Yuat languages
{{Short description|Language family spoken in Papua New Guinea}}
{{distinguish|Yuat language (Australia)|Upper Yuat languages}}
{{cleanup lang|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=Yuat
|altname=Middle Yuat River
|region=Yuat River area, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
|familycolor=Papuan
|family=One of the world's primary language families
|glotto=yuat1252
|glottorefname=Yuat
|child1=Changriwa|child2=Mekmek|child3=Kyenele|child4=Biwat|child5=Bun}}
The Yuat languages are an independent family of five Papuan languages spoken along the Yuat River in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. They are an independent family in the classification of Malcolm Ross, but are included in Stephen Wurm's Sepik–Ramu proposal. However, Foley and Ross could find no lexical or morphological evidence that they are related to the Sepik or Ramu languages.
It is named after the Yuat River of northern Papua New Guinea. Yuat languages are spoken mostly in Yuat Rural LLG of East Sepik Province.{{cite web |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/PG/languages |title=Papua New Guinea languages |work=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |edition=22nd |editor1-last=Eberhard |editor1-first=David M. |editor2-last=Simons |editor2-first=Gary F. |editor3-last=Fennig |editor3-first=Charles D. |date=2019 |location=Dallas |publisher=SIL International}}{{cite web |url=https://data.humdata.org/dataset/village-coordinates-lookup |title=Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup |author=United Nations in Papua New Guinea |work=Humanitarian Data Exchange |version=1.31.9 |date=2018}}
Languages
Classification
Foley (2018) provides the following classification.{{cite book |last=Foley |first=William A. |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=197–432 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}
;Yuat family
Changriwa and Mekmek are attested only by short words, and are tentatively grouped as separate branches by Foley (2018: 226) due to scanty evidence.
Pronouns
The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for proto-Yuat are:
:
| class=wikitable | |||
| I | *ŋun | we | *amba |
| thou | *ndi | you | *mba |
| s/he | *wu | they | ? |
Mundukumo and Miyak pronouns are:
:
| {{table}} |
| {{gcl|1SG}}
| ŋə || ŋə |
|---|
| {{gcl|2SG}}
| də || də |
| {{gcl|3SG}}
| u || u |
| {{gcl|1EXCL}}
| i || ni |
| {{gcl|1INCL}}
| abə || aba |
| {{gcl|2PL}}
| ya || be |
| {{gcl|3PL}}
| wa || vara |
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Davies & Comrie (1985),Davies, J. and Comrie, B. "[http://dx.doi.org/10.15144/PL-A63.275 A linguistic survey of the Upper Yuat]". In Adams, K., Lauck, L., Miedema, J., Welling, F., Stokhof, W., Flassy, D., Oguri, H., Collier, K., Gregerson, K., Phinnemore, T., Scorza, D., Davies, J., Comrie, B. and Abbott, S. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 22. A-63:275-312. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1985. {{doi|10.15144/PL-A63.275}} as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.{{Cite web |url=http://transnewguinea.org/family/yuat |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. ŋkaᵐbaᵐgat∘, ŋgambaŋ for “leg”) or not (e.g. fufuimaye, ϕə'ziru for “hair”).
:
| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! BiwatSIL (1975) & SIL (1976) !! Kyenele (Kyaimbarang dialect) !! Kyenele (Miyak dialect) |
| head
| fop; fopeh || ϕɔp∘ || ᵽop |
|---|
| hair
| fufuimaivi; fufuimaye || ϕə'ziru || fusibɩľu |
| ear
| tuanhe; tundu || 'twan || tandu |
| eye
| siketeh; sipta || 'ɕikɯ || sɩpʰala |
| nose
| gerekeh; ŋerek || 'ŋəŋərɩ || nʌnɛlɩŋ |
| tooth
| andu; andusivahe || 'ŋandu || ŋandu |
| tongue
| be; behe || 'mbᴶe || mpe |
| leg
| gambang; geambangeh || ŋkaᵐbaᵐgat∘ || ŋgambaŋ |
| louse
| uta; utaeh || uta || wututʰoma |
| dog
| ken; kenhe || kᴶɛn || gɛn |
| pig
| vereh; vre || βɛrɩ || ƀeǏe |
| bird
| kaok; kaokhek || hɔpᴶɛ || wanma |
| egg
| momoateh; mumuat || 'majmuma || wanmuma |
| blood
| amberaeh; ambra || ambara || ambala |
| bone
| amfuva; amfuvaheh || amϕu || amᵽuwa |
| skin
| gamfuin; iaveteh || 'vɨza || nᵽɩsakʰ |
| breast
| meru; meruhe || mi || miřu |
| tree
| mung; mungeh || mu || mï |
| man
| foakpa; fuakpahe || aβɨd || aƀɷt |
| woman
| arepa; arepahe || mᴶe || miandu |
| sun
| va; vaeh || βanma || ƀanma |
| moon
| mumere; mumereh || 'gəŋat∘ || ŋgɨŋat |
| water
| mam; mumeh || 'maŋam || maŋam |
| fire
| mehen; men || mɨn || mɨn |
| stone
| ghateh; yiak || mɨndəm || mɨndɩm |
| road, path
| maikua; miakuahe || maj || mayt |
| name
| vu'geh; vuŋ || wuŋ || |
| eat
| ueh jiveh; u-u give || ɕɛnɕɛn || tšɛntšɛntšuƀa |
| one
| nategeh; natek || ŋajkə || ŋaykʰʌkʰ |
| two
| arauu; aravueh || aɽawi || aǏawin |
Grammar
Yuat languages distinguish inclusive and exclusive first person pronouns, a feature not found in most other Papuan languages. This tyopological feature has also diffused from Yuat into the Grass languages, which are spoken contiguously to the Yuat languages.
Yuat grammar and phonology are similar to those of the neighboring Ramu languages. Yuat verbal morphology is relatively simple.{{rp|230}}
Yuat languages are accusative, unlike many other Papuan languages, e.g., Trans New Guinea, East Cenderawasih Bay, Lakes Plain, South Bougainville, which are all ergative.{{cite book |last=Foley |first=William A. |author-link=William A. Foley |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=The morphosyntactic typology of Papuan languages |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=895–938 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}
Word order in Yuat languages, like in the Yawa languages, is rigidly SOV, whereas in many other Papuan families, OSV word order is often permitted (as long as the verb is final).{{rp|920}}
See also
- Maramba language, a possibly spurious language often listed as Yuat.
- Upper Yuat languages
References
{{reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
{{Malcolm Ross Pronouns}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- [http://transnewguinea.org/family/yuat Yuat languages database at TransNewGuinea.org]
{{Papuan languages}}
{{language families}}