Marind–Yaqai languages explained

Marind–Yakhai
Also Known As:	Marind
Ethnicity:	Marind people
Region:	South Papua
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Trans–New Guinea
Fam2:	Anim (Fly River)^[1]
Child1:	Marind
Child2:	Yaqay
Glotto:	mari1437
Glottorefname:	Marind-Boazi-Yaqai
Map:	Marind languages.svg
Mapcaption:	Map: The Marind–Yaqai languages of New Guinea

The Marind–Yaqai (Marind–Yakhai) languages are a well established language family of Papuan languages, spoken by the Marind-anim. They form part of the Trans–New Guinea languages in the classifications of Stephen Wurm and Malcolm Ross, and were established as part of the Anim branch of TNG by Timothy Usher.

Languages

The languages are:

• Marind–Yaqai
  • Marind
    • • • Warkay-Bipim
    • Yaqay

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:^[2]

m	n
p	t		k
b	d		g
mb	nd		ŋg
	s		h
w	ɾ	j	ɣ

Vowels are *a *e *i *o *u.

Pronouns

The pronouns are:^[1]

	sg	pl
1	nok	?
2	oɣ	eoɣ
3m	anep	anip
3f	anup

Classification

The Marind languages were partially identified by Sidney Herbert Ray and JHP Murray in 1918; the family was filled out by JHMC Boelaars in 1950. It was incorporated into Trans–New Guinea by Stephen Wurm in 1975.

The Boazi languages were formerly classified as Marind.

Evolution

Marind reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:^[3]

• kase ‘saliva’ < pTNG *kasipa ‘spit’
• maŋgat ‘mouth’ < *maŋgat[a]
• mudu-meŋ ‘belly’ < *mundu-maŋgV ‘heart’
• mokom ‘fruit, seed’ < *maŋgV
• saŋga ‘hand, finger, arm’ < *sa(ŋg,k)(a,i)l ‘hand, claw’
• sâ ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
• de ‘tree’ < *inda
• iwar ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
• kuyu ‘cassowary’ < *ku(y)a

See also

• Marind people

Further reading

• Drabbe, Petrus. 1950. Twee dialecten van de Awju-taal [Two dialects of the Awyu language]. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 106: 92–147.
• Drabbe, Petrus. 1954a. Comparative Vocabulary 100 words in 24 languages. Posieux/Fribourg: Instituut Anthropos.
• Drabbe, Petrus. 1954b. Talen en dialecten van zuid-west Nieuw-Guinea [Languages and Dialects of Southwest New Guinea]. Posieux/Fribourg: Instituut Anthropos.
• Drabbe, Petrus. 1955. Spraakkunst van het Marind: Zuidkust Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea [A Grammar of Marind: South Coast of New Guinea]. Wien-Mödling: Drukkerij van het Missiehuis St. Gabriël.

External links

• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Marind–Yakhai

Notes and References

1. https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/fly-river New Guinea World, Fly River
2. https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/fly-river/marind-yakhai New Guinea World, Marind–Yakhai
3. 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.