The Madang or Madang–Adelbert Range languages are a
language family of Papua New Guinea. They were classified as a branch of
Trans–New Guinea by
Stephen Wurm
Stephen Adolphe Wurm ( hu, Wurm István Adolf, ; 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-sp ...
, followed by
Malcolm Ross.
William A. Foley
William A. Foley (''William Auguste "Bill" Foley;'' born 1949) is an American linguist and professor at Columbia University He was previously located at the University of Sydney. He specializes in Papuan and Austronesian languages. Foley develo ...
concurs that it is "highly likely" that the Madang languages are part of TNG, although the pronouns, the usual basis for classification in TNG, have been "replaced" in Madang. Timothy Usher finds that Madang is closest to the
Upper Yuat River languages
The Upper Yuat languages consist of two small language families, namely Arafundi and Piawi, spoken in the region of the upper Yuat River of New Guinea. The connection was first suggested by William A. Foley and confirmed by Timothy Usher, who ...
and other families to its west, but does not for now address whether this larger group forms part of the TNG family.
[Madang]
/ref>
The family is named after Madang Province and the Adelbert Range
Adelbert Range is a mountain range in Madang Province, north-central Papua New Guinea. The highest point of the mountains is at .
The Northern Adelbert languages and Southern Adelbert languages are spoken in the region.
Fauna and flora
As with ...
.
History
Sidney Herbert Ray
Sidney Herbert Ray (28 May 1858 – 1 January 1939) was a British comparative and descriptive linguist who specialised in Melanesian languages.Papers and field notes relating to his linguistic work are held bSOAS Special Collections/ref>
In 189 ...
identified the Rai Coast family in 1919. In 1951 these were linked with the Mabuso languages by Arthur Capell to create his Madang family. John Z'graggen (1971, 1975) expanded Madang to languages of the Adelbert Range and renamed the family Madang–Adelbert Range, and Stephen Wurm
Stephen Adolphe Wurm ( hu, Wurm István Adolf, ; 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-sp ...
(1975) adopted this as a branch of his Trans–New Guinea phylum. For the most part, Malcolm Ross's (2005) Madang family includes the same languages as Z'graggen Madang–Adelbert Range, but the internal classification is different in several respects, such as the dissolution of the Brahman branch.
Internal classification
The languages are as follows:
* '' Bargam'' (Mugil)
*Central Madang
** Croisilles (reduced, = Northern Adelbert Range)
** Mabuso
** Mindjim
** Rai Coast
Rai Coast District is a district in the southeast of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the six districts that of the Madang Province. The District has four local level government (LLG) areas namely; Astrolabe Bay, Nahu Rawa, (Nanki ...
(reduced; > South Madang)
** '' Yamben''
*West Madang
** Southern Adelbert Range (Sogeram and Tomul Rivers)
** Kalam (Kaironk River)
*East Madang
**'' Wasembo''
** Yaganon
The time depth of Madang is comparable to that of Austronesian or Indo-European.
Pronouns
Ross (2000) reconstructed the pronouns as follows:
:
These are not the common TNG pronouns. However, Ross postulates that the TNG dual suffixes *-le and *-t remain, and suggests that the TNG pronouns live on as Kalam verbal suffixes.
Evolution
Madang family reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:
Family-wide innovations
*pTNG *mbena ‘arm’ > proto-Madang *kambena (accretion of *ka-)
*pTNG *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C ‘fingernail’ > proto-Madang *timbi(n,t) ( metathesis)
*pTNG *(n)ok ‘water’ replaced by proto-Madang *yaŋgu
Croisilles
Garuh language
Nobonob (Nobanob, Nobnob), also known as Butelkud-Guntabak or Garuh (cf. closely related Garus), is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea. The language is expanding slightly. Ari (Ati, A’i) is a dialect.
Phonology
Vowels (orthographic)
...
:
*''muki'' ‘brain’ < *muku
*''bi'' ‘guts’ < *simbi
*''hap'' ‘cloud’ < *samb(V)
*''balamu'' ‘firelight’ < *mbalaŋ
*''wani'' ‘name’ < * ni ‘who?’
*''wus'' ‘wind, breeze’ < *kumbutu
*''kalam'' ‘moon’ < *kala(a,i)m
*''neg-'' ‘to watch’ < *nVŋg- ‘see, know’
*''ma'' ‘taro’ < *mV
*''ahi'' ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
Pay language
Mala, or Pay, is a Papuan language of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilon ...
