Greater Awyu languages explained

Greater Awyu
Also Known As:	Digul River
Region:	Digul watershed, New Guinea
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Trans–New Guinea
Fam2:	Central West New Guinea
Fam3:	Awyu–Ok^[1]
Child1:	Awyu–Dumut
Child2:	Becking–Dawi
Child3:	Sawi
Protoname:	Proto-Digul River
Glotto:	grea1275
Glottorefname:	Greater Awyu
Map:	Awyu-Dumut languages.svg
Mapcaption:	Map: The Awyu–Dumut languages of New Guinea

The Greater Awyu or Digul River languages, known in earlier classifications with more limited scope as Awyu–Dumut (Awyu–Ndumut), are a family of perhaps a dozen Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in eastern West Papua in the region of the Digul River. Six of the languages are sufficiently attested for a basic description; it is not clear how many of the additional names (in parentheses below) may be separate languages.

History

The Awyu (pronounced like English Ow you) and Awyu–Dumut families were identified by Peter Drabbe in the 1950s.

Voorhoeve included them in his proposed Central and South New Guinea group.^[2] As part of Central and South New Guinea, they form part of the original proposal for Trans–New Guinea.^[3]

Classification

The classification below is based on Usher^[4] and de Vries et al. (2012),^[5] who used morphological innovations to determine relatedness, which can be obscured by lexical loanwords.

• Sawi (Sawuy)
• Awyu–Dumut (Central Digul River)
  • Awyu languages

Aghu (Jair), Shiaxa (Jenimu, Edera), Pisa (Asuwe)

• • Ndeiram–Ndumut
    • Dumut (Wambon) branch: Mandobo (Kaeti, Dumut), Wambon
    • Ndeiram River

Kombai–Wanggom

• North Digul River
  • Awbono-Bayono
  • Becking–Dawi
    • Dawi River

Komyandaret, Tsaukambo

• • • Becking River

Korowai

Sawi is classified on pronominal data, as the morphological data used for the rest of the family is not available.

Pawley and Hammarström (2018) exclude Awbono-Bayono, treating it as a separate family.

Various other languages can be found in the literature. Airo-Sumaxage (Airo-Sumaghage)^[6] is listed in Wurm, Foley, etc., but not in the University of Amsterdam survey and has been dropped by Ethnologue. Ethnologue lists a 'Central Awyu', but this is not attested as a distinct language (U. Amsterdam). In general, the names in Ethnologue are quite confused, and older editions speak of names from Wurm (1982), such as Mapi, Kia, Upper Digul, Upper Kaeme, which are names of language surveys along the rivers of those names, and may actually refer to Ok languages rather than to Awyu.

van den Heuvel & Fedden (2014) argue that Greater Awyu and Greater Ok are not genetically related, but that their similarities are due to intensive contact.^[7]

Reconstruction

Proto-Digul River
Target:	Greater Awyu languages
Familycolor:	Papuan
Ancestor:	Proto-Trans–New Guinea
Ancestor2:	Proto-Awyu–Ok

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs "perhaps" 15 consonants and 8 vowels, as follows:^[8]

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
					plain	labialized
Nasal		pronounced as /m/	pronounced as /n/
Plosive	plain	pronounced as /p/	pronounced as /t/		pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /kʷ/
	prenasalized	pronounced as /ᵐb/	pronounced as /ⁿd/	pronounced as /ⁿdz/	pronounced as /ᵑɡ/	pronounced as /ᵑɡʷ/
Fricative			pronounced as /s/
Semivowel		pronounced as /w/		pronounced as /j/
Rhotic			pronounced as /ɾ/

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /i/		pronounced as /u/
Close-mid	pronounced as /e/		pronounced as /o/
Open-mid	pronounced as /ɛ/		pronounced as /ɔ/
Open		pronounced as /a/	pronounced as /ɒ/

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:^[8]

	sg	pl
1	nup
2	ngup	ngip
3

Ross (2005) reconstructs the pronouns of the Awyu–Dumut branch as follows:

	sg	pl
1	nu-p	na-gu-p
2	gu-p	ga-gu-p
3	e-p, *[n]ege-p, *yu-p	ya-gu-p

The suffix *-p and the change of the final TNG *a vowel to *u do not appear in the possessive pronouns: *na, *ga, *ya/wa, *na-ga, *ga-ga, *ya-ga.

