency, in the Indonesian province of South Papua. The island is leaf-shaped, about long with an ...

) in South Papua,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Languages

The Kolopom languages are:New Guinea World, Kolopom
/ref> *Central Kolopom: Kimaama (Kimaghama), Riantana * Ndom * Moraori

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows: : :

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as: :

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are: :

Cognates

Cognates among Kolopom languages listed by Evans (2018): :

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970) and Voorhoeve (1975), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. ''mete'', ''meːt'', ''metö'' for “stone”) or not (e.g. ''tuakwo'', ''reːt'', ''modo'' for “head”). :

Evolution

Kolopom reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:

Kimaghana language Kimaama, or Kimaghama, is a language spoken on Yos Sudarso Island in Papua province, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Oce ...

: *''kura'' ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok *''nome'' ‘louse’ < *niman *''nanu'' ‘older sibling’ < *nana(i)

Riantana language Riantana, or Kimaam, is a language spoken on Yos Sudarso Island in Papua province, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, ...

: *''mu'' ‘breast’ < *amu *''modo'' ‘head’ < *mVtVna *''nome'' ‘louse’ < *niman

References

External links

* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Proto–Kolopom
{{Papuan languages Languages of Papua New Guinea Cook River–Kolopom languages