The Teberan languages are a well established family of Papuan languages that Stephen Wurm (1975) grouped with the Pawaia language as a branch of the Trans–New Guinea phylum.
| Teberan | |
|---|---|
| Dadibi–Folopa | |
| Geographic distribution | Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Papuan Gulf?
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | tebe1251 |
 Map: The Teberan languages of New Guinea
The Teberan languages
Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
There are two Teberan languages, Dadibi and Folopa (Podopa). They are spoken in Southern Highlands Province and in adjoining provinces.
Classification
editMalcolm Ross (2005) tentatively retains both Teberan and Pawaia within TNG, but sees no other connection between them. Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) tentatively leave Teberan as unclassified rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea.[2]
Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Teberan to be classified as part of Trans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between the Teberan languages and proto-Trans-New Guinea.[2]
- ami ‘breast’ < *amu
- kabu ‘stone’ < *ka(mb,m)u[CV]
- kolemane ‘star’ < *kala(a,i)m ‘moon’
- kile ‘eye’ < *(ŋg,k)iti
According to Dryer (2022), based on a preliminary quantitative analysis of data from the ASJP database, Teberan is likely to be a subgroup of Trans–New Guinea.[3]
Vocabulary comparison
editSome lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[4]
gloss Proto-Dadibi-Folopa Dadibi Folopa head *tobo tobo-lu tobo hair/feather *ni[g]i nisi niki ear/hear *[w]odzo olo ~ odo- woso 'hear'; woseni 'ear' eye *ge[…] ge-du kele nose *gun… guni gunumu; kurumu tongue *kamina hamina bone *di[l/r]i dili diri skin/bark *wadz[i/e] wali wase breast *ame ame ame dog *j[o]wi jowi ~ juwi juwi pig *kibu kibu hupu bird *ba ba ba egg/seed *ge ge ke tree/wood *ni ni ni woman/female *so so so sun/day *s[u]g[a] sogo suka water *wẽi wẽ wẽi fire/sun *si[a] sia si path/door *tũ tũ tũ ~ tu eat/drink *nV- n-/nuku- (present) one/another *me me me
References
edit- ^ New Guinea World, Tua River
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Dryer, Matthew S. (2022). Trans-New Guinea IV.2: Evaluating Membership in Trans-New Guinea.
- ^ Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Dadibi–Folopa
- 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
edit- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Dadibi–Folopa