Grand Valley Dani language

{{Short description|Papuan language of Indonesian New Guinea (Papua)}}

{{redirect|Kurima language|the language in Japan|Kurima language (Japan)}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Grand Valley Dani

|nativename=

|ethnicity=Dani and Lani{{cite thesis | last=Tabuni | first=Gasper | title=Kunume Wene-Nya Masyarakat Adat Balim: Studi Kasus Makna 'Kunume Wene' dalam Perilaku Orang Kombarabuni dalam Jangkauan Zaman | publisher=Magister Studi Pembangunan Program Pascasarjana UKSW | date=2017 | url=https://repository.uksw.edu/handle/123456789/14110 | access-date=2024-06-18}}

|speakers={{sigfig|93,000|1}}

|date=1990–1996

|ref = e18

|familycolor=Papuan

|fam1=Trans–New Guinea

|fam2=West Trans–New Guinea

|fam3=Irian Highlands ?

|fam4=Dani languages

|fam5=Dani proper

|lc1=dni |ld1=Lower

|lc2=dnt |ld2=Mid

|lc3=dna |ld3=Upper

|lc4=hap |ld4=Hupla

|glotto=gran1246

|glottorefname=Grand Valley Dani

}}

Grand Valley Dani, or simply Dani,Compare Lani is one of the most populous Papuan languages in Indonesian New Guinea (also known as Papua). The Dani people live in the Baliem Valley of the Western Highlands.

Dialects

Dialectical differentiation is great enough that Ethnologue assigns separate codes to three varieties:

Lower
Mid or Central, also known as Tulem
Upper

Lower Grand Valley Dani contains subdialects Lower Grand Valley Hitigima (Dani-Kurima, Kurima), Upper Bele, Lower Bele, Lower Kimbin (Kibin), and Upper Pyramid. Hupla, traditionally considered a separate language, is closer to Lower Grand Valley than the varieties of Grand Valley Dani are to each other.

Phonology

Grand Valley Dani has established its own orthography during a conference between linguists of the Dutch New Guinea government and different missionary bodies in February 1961. This is the phonology of the Central Grand Valley Dani language:{{Harvnb|van der Stap|1966|p=10–11}}

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" \|+Consonants ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" \| ! rowspan="2" \|Bilabial ! rowspan="2" \|Alveolar ! rowspan="2" \|Palatal ! colspan="2" \|Velar ! rowspan="2" \|Glottal
plain !lab.
colspan="2" \|Nasal \|{{IPA link\|m}} \|{{IPA link\|n}} \| \|{{IPA link\|ŋ}} ⟨ng⟩ \| \|
rowspan="3" \|Plosive !{{small\|voiceless}} \|{{IPA link\|p}} ⟨b, p⟩ \|{{IPA link\|t}} ⟨d, t⟩ \| \|{{IPA link\|k}} ⟨g, k⟩ \|{{IPA link\|kʷ}} ⟨gw, kw⟩ \| rowspan="3" \|{{IPA link\|ʔ}} ⟨'⟩
{{small\|aspirated}} \|{{IPA link\|pʰ}} ⟨p, ph⟩ \|{{IPA link\|tʰ}} ⟨t, th⟩ \| \|{{IPA link\|kʰ}} ⟨k, kh⟩ \|{{IPA link\|kʷʰ}} ⟨kw, kwh⟩
{{small\|implosive}} \|{{IPA link\|ɓ}} ⟨bp⟩ \|{{IPA link\|ɗ}} ⟨dl⟩ \| \| \|
colspan="2" \|Fricative \| \|{{IPA link\|s}} \| \| \| \|{{IPA link\|h}}
colspan="2" \|Lateral \| \|{{IPA link\|l}} \| \| \| \|
colspan="2" \|Semivowel \| \| \|{{IPA link\|j}} \| \|{{IPA link\|w}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Consonants

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" |Bilabial

! rowspan="2" |Alveolar

! rowspan="2" |Palatal

! colspan="2" |Velar

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

plain

!lab.

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
⟨ng⟩

rowspan="3" |Plosive

!{{small|voiceless}}

|{{IPA link|p}}
⟨b, p⟩

|{{IPA link|t}}
⟨d, t⟩

|{{IPA link|k}}
⟨g, k⟩

|{{IPA link|kʷ}}
⟨gw, kw⟩

| rowspan="3" |{{IPA link|ʔ}}
⟨'⟩

|{{IPA link|pʰ}}
⟨p, ph⟩

|{{IPA link|tʰ}}
⟨t, th⟩

|{{IPA link|kʰ}}
⟨k, kh⟩

|{{IPA link|kʷʰ}}
⟨kw, kwh⟩

|{{IPA link|ɓ}}
⟨bp⟩

|{{IPA link|ɗ}}
⟨dl⟩

colspan="2" |Fricative

|{{IPA link|s}}

|{{IPA link|h}}

colspan="2" |Lateral

|{{IPA link|l}}

colspan="2" |Semivowel

|{{IPA link|j}}

|{{IPA link|w}}

Unlike other orthographies of local languages in Indonesia (largely based on the standard orthography), the original Grand Valley Dani orthography (the current one might be not known) has j instead of y, in common with the Indonesian old spelling.

