proto-language
In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unattest ...
ancestral to 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 ...
. Reconstructions have been proposed by Malcolm Ross and
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 ...
.
Phonology
Proto-Trans–New Guinea is reconstructed with a typical simple Papuan inventory: five vowels, , three phonations of stops at three places, (
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 ...
reconstructs the voiced series as prenasalized ), plus a palatal affricate , the fricative , and the approximants . Syllables are typically (C)V, with CVC possible at the ends of words. Many of the languages have restricted tone systems.
:
The Proto-Trans–New Guinea vowels are reconstructed as having a cross-linguistically frequent five-vowel system:
:
Pronouns
Ross reconstructs the following pronominal paradigm for Trans–New Guinea, with ''*a~*i''
ablaut
In linguistics, the Indo-European ablaut (, from German ''Ablaut'' ) is a system of apophony (regular vowel variations) in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE).
An example of ablaut in English is the strong verb ''sing, sang, sung'' and its ...
for singular~non-singular:
:
There is a related but less commonly attested form for 'we', ''*nu'', as well as a ''*ja'' for 'you', which Ross speculates may have been a polite form. In addition, there were
dual
Dual or Duals may refer to:
Paired/two things
* Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another
** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality
*** see more cases in :Duality theories
* Dual (grammatical ...
suffixes ''*-li'' and ''*-t'', and a plural suffix ''*-nV'', (i.e. ''n'' plus a vowel) as well as
collective number
In linguistics, singulative number and collective number (abbreviated and ) are terms used when the grammatical number for multiple items is the unmarked form of a noun, and the noun is specially marked to indicate a single item.
This is the ...
suffixes ''*-pi-'' (dual) and ''*-m-'' (plural) that functioned as inclusive we when used in the first person. (Reflexes of the collective suffixes, however, are limited geographically to the central and eastern highlands, and so might not be as old as proto-Trans–New Guinea.)
Morphology
Studies group
Madang
Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century.
Histor ...
, Finisterre-Huon, and Kainantu-Goroka together as part of a larger ''Northeast New Guinea'' (NENG) group on the basis of morphological evidence, such as mutually reconstructable verbal suffixes that mark subject:
;Proto-Northeast New Guinea subject-marking verbal suffixes
:
;Comparison of reconstructions of subject-marking verbal suffixes
:
Lexicon
Lexical words, such as ''*niman'' 'louse', may also be reconstructed:
::''Reflexes of ''*niman'' 'louse', which attest to an intermediate ''*iman'' in the east:''
:Chimbu–Wahgi: Mid/Nuclear Wahgi
:Engan: Enga & Kewa
:Finisterre–Huon: Kâte , Selepet
:Gogodala
:Kainantu–Goroka: Awa , Tairora , Fore , Gende
:Southern Kiwai
:Koiarian: Managalasi
:Kolopom: Kimaghama , Riantana
:Kwale
:Madang: Kalam , Watiwa (Rai Coast) , Sirva (Adelbert)
:Mek: Kosarek
:Marori
:Paniai Lakes: Ekari ( metathesis?)
:Timor–Alor–Pantar: Western Pantar , Oirata (metathesis?)
:Wiru
::Questionable branches:
:Pauwasi: Yafi
:Central Sentani
The Proto-Trans–New Guinea negative is reconstructed as ''*ma-''. Negatives in Trans–New Guinea languages usually have either an ''mV''- or ''nV''- form.
* ''*mV'' (often ''*ma''): Angaatɨha ( Angan); Apalɨ, Waskia,
Kalam
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
(
Madang
Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century.
Histor ...
Kombe
Kombe may refer to:
*Kombe people
*Kombe language
*Kombe (Lycia), an ancient city
* Kömbe, a baked filled pastry of Turkey and Azerbaijan
People with the surname
* Paulin Tokala Kombe (born 1977), DR Congolese football player
* Saviour Kombe (bor ...
Oksapmin
Oksapmin is a Trans–New Guinea language spoken in Oksapmin Rural LLG, Telefomin District, Sandaun, Papua New Guinea.
The two principal dialects are distinct enough to cause some problems with mutual intelligibility.
Oksapmin has dyadic kins ...
Reconstructions
Lexical comparison
, , ;
, -
!
Kutubu
Lake Kutubu is the second-largest lake in Papua New Guinea,Lake Kutubu at Ramsar site after Lake Kutubu
Lake Kutubu is the second-largest lake in Papua New Guinea,Lake Kutubu at Ramsar site after
, *uni , , *iti , , , , *hʲĩ , , *sabe , , *mete , , *atu , , *kotage , , , , *kigi , , *ga /u, , *hʲokõ
, -
! Enga-Kewa-Huli
! Enga (Sari dialect)
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
, -
! Wiru
! Wiru
, , , , ; , , , , , , , , , , ; , , , , , , , , , ,
, -
! Chimbu-Wahgi
! Kuman
, , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , , , , , ; , , ; ; , , ; , , , , ;
, -
!
Madang
Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century.
Histor ...
Proto-Binandere
The Greater Binanderean or Guhu-Oro languages are a language family spoken along the northeast coast of the Papuan Peninsula – the "Bird's Tail" of New Guinea – and appear to be a recent expansion from the north. They were classified as a bra ...
Proto-Koiarian
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.
Langua ...
Proto-Kwalean
The Kwalean or Humene–Uare languages 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.
...
Proto-Manubaran
The Manubaran languages are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken around Mount Brown in the "Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guin ...
Musa River
The Musa is a river on the eastern side of the Papuan Peninsula, in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the primary rivers on Oro Province. Its mouth exits into Dyke Ackland Bay Dyke Ackland Bay is a large bay in the Oro Province of Papua New Guin ...