Finisterre–Huon languages#Evolution

Huon and Finisterre, and then the connection between them, were identified by Kenneth McElhanon (1967, 1970). When McElhanon compared notes with his colleague Clemens Voorhoeve, who was working on the languages of southern Irian Jaya, they developed the concept of Trans–New Guinea. Apart from the evidence which unites them, the Finisterre and Huon families are clearly valid language families in their own right, each consisting of several fairly-well defined branches.

Ross (2005) reconstructs the pronouns as follows:

:

These are not all coherent: 3sg *ya and *i are found in Huon, for example, while 3sg *wa is found in Finisterre. In other cases, however, the multiple forms are found in both branches.

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970)McElhanon, K.A. and Voorhoeve, C.L. The Trans-New Guinea Phylum: Explorations in deep-level genetic relationships. B-16, vi + 112 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. {{doi|10.15144/PL-B16}} and McElhanon (1967),McElhanon, K.A. 1967. Preliminary observations on Huon Peninsula languages. Oceanic Linguistics 6: 1-45. as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.{{Cite web |url=http://transnewguinea.org/ |title=TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea |last=Greenhill |first=Simon |date=2016| access-date=2020-11-05}}

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. hɔme, samo for “nose”) or not (e.g. mic-, sot, dzɔŋɔ for “tooth”). Notice the very low number of cognate triplets, or even pairs, among these languages.

:

{{see also|Kâte language#Evolution|Selepet language#Evolution}}

Finisterre-Huon reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:{{cite book |last1=Pawley |first1=Andrew |last2=Hammarström |first2=Harald |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=The Trans New Guinea family |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=21–196 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}

Kâte language:

• bɔruŋ ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ ‘flame’
• butoŋ ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C
• bekɔ ‘orphan’ < *mbVŋga(-masi)
• masiŋ ‘widow’ < *masi
• sambɔŋ ‘sky’ < *sambV ‘cloud’
• tofeʔ ‘saliva’ < *si(mb,p)atV
• lo- ‘take’ < *(nd,t)a-
• munduŋ ‘inner yolk of egg’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
• go ‘2sg’ < *ŋga
• hɔmo- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• bɔriʔ ‘glitter, flash of lightning’ < *(m,mb)elak ‘light, lightning’
• mi ‘not’ < *ma- ‘not’
• maŋu(zo) ‘to vomit’ < *mV(k,ŋ)V t(e,i)-
• ame(ʔ) ‘breast’ < *amu
• tsimin(uŋ) ‘stiff coarse hair’ < *[nd,s]umu[n,t]V ‘hair’
• imeŋ ‘louse’ < *iman ‘louse’
• no ‘1sg’ < *na ‘1sg’
• nɔ- ‘eat’ < *na-

Selepet language:

• balam ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ
• (ni)bilim ‘tongue’ < *mbilaŋ
• kɔlɔp ‘fire’ < *kend(o,u)p
• kɔlip ‘long’ < *kuta(mb,p)(a,u)
• irak ‘new’ < *kVtak
• sak ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asin
• somot ‘hair’ < *(s,nd)umu(n,t)[V]
• madu ‘orphan’ < *masi
• si- ‘burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)- ‘burn’
• ga ‘2sg’ < *ŋga
• kaku- ‘carry on shoulder’ < *kakV-
• kɔu ‘ashes’ < *kambu ‘ashes’
• belek ‘lightning’ < *(m,mb)elak
• ibi ‘name’ < *imbi
• mete ‘forehead’ < *me(n,t)e ‘head’
• man- ‘live, dwell’ < *mVn[a]-
• imen ‘louse’ < *iman ‘louse’
• (n)am ‘breast, milk’ < *amu ‘breast’

{{reflist}}

{{Malcolm Ross Pronouns}}

• Suter, Edgar (2012). Verbs with pronominal object prefixes in Finisterre–Huon languages. In: Harald Hammarström and Wilco van den Heuvel (eds.). History, contact and classification of Papuan languages. [Special Issue 2012 of Language and Linguistics in Melanesia]. 23–58. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.

• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. [http://transnewguinea.org/language/proto-finisterre-huon Proto-Finisterre-Huon]. TransNewGuinea.org.

{{Finisterre–Huon languages}}

{{Trans–New Guinea languages}}

{{Papuan languages}}

{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finisterre-Huon languages}}

Category:Languages of Papua New Guinea

Category:Morobe–Eastern Highlands languages