The Northern Adelbert or Pihom–Isumrud 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 ...
of twenty languages in the
Madang stock of New Guinea. The occupy the coastal northern
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 ...
of mountains directly opposite
Karkar Island, as opposed to the
Southern Adelbert languages, another branch of Madang.
Malcolm Ross posited a "
linkage" connecting the Northern Adelbert languages with the
Mabuso languages, and named this group Croisilles ,
[ as the two families bracket Cape Croisilles (Northern Adelbert to the north, Mabuso to the south). However, Ross never claimed Croisilles was an actual language family, and other researchers have rejected the connection.
]
Languages
There are approximately 20 Northern Adelbert languages.
Below is a comparison of Northern Adelbert language names in Pick (2020) and Z'graggen (1980). A few alternate names from Capell (1952) are also given.
Classification
Croisilles was first posited by Malcolm Ross (1995), not as an actual language family, but as a linkage. It was a merger of Wurm's Pihom-Isumrud-Mugil and Mabuso stocks, each of which contained 25–30 languages. Pick (2017, 2020) and Usher reject the merger, and provisionally the inclusion of Mugil (Bargam), though Pick retains the name. Usher disambiguates the (non-Mabuso) family as 'Adelbert Range'.
Usher (2020)
Timothy Usher classifies the languages as follows.[Usher, Timothy. 2020]
Adelbert Range – Isumrud Strait
(NewGuineaWorld)
*Adelbert Range – Isumrud Strait
** Kowan (Isumrud Strait): Waskia, Korak (Amako)
**(North) Adelbert Range
*** Yamben
***Omosan (Omosa River): Pal (Abasakur), Kobol (Koguman)
*** Gilagil River (old Isumrud proper)
**** Dimir (Gavak)
**** ld Mabuan Brem (Bunabun), Malas (Manep)
***Northwest Adelbert Range ( Mount Pihom)
**** Kaukombar River: Mala (Pay), Miani (Maiani, Tani), Maia (Pila, Saki)
****Kumil–Timper
***** Kumil River: Bepour, Mauwake (Ulingan), Moere
***** Tiboran River ( Timper River): Musar; Wanambre; Kowaki, Mawak, Pamosu (Hinihon)
***Mabulap–Numugen
**** '' Amaimon'' (Mabulap) isolate
**** Numugen River (see)
Pick (2020)
Below is Andrew Pick's (2020) classification of the Northern Adelbert languages.
*Northern Adelbert languages
** Manep–Barem languages: Manep, Barem
** Kumil–Tibor languages
*** Kumil languages: Mauwake, Bepour, Moere
*** Tibor languages: Pamosu, Hember Avu, Mokati, Mawak, Kowaki
** Numugen languages: Usan, Karian, Yaben, Yarawata, Parawen, Ukuriguma
** Kaukombar languages: Maia, Mala, Miani, Maiani
** Gavak
Pick (2017)
A quite similar internal classification was worked out independently by Pick (2017).
video
Pick could not establish regular sound correspondences with Kobol–Pal (Omosan) or Amaimon (Mabulap), and thus leaves them out of the family.
*Northern Adelbert
**Kumil–Tibor (*t- > s, *p- > f, *ŋ > zero)
***Tibor zero, *a > e">-n > zero, *a > e
**** Mokati (Wanambre)
****(*k- > h, *C- > ��voice Kowaki, Mawak, Pamosu, Hember Avu (Musar)
*** Kumil , *C- > k- *t- > , *C- > [−voice *-k > zero">��voice.html" ;"title="k- *t- > , *C- > [−voice">k- *t- > , *C- > [−voice *-k > zero Bepour, Mauwake, Moere
** Kaukombar [*k- *Å‹ *-n > zero">Kaukombar languages">Kaukombar [*k- *Å‹ *-n > zero Mala, Miani, Maiani, Maia
**Manep–Barem [*-ŋ > n, *-g > ŋ, *wV > u]
*** Manep (Malas)
*** Barem (Brem)
** Gabak (Dimir)
** Numugen (*Å‹ > n, 6 languages)
** Amako–Waskia: Waskia, Korak
Pick notes that Barem and Malas share pronominal markers on the verbs 'to teach' and 'to show' that are unique to those two verbs.
Proto-language
A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Northern Adelbert has been proposed by Pick (2020).
Phonology
Pick (2020) reconstructs the phonemes of Proto-Northern Adelbert as:
Four vowels are reconstructed by Pick (2020): *a, *e, *i, *u. Although Northern Adelbert languages usually have the five vowels /a e i o u/, Pick (2020) does not consider *o to be reconstructable.
Pronouns
The Proto-Northern Adelbert pronouns are:
Lexicon
Selected lexical reconstructions from Pick (2020) are listed below.
Comparisons
Below is a list of Proto-Northern Adelbert forms that are descended from Proto-Trans–New Guinea.
References
Further reading
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Croisilles
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Mabuso
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-North-Adelbert
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Isumrud
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Pihom
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Tibor-Omosa
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Kaukombar
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Kumil
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
* Ross, Malcolm. 2014
Proto-Numugen
''TransNewGuinea.org''.
External links
Current research on the Madang languages by Andrew Pick
{{Madang languages
Languages of Papua New Guinea
Adelbert languages