:
*''in-'' ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)-
*''kawus'' ‘smoke’ < *kambu
*''tawu-na'' ‘ashes’ < *sambu
*''imun'' ‘hair’ < *sumu(n,t)
*''ano'' ‘who’ < * ni
Kalam
Kalam language (most closely related to the Rai Coast languages):
*''meg'' ‘teeth’ < *maŋgat *''md-magi'' ‘heart’ < *mundu-maŋgV
*''mkem'' ‘cheek’ < *mVkVm ‘cheek, chin’
*''sb'' ‘excrement, guts’ < *simbi
*''muk'' ‘milk, sap, brain’ < *muku
*''yman'' ‘louse’ < *iman
*''yb'' ‘name’ < *imbi
*''kdl'' ‘root’ < *kindil
*''malaŋ'' ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ
*''melk'' ‘(fire or day)light’ < *(m,mb)elak
*''kn-'' ‘to sleep, lie down’ < *kini(i,u)
*''kum-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''md- < *mVna-'' ‘be, stay’
*''nŋ-, ng-'' ‘perceive, know, see, hear, etc’ < *nVŋg-
*''kawnan'' ‘shadow, spirit’ < *k(a,o)
*''nan, takn'' ‘moon’ < *takVn *''magi'' ‘round thing, egg, fruit, etc.’ < *maŋgV
*''ami'' ‘mother’ < *am(a,i,u)
*''b'' ‘man’ < *ambi
*''bapi, -ap'' ‘father’ < *mbapa, *ap
*''saŋ'' ‘women’s dancing song’ < *saŋ
*''ma-'' ‘negator’ < *ma-
*''an'' ‘who’ < * ni
Rai Coast
Rai Coast District is a district in the southeast of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the six districts that of the Madang Province. The District has four local level government (LLG) areas namely; Astrolabe Bay, Nahu Rawa, (Nanki ...
Dumpu language
Watiwa is a Rai Coast language of Papua New Guinea.
It is spoken by some 500 people living in six villages in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, including Bebei () and Dumpu () villages of Usino Rural LLG.
It is more commonly known as Dumpu, ...
:
*''man-'' ‘be, stay’ < *mVna-
*''mekh'' ‘teeth’ < *maŋgat *''im'' ‘louse’ < *iman
*''munu'' ‘heart’ < *mundun ‘inner organs’
*''kum-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''kono'' ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
*''kini-'' ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)
*''ra-'' ‘take’ < *(nd,t)a-
*''urau'' ‘long’ < *k(o,u)ti(mb,p)V
*''gra'' ‘dry’ < *(ŋg,k)atata
Southern Adelbert
Sirva language
Sirva, or Sileibi, is a Papuan language of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet b ...
:
*''mun(zera)'' ‘be, stay’ < *mVna-
*''kaja'' ‘blood’ < *kenja
*''miku'' ‘brain’ < *muku
*''simbil'' ‘guts’ < *simbi
*''tipi'' ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,)ut(i,u)C ( metathesis)
*''iːma'' ‘louse’ < *iman
*''ibu'' ‘name’ < *imbi
*''kanumbu'' ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
*''mundu(ma)'' ‘nose’ < *mundu
*''kaːsi'' ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
*''apapara'' ‘butterfly’ < *apa(pa)ta
*''kumu-'' ‘die’ < *kumV-
*''ŋg-'' ‘see’ < *nVŋg-
Proto-language
The following selected reconstructions of Proto-Madang by Ross (2014) are from the Trans-New Guinea database. Proto-Trans–New Guinea are from Andrew Pawley
Andrew Kenneth Pawley (born 1941 in Sydney), FRSNZ, FAHA, is Emeritus Professor at the School of Culture, History & Language of the ''College of Asia & the Pacific'' at the Australian National University.
Career
Pawley was born in Sydney but ...
and Harald Hammarström (2018).
:
Notes
References
*
*Pawley, Ross, & Osmond, 2005. ''Papuan languages and the Trans New Guinea phylum''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 38–51.
CLDF Dataset
*Z'graggen, J A. (1980) A comparative word list of the Northern Adelbert Range Languages, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. (CLDF dataset on Zenodo )
External links
The Madang–Adelbert Range languages
in ''Multitree,'' showing both Z'graggen's and Wurm's classifications o longer functional as of 2014*ELAR archive o
Documenting the Sogeram Language Family of Papua New Guinea
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea
Languages of Papua New Guinea
Madang–Upper Yuat languages