The letters ⟨p, t, k⟩ are pronounced as aspirated /{{IPA link|pʰ}}, {{IPA link|tʰ}}, {{IPA link|kʰ}}/ in word-initial position and as [{{IPA link|β}}, {{IPA link|ɾ}}, {{IPA link|ɣ}}] in intervocalic positions, respectively. They merge with voiceless /{{IPA link|p}}, {{IPA link|t}}, {{IPA link|k}}/ syllable-finally, which is also represented by graphic voiced consonants ⟨b, d, g⟩. However, aspirated consonants still occur intervocalically.
Medial ⟨pp, tt, kk⟩ are either pronounced as /{{IPA link|p}}, {{IPA link|t}}, {{IPA link|k}}/ or as geminated /{{IPA link|pː}}, {{IPA link|tː}}, {{IPA link|kː}}/.{{Harvnb|Bromley|1961|p=35}}
The phoneme {{IPA|/h/}} merges with preceding or following phonemes:{{Harvnb|Bromley|1961|p=31–32}}
It aspirates preceding ⟨p, t, k⟩, creating effectively phonemic aspirated consonants in intervocalic positions (japha {{IPA|/japʰa/}} "they fought").
It also compensatorily lengthened adjacent vowel or sonorants (except {{IPA|/j/}}, {{IPA|/w/}}), however, one element of the most adjacent lengthened vowel to {{IPA|/h/}} is devoiced (wamhe {{IPA|/wamhe/, [wamm̥ɛ]}} "pig (with connective morpheme)").

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" \|+Vowels ! !front !central !back
rowspan="2" \|close \|{{IPA link\|i}} \| \|{{IPA link\|u}}
{{IPA link\|ɪ}} ⟨y⟩ \| \|{{IPA link\|ʊ}} ⟨v⟩
mid \|{{IPA link\|e}} \| \|{{IPA link\|o}}
low \| \|{{IPA link\|a}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Vowels

!front

!central

!back

rowspan="2" |close

|{{IPA link|i}}

|{{IPA link|u}}

{{IPA link|ɪ}}
⟨y⟩

|{{IPA link|ʊ}}
⟨v⟩

mid

|{{IPA link|e}}

|{{IPA link|o}}

low

|{{IPA link|a}}

Grammar

= Verbs =

Verbs in Grand Valley Dani are highly inflected for many tenses. Infinitive is marked by the suffix -in, although verb stems in -s- change to -t- before consonants: wetasin "to roast", but wetathy "I roasted".

== Finite tenses ==

class="wikitable" \|+ Default personal markers{{Harvnb\|van der Stap\|1966\|p=22–23}} ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" \| ! colspan="2" \| number
Singular ! Plural
rowspan="3" {{vert header\|va=middle\|person}} ! 1st \| -y \| -o
2nd \| -en \| -ep
3rd \| -e \| -em

class="wikitable"

|+ Default personal markers{{Harvnb|van der Stap|1966|p=22–23}}

! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | number

Singular

! Plural

rowspan="3" {{vert header|va=middle|person}}

! 1st

| -y

| -o

2nd

| -en

| -ep

3rd

| -e

| -em

Although there are claimed "default" personal markers, the correspondences between tense suffixes and personal markers are often highly irregular. Nevertheless, inflections of verbs are still highly regular. Unless denoted in the table, verb forms are marked by personal markers.

class="wikitable" \|+ List ! Tense ! Suffix(es)
Near future \| -ikin in the singular, -ukun in the plural. Never inflected by person, only by number.
Indefinite future \| -isikin in the singular, -isukun in the plural. Never inflected by person, only by number.
Near past \| -h-.
Remote past \| -hikh- in the {{gcl\|3SG}}, -hukh- in the {{gcl\|3PL}}, and -hVk- elsewhere. -V- is an echo vowel from the personal markers, e.g. -hyky, -heken, etc.
Perfect past \| Suffixing the near past with -tik in the {{gcl\|1SG}}, -ttik in the {{gcl\|2SG}}, -sip in the {{gcl\|2PL}} and -sik elsewhere. In the second person, the final consonants of original near past endings, when suffixed, have to be deleted (-hen ({{gcl\|2SG}}) + -ttik → -hettik, -hep ({{gcl\|2PL}}) + -sip → -hesip). The ending for {{gcl\|3PL}} is irregular: -hasik instead of *-hemsik.
Habitual \| Replacing every instances of syllable-final -i- and -sik (but not -sip → -sep) of the perfect past with -e- and -tek, respectively (-hettik → -hettek).
Habitual perfect \| Infixing -si- into the main habitual ending (-hettek → -hettesik). The ending for {{gcl\|2PL}} is irregular: -hesep → -hetesip instead of *-hesesip.

class="wikitable"

|+ List

! Tense

! Suffix(es)

Near future

| -ikin in the singular, -ukun in the plural.
Never inflected by person, only by number.

