Tama languages explained

Tama
Region:Sepik River basin, Papua New Guinea: just to the south of Nuku town in eastern Sandaun Province
Familycolor:Papuan
Fam1:Sepik
Fam2:Middle Sepik
Map:Sepik_as_classified_by_William_A._Foley.svg
Mapcaption:The Sepik languages as classified by Foley (2018)
Glotto:sepi1256
Glottorefname:Sepik Tama

The Tama languages are a small family of three clusters of closely related languages of northern Papua New Guinea, spoken just to the south of Nuku town in eastern Sandaun Province. They are classified as subgroup of the Sepik languages. Tama is the word for 'man' in the languages that make up this group.

Yessan-Mayo and Mehek are the best documented Tama languages.

Languages

Usher (2020) classifies the Tama languages as follows,[1]

Tama

Wogamusin, Chenapian

Foley (2018), following Donald Laycock, provides the following classification.[2]

Tama

Kalou is actually related to Amal.[3]

Phonology

The Tama languages distinguish /r/ and /l/, unlike many other Papuan languages that have only one liquid consonant.[2]

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Laycock (1968),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. suwa, huwa for “leg”) or not (e.g. namra, wapray for “eye”).

gloss Yessan-Mayo[6] Yessan-Mayo (Warasai dialect)
headterfa taraʔwey tara
earnamra wapray wan wan
eyelakwo niaʔwey la; lə la
nosewiliŋki fikihinwi raŋkɨ; raŋki haŋki
toothmpi piaʔwey lər; lir rir
tonguetawul tafəki tawlə kawul
legsuwa huwa towa; warə sowa
lousenunum nunum nɨ; ni niʔ
dogwala waʔay wala wale
pigfor
birdfenre feydey ap apu
egglakwo yaʔwey yen; yɨn yan
bloodkefu nefum nap nap
boneyefa yefa yaha
skinliki fuhum was
breastmuku muwi mu; mukw mukw
treemoː muy me meʔ
mantama tama tama; tamə kama
womantawa tawa taː ka
sunnampul napuy yabəl; yampəl yampəl
moonnekwa nefʔa lup; lɨyf lüp
waterokwu oʔwi ok; okw okw
firekiri irʔi k-er; kər kər
stonearkwo hijopey pa papə
eata(m)
onewurɨ
twolisifu fes kes

Notes and References

  1. https://sites.google.com/site/newguineaworld/families/sepik-river/middle-sepik-river/ma-tama/tama Tama
  2. Book: Foley, William A. . 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.
  3. https://sites.google.com/site/newguineaworld/families/sepik-river/upper-sepik-river/yellow-and-wanibe-rivers/amal-kalou Amal–Kalou
  4. [Donald Laycock|Laycock, Donald C.]
  5. Web site: TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea . Greenhill . Simon . 2016. 2020-11-05.
  6. Foley, W.A. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". In Pawley, A., Attenborough, R., Golson, J. and Hide, R. editors, Papuan Pasts: Cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. PL-572:109-144. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2005.