| Bosavi | |
| Also Known As: | Papuan Plateau |
| Region: | Papuan Plateau, Papua New Guinea |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Trans–New Guinea |
| Glotto: | bosa1245 |
| Glottorefname: | Bosavi |
| Map: | Bosavi languages.svg |
| Mapcaption: | Map: The Bosavi languages of New Guinea |
The Bosavi or Papuan Plateau languages belong to the Trans-New Guinea language family according to the classifications made by Malcolm Ross and Timothy Usher. This language family derives its name from Mount Bosavi and the Papuan Plateau.
Geographically, the Bosavi languages are situated to the east and south of the East Strickland group. They can be found around Mount Bosavi, located east of the Strickland River and southwest of the western edge of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea. Although no extensive subgrouping analysis has been conducted, Shaw's lexicostatistical study in 1986 provides some insights.
Based on this study, it is indicated that Kaluli and Sonia exhibit a significant lexical similarity of 70%, which is higher than any other languages compared. Therefore, it is likely that these two languages form a subgroup. Similarly, Etoro and Bedamini share a subgroup with a lexical similarity of 67%. The languages Aimele, Kasua, Onobasulu, and Kaluli-Sunia exhibit more shared isoglosses among themselves than with the Etoro-Bedamini group. Some of these shared isoglosses are likely to be innovations.[1]
The languages, which are closely related are:[1]
Kaluli–Sonia, Aimele (Kware), Kasua
Its worth noting these languages share at best 70% lexical (vocabulary) similarity, as in the case of Kaluli-Sonia, and Edolo-Beami.[1] The rest of related languages likely shares around 10-15% lexical similarities.
The unity of the Bosavi languages was quantitatively demonstrated by Evans and Greenhill (2017).[2]
Palmer et al. (2018) consider Dibiyaso to be a language isolate.[3]
Pronouns are:
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The following basic vocabulary words are from the Trans-New Guinea database:[4]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. aubi, awbi, aube for “moon”) or not (e.g. dɔa, igi, kele for “stone”).
| gloss | Sonia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| head | mufa | tialuna; tiaruma | taluba | b~pusʌ | mise; misẽ | pesʌi | bizei; pesai | kuni | eneipi | |
| hair | mufa fɔnɔ | hinabu; osa | hinabo | b~pusʌ heni | misẽ fɔ̃; mise foon | medafɔn | bizei fʌnu; pesaifano | alu; kuni alu | eneipi fɔn | |
| ear | keleni | kẽ | kȩ | kɛhe | kenẽ; malo | kælæn | kenane; kinɛli | kɔheni; koneni | ekadem | |
| eye | si | si | sii | si | si | si | si | si | ||
| nose | migi | mi | mi | migʌni | migi | mi; mĩ | mi; mĩ | miki | ||
| tooth | bisi | pese; pẽsẽ | pese | p~bese | beso; bis | pes | apa | pese | ʌnenʌ | |
| tongue | dabisẽ | eri; kɔnɛ̃su | kona̧su | eli | eʌn; sano | inem | tepe; tepɛ | eane; ɛane | tʌbise | |
| leg | inebi | emo | emo | emɔ | gidaafoo; gip | onatu; unɛtu | emo; emɔ | eisep | ||
| louse | tede | imu | imu | imũ | fe; fẽ | tekeape | arupai; pfɛi | (fe); fẽ | fi | |
| dog | ãgi | wæːme; weːme | wæmi | ɔgɔnɔ | gasa; kasʌ | kasa | kasoro; kʌsoro | gesu; kesɔ | wɛi | |
| pig | kẽ | gebɔ | suguʌ | kabɔ | kɔpɔľɔ | tɔfene | kɛ | |||
| bird | abɔ | mæni | hega; mæni | hayʌ | ɔ̃bẽ; oloone; oobaa | anemae; ɛnim | haga; haka | ʌbɔ | ||
| egg | abɔ us̪u | ɔsɔ | oso | isɔ | ɔ̃bẽ uš; us | natape; ufu | hokaisu; sɔ | ʌtʌm | ||
| blood | omani | hæːľe | heale | hiʌle | hɔbɔ; hooboo | bebetʌ; pepeta | ibi | hʌbʌ | ||
| bone | ki | kasa; koso | kasa | kiwiː | ki | ki; kiː | kiwi | uku | ||
| skin | kãfu | kadofo; kadɔfɔ | kadofo | kʌdɔfɔ | dɔgɔf; toogoof | kapo | kapo; kʌːpɔ | tomola; tɔmɔla | ʌkʌf | |
| breast | buː | toto; tɔtɔ | toto | tɔtɔ | bo; bu | bo | bɔ; po | bu | bɔ | |
| tree | yebe | ifa | ifa | i | i | i; tai | i | yep | ||
| man | kɔlu | tunu | tunu̧ | tɔnɔ | kalu | senae; senɛ | inɔlɔ; inoro | ʌsenʌ | ||
| woman | kaisale | uda | uda | udia | ga; kesali; kesari | kesare; kesʌľe | ido; idɔ | nʌisɔʌ | ||
| sun | ofɔ | esɔ; eṣɔ | eso | esɔ | of; ɔf | opo | ɔbɔ; opo | haro; hɔlɔ | of | |
| moon | ole | aubi | awbi | aube | ili | kunɛi; opo | aube; aubo | weľe | ||
| water | hãni | hãlɔ̃; harõ | ha̧lo | ɔ̃tã | hɔ̃n; hoon | hoŋ | hano; hʌnɔ̃ | hano; hanɔ | mɔ͂ | |
| fire | di | daru; nalu | dalu | nulu | de; di | de | homatos; tei | de; ti | de | |
| stone | dɔa | igi | kele | igi | u | etewʌ; etoa | abane | ka | ||
| road, path | nɔgo | isu | ||||||||
| name | wi | diɔ; diɔ̃ | dio | ẽi | wi | unũ | wi | imi | ||
| eat | mayã | na; naha | na-imo- | nahãː | maya | kinatapo; mɛnẽ | namana; namena | menʌ | ||
| one | ageli | afai | afa̧i̧ | age | ãgel; angel | semeti; tekeape | agale | itidi | ||
| two | ageleweli | adunã | aduna | agedu | a̧dep; ãdip | ɛľipi | aganebo; aida | ani |