Indefinite future

| -isikin in the singular, -isukun in the plural.
Never inflected by person, only by number.

Near past

| -h-.

Remote past

| -hikh- in the {{gcl|3SG}}, -hukh- in the {{gcl|3PL}}, and -hVk- elsewhere.
-V- is an echo vowel from the personal markers, e.g. -hyky, -heken, etc.

Perfect past

| Suffixing the near past with -tik in the {{gcl|1SG}}, -ttik in the {{gcl|2SG}}, -sip in the {{gcl|2PL}} and -sik elsewhere.
In the second person, the final consonants of original near past endings, when suffixed, have to be deleted (-hen ({{gcl|2SG}}) + -ttik → -hettik, -hep ({{gcl|2PL}}) + -sip → -hesip).
The ending for {{gcl|3PL}} is irregular: -hasik instead of *-hemsik.

Habitual

| Replacing every instances of syllable-final -i- and -sik (but not -sip → -sep) of the perfect past with -e- and -tek, respectively (-hettik → -hettek).

Habitual perfect

| Infixing -si- into the main habitual ending (-hettek → -hettesik).
The ending for {{gcl|2PL}} is irregular: -hesep → -hetesip instead of *-hesesip.

class="wikitable" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" \| ! colspan="3" \| Singular ! colspan="3" \| Plural
First ! Second ! Third ! First ! Second ! Third
rowspan="2" \| Future ! Near \| colspan="3" \| -ikin \| colspan="3" \| -ukun
Indefinite \| colspan="3" \| -isikin \| colspan="3" \| -isukun
rowspan="3" \| Past ! Near \| -hy \| -hen \| -he \| -ho \| -hep \| -hem
Remote \| -hyky \| -heken \| -hikhe \| -huku \| -hikip \| -hukha
Perfect \| -hytik \| -hettik \| -hesik \| -hosik \| -hesip \| -hasik
rowspan="2" \| Habitual ! Main \| -hytek \| -hettek \| -hetek \| -hotek \| -hesep \| -hatek
Perfect \| -hytesik \| -hettesik \| -hetesik \| -hotesik \| -hetesip \| -hatesik
colspan="2" \| Progressive \| -hylahy \| -hylaken \| -iako \| -hylako \| -hylakep \| -iakoei

class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! colspan="3" | Singular

! colspan="3" | Plural

First

! Second

! Third

! First

! Second

! Third

rowspan="2" | Future

! Near

| colspan="3" | -ikin

| colspan="3" | -ukun

Indefinite

| colspan="3" | -isikin

| colspan="3" | -isukun

rowspan="3" | Past

! Near

| -hy

| -hen

| -he

| -ho

| -hep

| -hem

Remote

| -hyky

| -heken

| -hikhe

| -huku

| -hikip

| -hukha

Perfect

| -hytik

| -hettik

| -hesik

| -hosik

| -hesip

| -hasik

rowspan="2" | Habitual

! Main

| -hytek

| -hettek

| -hetek

| -hotek

| -hesep

| -hatek

Perfect

| -hytesik

| -hettesik

| -hetesik

| -hotesik

| -hetesip

| -hatesik

colspan="2" | Progressive

| -hylahy

| -hylaken

| -iako

| -hylako

| -hylakep

| -iakoei

Semantics

The Dani language differentiates only two basic colours, mili for cool/dark shades such as blue, green, and black, and mola for warm/light colours such as red, yellow, and white. This trait makes it an interesting field of research for language psychologists, such as Eleanor Rosch, investigating the Whorf hypothesis.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl8gAQAAIAAJ&q=mili+mola++|title=The Invention of Basic Colour Terms|first=Barbara Ann Christine|last=Saunders|date=1992|publisher=R.U.U.-I.S.O.R.|isbn=9789051870879 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2800917|title=Probabilities, Sampling, and Ethnographic Method: The Case of Dani Colour Names|author=Heider, Eleanor Rosch|year=1972|journal=Man|volume=7|issue=3|pages=448–466|doi=10.2307/2800917|jstor=2800917 }}

Grand Valley Dani language

Dialects

Phonology

= Consonants =

= Vowels =

Grammar

= Verbs =

== Finite tenses ==

Semantics

References

Further reading