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| Mek | |
|---|---|
| Goliath | |
| Geographic distribution | Yahukimo and Pegunungan Bintang, Highland Papua |
| Ethnicity | Mek people and Yali people |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | mekk1240 |
 Map: The Mek languages of New Guinea
The Mek languages
Other Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
The Mek languages are a well established family of Papuan languages spoken by the Mek people and Yali people. They form a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005).
Mek, then called Goliath, was identified by M. Bromley in 1967. It was placed in TNG by Wurm (1975).
Languages
The Mek languages form three dialect chains (Heeschen 1998):
- Eastern: Ketengban (including Okbap, Omban, Bime, Onya), Una (Goliath), Eipomek
- Northern: Kosarek Yale–Nipsan, Nalca
- Western: Korupun-Sela (including Dagi, Sisibna, Deibula)
Proto-language
Phonemes
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as 'perhaps' as follows:
*m *n *ŋ *p *t *k *kʷ *(m)b *(n)d *(ŋ)g *(ŋ)gʷ *s *w *l *j
i u e o ɛ ɔ a ɒ
ei ou ɛi ɔu ai au aɛ aɔ
Pronouns
Pronouns are:
sg pl 1 *na *nu 2 *kan *kun (?) 3 *ɛl *tun, *ig
The difference between the two 3pl forms is not known. 2pl and 3pl have parallels in Momuna /kun tun/.
Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:
gloss Proto-Mek Proto-East Mek Kimyal Proto-Northwest Mek Proto-Momuna-Mek Momuna hair/feather *ptŋ *pɔtɔŋ osoŋ *hɔŋ ear/twelve *aᵓ ɔ *aᵓ eye *atiŋ *asiŋ isiŋ *haⁱŋ *ɒtig ɒtù tooth/sharp *jo̝ *jo̝ jó tongue *se̝lmu *lmu selamu *se̝lmu foot/leg *jan *jan jan *jan *jn blood *e̝ne̝ŋ *ɪnɪŋ eneŋ *e̝ne̝ŋ *jo̝ne̝g bone *jɔk *jɔk jw-aʔ *jɔʔ breast *mɔᵘm *mɔᵘm moᵘm *mɔᵘm *mɔᵘm mɒ̃ᵘ louse *ami *ami imi *ami *ami ami dog *gam *am gam *gam *gɒm kɒ̀ pig *be̝sam *bɪsam *bham wɒ́ bird *mak, *mag *mak -ma (?) *-ma (?) *mak má egg/fruit/seed *do̝ *dʊk do *do̝ dɒko ~ dɒku tree/wood *gal gal *gal *gɒl kɒ̀ woman/wife *ge̝l *ɪl gel *ge̝l sun *ktŋ *ktŋ isiŋ *he̝ŋ moon *wal *wal wal *wal water/river *mg *mɛk mag *mg fire *o̝ᵘg *ʊᵘk ug *g stone *gɛⁱl; *gidig *ɛⁱl girig *gidig kè path/way *biig *biik bisig *bhig name *si *si si *si *si si eat/drink *de̝-(b) *dɪ-(b) de- *de̝-(b) de- one *tɔn *tɔn nason *nhɔn two/ring finger *bte̝ne̝ *btɪnɪ besene *bhe̝ne̝
Modern reflexes
Mek reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:
- mun ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
- kuna ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
- saŋ ‘dancing song’ < *saŋ
- getane ‘sun’ < *kVtane
- mundo ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
- ami ‘louse’ < *niman
- si ‘tooth’ < *(s,t)i(s,t)i
- tomo < *k(i,u)tuma ‘night’
- de ‘to burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)
- mon ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
- xau ‘ashes’ < *kambu
Further reading
- Heeschen, Volker. 1978. The Mek languages of Irian Jaya with special reference to the Eipo language. Irian 7(2): 3–46.
- Heeschen, Volker. 1992. The position of the Mek languages of Irian Jaya among the Papuan languages: History, typology and speech. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 148(3/4): 465–488.
References
- Momuna–Mek, New Guinea World
- ^ New Guinea World
- Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
External links
- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Momuna–Mek
- (ibid.) Proto–Mek
| Mek languages | |
|---|---|
| Eastern | |
| Northern | |
| Western | |