| Upper Yuat | |
|---|---|
| Upper Yuat River | |
| Geographic distribution | Upper Yuat River watershed, Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Northeast New Guinea and/or Trans–New Guinea
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| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | None |
The Upper Yuat languages consist of two small language families, namely Arafundi and Piawi, spoken in the region of the upper Yuat River of New Guinea. The connection was first suggested by William A. Foley and confirmed by Timothy Usher, who further links them to the Madang languages.
Upper Yuat languages display more typological similarities with Trans-New Guinea than the other neighboring language families of the Sepik-Ramu basin (namely the Lower Sepik-Ramu and Yuat families). The Madang languages are frequently included in Trans–New Guinea classifications, but the connection is not yet demonstrated.
The Piawi languages are morphologically much simpler than the Arafundi languages.
Linguistic varieties
Foley (2018) lists the following linguistic varieties.
- Upper Yuat
- Piawi languages: Harway (Wiyaw / Waibuk), Pinai-Hagahai (Pinaye, Aramo / Aramaue)
- Arafundi languages: Awiakay, Lower Arafundi, Upper Arafundi, Imboin
Pronouns
Reconstructions of Proto-Upper Yuat personal pronoun are:
Proto-Upper Yuat pronouns singular plural 1st person *ni *an ~ *aŋ 2nd person *na *ne 3rd person *nu
Personal pronouns in individual languages are as follows:
Harway Hagahai Pinai Lower
ArafundiUpper
ArafundiAwiakay 1SG nɨ-ɡə ŋɨ-ɡə nɨ-ɡa ɲɨŋ niŋ niŋ 2SG na-ɡo na-ɣə na-ɡa nan nan nan 3SG nu-ɡʷə nə-ɣʷə an an 1DU as as as 2/3DU nɨɲ nen neɲ 1PL an-ɡə an-ɡə nanə-ɡa aŋ aŋ 2/3PL ɲɨ-ɡə ɲe-ɡə ɲi-ɡa noŋ noŋ noŋ
3rd-person *nu (number uncertain) corresponds to Piawi 3 singular and Arafundi 2/3 plural, *ne to Piawi 2/3 plural and Arafundi 2/3 dual.
Phonology
Upper Yuat languages typically have 7 vowels:
i ɨ u e ə o a
References
- ^ New Guinea World, Upper Yuat River
- ^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". 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. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
Further reading
- Davies, J. and Comrie, B. "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
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