Basic vocabulary

Healey (1970) and Voorhoeve (2000)

The following selected reconstructions of Proto-Awyu-Dumut, Proto-Awyu, and Proto-Dumut by Voorhoeve are from Healey (1970)^[9] and Voorhoeve (2000),^[10] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:^[11]

gloss	Proto-Awyu-Dumut	Proto-Awyu	Proto-Dumut
head	kɑibɑn; *xaiban	xaiban; *xɑibɑn	kɑbiɑn; *kebian
hair	möxö; *muk; *ron	mox; *mux; *ron	mökö-ron; *muk; *ron
ear	turun	turun	turutop; *turu=top
eye	kerop	kero	kerop
nose	togut		togut
tongue	fɔgat; *fɔgɛt; *pogɑt	fagɛ; *fɑge	ogat; *pɑgɑt
louse	gut	go; *gu; *ɑgu	gut
dog	angay; *ɑgɑi; *set	sɛ; *(y)ange; *(y)angi; *yɑgi	agay; *ɑgɑi; *tit
pig	wi	wi	uy
bird	yet	yi	yet
egg	wɑidin	mugo	wɑdin
blood	gom	gon	gom
bone		bogi	mit
skin	kɑt; *xa(t)	xɑ; *xa	kotay; *kɑtɑy
breast	ɑm; *om	om; **om	om; *ɔm
tree	yin	yin	in
woman	ran; *rɑn	ran; *rɑn	ran; *rɑn
sky	xuit	xuito	kut
sun	seyɑt		sɑt
moon	wɑkot		wɑkot
water	ox	ɔx; *óxo	ok
fire	yin	yin
stone	irop	ero; *iro	irop
name	füp; *pip	fi	fip; *üp
eat	ɑde; *en; *ɛn-	ɑde-; *en; *ɛn-	ɑde; *en; *en-
two	rumo; *rumon	okorumon; **ok=rumɔ(n)	irumon; *rumo

Usher (2020)

Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Digul River and lower-level reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:^[8]

gloss	Proto-Digul River	Sawuy	Proto-North Digul	Proto-Central Digul
head	kamb[e̝]jan		kabe̝jan	kambijan
leaf/hair	mo̝k	moːx	mo̝k	mo̝k
tongue	te̝p	seːp ~ seɸ	te̝p
skin/bark			kat	kat
breast		aːm	am	ɒm
dog	tit	siːr	tit	tit
bird	ndzeːt	eːr	dze̝t	je̝t
egg	mug[o/ɔ]	mugo		mugɔ
sun/day	[a]tap	ataːp
moon	wakɔɾ	oxaːr	wakɔɾ	wakɔɾ
water		aːx	[a/ɔ]k	ɔk

Evolution

Greater Awyu reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:^[12]

Wambon language

• maŋgot ‘teeth, mouth’ < *maŋgat[a]
• (Wambon S.) kodok ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V]
• mok ‘seed’ < *maŋgV
• kotay ‘bark, skin’ < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu
• kondok ‘bone’ < *kwanjaC
• kim- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• kinum- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)-
• ok ‘water, river’ < *okV
• enop ‘fire’ < *kendop
• (ko)sep ‘ashes’ < *(kambu-)sumbu
• (Wambon N.) kumut ‘thunder’ < *kumut or *tumuk
• ururuk ko- ‘to fly’ < *pululu

Mandobo Atas language

• am ‘breast’ < *amu
• magot ‘mouth’ < *maŋgat[a]
• koman ‘neck’ < *k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V]
• (a)moka ‘cheek’ < *mVkVm ‘cheek, jaw’
• kere(top) ‘ear’ < *kand(e,i)k(V]
• betit ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C
• kodok ‘foot, leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V]
• otae ‘bark, skin’ < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu
• kiow ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
• komöt ‘thunder’ < *kumut
• üp ‘name’ < *imbi
• kinum- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)-
• (ko)tep ‘ashes’ < *(kambu-)sumbu
• ok ‘water, river’ < *okV
• apap ‘butterfly’ < *apa(pa)ta

