Arafundi languages explained

Arafundi
Also Known As:	Alfendio Arafundi River
Region:	Arafundi River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Madang – Upper Yuat
Fam2:	Upper Yuat
Glotto:	araf1243
Glottorefname:	Arafundi
Elp:	10642
Elpname:	Alfendio

The Arafundi languages are a small family of clearly related languages in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. They are conjectured to be related to the Piawi and Madang languages. They are named after the Arafundi River.

Alfendio is an old synonym for Arafundi, from when it was still considered a single language.

Languages

The Arafundi languages form a dialect continuum where language boundaries are blurred.^[1]

The Arafundi languages are,^[2]

• Nanubae
• Tapei
• Andai (Meakambut)
• Awiakay (Karamba)

Kassell, et al. (2018) recognize Andai, Nanubae, and Tapei.^[3]

Foley (2018) cites Hoenigman (2015) for 'Upper Arafundi' and 'Lower Arafundi', as well as listing Awiakay and 'Imboin'.^[1] However, the scope of these names is somewhat confused. Usher notes,

An Enga-based pidgin is also used by speakers of Arafundi languages.

Classification

Laycock (1973) grouped the Arafundi languages with the Ramu languages, although (according to his comments in the introduction) this grouping was apparently impressionistic and not based on either reconstructive work or lexicostatistics. Ross (2005) retains Laycock's grouping without comment. However, Foley (2005) does not include Arafundi within Ramu, and Ethnologue (2009) shows them as an independent family. Foley has suggested instead that the Arafundi and Piawi languages may be related (Comrie 1992), a position confirmed by Timothy Usher.^[4]

Proto-language

Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Arafundi River by Usher (2020) are:^[2]

gloss	Proto-Arafundi River
head	kopa
hair/feather(s)	tum[a]
ear	kund[a]
nose	pok
tooth	kandz[a]
tongue	taTumat[a]
foot/leg	panamb[a]
blood	kombet-
bone	jekimb[a]
skin	kumb[a]-; *tut[a]
breast	ji[t/s]
louse	emuŋg
dog	tawa[m/mb]
pig	jat
bird	kenet
egg	mund[a]
tree	jes
man	nuŋgum
woman	nam
sun	kVjom
moon	kepa
water	jomb
fire	jamb
stone	naŋgum
name	membi[a]
eat/drink	nembV-
two	kamin, *kondamin

See also

• Yimas-Arafundi Pidgin

References

• Comrie, Bernard. "The recognition of the Piawi language family." In Tom Dutton, Malcolm Ross and Darrell Tryon, eds. The language game: Papers in memory of Donald C. Laycock. 111-113. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 1992.
• Book: Foley, William A. . William A. Foley . 2005 . Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik–Ramu basin . Andrew Pawley . Andrew Pawley . Robert Attenborough . Robin Hide . Jack Golson . Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples . Canberra . Pacific Linguistics . 0858835622 . 67292782 .
• Laycock, Donald. Sepik languages - checklist and preliminary classification. Pacific Linguistics B-25. Canberra, 1973.

External links

• Arafundi languages database at TransNewGuinea.org
• Arafundi River. New Guinea World.

Notes and References

1. Book: Foley, William A. . William A. Foley . Palmer . Bill . 2018 . The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide . The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs . The World of Linguistics . 4 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 197–432 . 978-3-11-028642-7.
2. Usher, Timothy (2020) New Guinea World, Arafundi River
3. Kassell, Alison, Bonnie MacKenzie and Margaret Potter. 2018. Three Arafundi Languages: A Sociolinguistic Profile of Andai, Nanubae, and Tapei. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2017-003.
4. https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/arafundi-and-upper-yuat-rivers NewGuineaWorld Arafundi and Upper Yuat Rivers