Koiarian languages explained

Koiarian
Also Known As:	Koiari – Managalas Plateau
Region:	Southeastern peninsula of Papua New Guinea: Central Province and Oro Province
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Trans–New Guinea
Fam2:	Papuan Peninsula
Fam3:	Owen Stanley Range
Child1:	Koiari
Child2:	Baraic (Managalas Plateau)
Glotto:	koia1260
Glottorefname:	Koiarian

The Koiarian languages ^[1] 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.

Languages

The languages are:

• Koiaric branch (Koiari): Grass Koiari, Mountain Koiari–Koitabu
• Baraic branch (Managalas Plateau): Barai–Namiae, Ese (Managalasi), Ömie

Dutton (2010) classifies the Koiarian languages as:^[2]

• Baraic
  • Ömie
  • Barai–Managalasi (incl. Namiae)
• Koiaric
  • Mountain Koiari
  • Koita – Grass Koiari

Proto-language

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:^[3]

	sg	pl
1	na	no
2	a	ja
3	aɸu	[i/e]abu

Vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words of Proto-Koiarian and other lower-level reconstructions are from the Trans-New Guinea database:^[4]

gloss	Proto-Koiarian	Proto-Koiariac	Proto-Baraic
head		kina
hair	fómo
ear			gada
eye	ni
nose	uri
tooth			gubai
tongue			bitarV
leg			díʔ-
louse	ʔumu
dog		to	(ʔ,k)uo
pig		ofo	mafV
bird	ugu[fa]
egg	uni
blood	taɣo
bone			(ʔ)adV
skin	vata
breast	amu		m(u,o)sV
tree	idí
man		ata	baru
woman	maɣina	nigi
sun		vani	maja-; *ve
moon		bata
water			[i]do
fire	vené
stone	muni		Umari
road, path		ɣuma
name	ifí
eat	i-
one	(i,o)gau		Ogonu
two		abu(t)i	inoki

Evolution

Koiarian reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:^[5]

Koiari language

• muka ‘lump’ < *maŋgV ‘round object’
• uni ‘egg’ < *mun(a,i,u)ka
• idu ‘tree’ < *inda
• iya ‘cassowary’ < *ku(y)a
• karika ‘dry’ < *(ŋg,k)atata
• muni ‘stone < *(na)muna
• nana ‘older same-sex sibling’ < *nan(a,i)
• u-tuvu ‘ashes’ < *kambu-sumbu

Managalasi language

• ata ‘bone’ < *kondaC
• muka ‘lump’ < *maŋgV ‘round object’
• iha ‘name’ < *imbi
• uma ‘louse’ < *iman
• uka ‘bird’ < *yaka
• tuua ‘short’ < *tukumba[C]
• muna ‘stone’ < *(na)muna
• ija ‘tree’ < *inda
• otoka ‘knee’ < *(k,ŋg)atuk
• kora ‘dry’ < *(ŋg,k)atata

Phonotactics

Like the Binanderean languages, Barai and other Koiarian languages only allow for open syllables and do not allow final CVC.^[5]

References

1. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
2. Dutton, Tom. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family. (Pacific Linguistics, 610.) Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University
3. https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/papuan-peninsula/owen-stanley-range New Guinea World, Owen Stanley Range
4. Web site: TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea . Greenhill . Simon . 2016. 2020-11-05.
5. 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

• Dutton, Tom. 2003. A dictionary of Koiari, Papua New Guinea, with grammar notes. Pacific Linguistics 534. Canberra: Australian National University.
• Proto-Koiarian. TransNewGuinea.org. From Dutton, T.E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
• Proto-Koiariac. TransNewGuinea.org. From Dutton, T.E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
• Proto-Baraic. TransNewGuinea.org. From Dutton, T.E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.