Pisa language

• mugo ‘egg’ < *maŋgV, kiri
• mogo ‘eye’ < *kiti-maŋgV
• kifi ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
• ise ‘mosquito’ < *kasin
• apero ‘butterfly’ < *apa(pa)ta
• kunu (ri-) ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)-
• kekuŋ- ‘carry on the shoulder’ < *kak(i,u)-

Syiaxa language

• fi ‘name’ < *imbi
• apa ‘butterfly’ < *apa([pa]pata
• boro ‘to fly’ < *pululu

References

1. https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/central-west-new-guinea/digul-river-ok New Guinea World, Digul River – Ok
2. Voorhoeve, C.L. 1968. “The Central and South New Guinea Phylum: a report on the language situation in south New Guinea. Pacific Linguistics, Series A, No. 16: 1-17. Canberra: Australian National University.
3. McElhanon, Kenneth A.and C.L. Voorhoeve. 1970. The Trans-New Guinea phylum: explorations in deep-level genetic relationships. Pacific Linguistics, Series B, No. 16. Canberra: Australian National University.
4. https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/central-west-new-guinea/digul-river-ok/digul-river New Guinea World - Digul River
5. Lourens de Vries, Ruth Wester, & Wilco van den Heuvel. 2012. "The Greater Awyu language family of West Papua", pp. 269–312 of Hammarström & van den Heuvel (eds.), History, Contact and Classification of Papuan Languages. (Language and Linguistics in Melanesia Special Issue). Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.
6. Multitree qgz
7. van den Heuvel, W. & Fedden, S. (2014). Greater Awyu and Greater Ok: Inheritance or Contact? Oceanic Linguistics 53(1), 1-36. University of Hawai'i Press.
8. https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/central-west-new-guinea/digul-river-ok New Guinea World
9. Healey, A. 1970. Proto-Awyu-Dumut Phonology. In Wurm, S.A. and Laycock, D. C. (eds). Pacific Linguistic Studies in honour of Arthur Capell. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
10. Voorhoeve, C. L. 2000. Proto Awyu-Dumut phonology II. In A. Pawley, M. Ross, & D. Tryon (Eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: studies in Melanesian linguistics in honour of Tom Dutton (pp. 361–381). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
11. Web site: TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea . Greenhill . Simon . 2016. 2020-11-05.
12. Book: Pawley . Andrew . Hammarström . Harald . Palmer . Bill . 2018 . The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide . The Trans New Guinea family . The World of Linguistics . 4 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 21–196 . 978-3-11-028642-7.

Further reading

• Proto-Awyu-Dumut. TransNewGuinea.org. From (1) Voorhoeve, C. L. 2000. Proto Awyu-Dumut phonology II. In A. Pawley, M. Ross, & D. Tryon (Eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: studies in Melanesian linguistics in honour of Tom Dutton (pp. 361–381). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ; (2) Healey, A. 1970. Proto-Awyu-Dumut Phonology. In Wurm, S.A. and Laycock, D. C. (eds). Pacific Linguistic Studies in honour of Arthur Capell. Pacific Linguistics: Canberra.
• Proto-Awyu. TransNewGuinea.org. From (1) Voorhoeve, C. L. 2000. Proto Awyu-Dumut phonology II. In A. Pawley, M. Ross, & D. Tryon (Eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: studies in Melanesian linguistics in honour of Tom Dutton (pp. 361–381). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ; (2) Healey, A. 1970. Proto-Awyu-Dumut Phonology. In Wurm, S.A. and Laycock, D. C. (eds). Pacific Linguistic Studies in honour of Arthur Capell. Pacific Linguistics: Canberra.
• Proto-Dumut. TransNewGuinea.org. From (1) Voorhoeve, C. L. 2000. Proto Awyu-Dumut phonology II. In A. Pawley, M. Ross, & D. Tryon (Eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: studies in Melanesian linguistics in honour of Tom Dutton (pp. 361–381). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ; (2) Healey, A. 1970. Proto-Awyu-Dumut Phonology. In Wurm, S.A. and Laycock, D. C. (eds). Pacific Linguistic Studies in honour of Arthur Capell. Pacific Linguistics: Canberra.

External links

• The Awyu–Ndumut languages in their linguistic and cultural context (University of Amsterdam)
• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Digul River – Ok
  • (ibid.) Proto–Digul River (see also reconstructions of North and Central Digul River)
  • (ibid.) Digul River. New Guinea World.