Kaure–Kosare languages

The Kaure–Kosare or Nawa River languages are a small family spoken along the Nawa River in West Papua, near the northern border with Papua New Guinea.[1] The languages are Kaure and Kosare.

Kaure–Kosare
Nawa River
Geographic
distribution
Nawa River, New Guinea
Linguistic classificationa primary language family
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologkaur1274
Map: The Kaure–Kapori languages of New Guinea
  The Kaure–Kapori languages
  Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

Classification

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Kaure and Kosare (Kosadle) are clearly related. There is a history of classifying them with the Kapori–Sause languages. However, Kapori and Sause show no particular connection to the Kaure languages, and may be closer to Kwerba.[1]

Foley (2018) considers a connection with Trans-New Guinea to be promising, but tentatively leaves Kaure-Kosare out as an independent language family pending further evidence.[2]

Proto-language

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Phonemes

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Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[1]

*m *n
*p *t *k
*b *g
*s *h
*w [*j]

Coda consonants are stop *C (or more precisely *P) and nasal *N.

*i *u
*e *o
*a

Diphthongs are *ɛi, *ɛu, *ai *au.

Pronouns

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Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:[1]

sg pl
1 *no (?), *na- *wɛN
2 *ha-(nɛ) ?
3 ? ?

Basic vocabulary

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Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[1]

gloss Proto-Nawa River
hair *haⁱ
ear *hwɔkɽuC
eye *hwe̝N
tusk/tooth *pakaⁱ
skin/bark *ki
breast *muN
louse *miN
dog *se̝
pig *pî
bird *ho̝C
tree *tɛⁱC
woman *naⁱ
sun *h[æ/a]niC
moon *paka
water *mi[jɛ]
fire *sa(-[n/ɽ]ɛN)
eat *naⁱ

Vocabulary comparison

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The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1971, 1975)[3][4] and other sources, as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. poka, paka for “moon”) or not (e.g. goklu, huaglüt, kɔro for “ear”).

gloss Kaure[6] Kosare[7] Narau
head kasera; pleŋ; pɔklai potɔ´
hair hai; hat potɔi fukura hai
ear goklu; huaglüt 'kɔro
eye gewe; hwai; hwew ĩsɛrit
nose gopo; hapu moro 'kakò
tooth sbeje; səbokai pɛki sebekai
tongue sremu; sɾumu pɛrɛ´
leg due; duɛ nue
louse mi; mĩ mi
dog se
pig pi pi kandu
bird hou; hu; ku o
egg hore; te; wale ho's̪ɛri
blood hi; katesa; katsa ña
bone era; laq; loa 'kákò
skin aguli; arohei; axlit
breast mu; muq kó kakò
tree te; tei; teija tĩⁿdi bimesini
man debla; dido nepra
woman dae ḑɩmɔ'kasia
sky lɛbü nubɷ
sun hafei; haɾi; harei ɛnɛ´ⸯ kaberja
moon gaka; poka paka
water bi; biq; gomesi biɛ bi
fire sa; saʔ; sareŋ sare
stone təsi; tɛsi; tisi 'naka
road, path selu kɛmɔrɔ´
name bəre; blɛ; nokomne morɔ
eat ganasi; kadi; kandɛ kɛnɛ´ kanaisini
one gogotia; kauxjaʔ; kaxotia kora'ɸɛ
two tɾapli; təravərei; trapi tau

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e New Guinea World, Nawa River
  2. ^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". 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. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. ^ Voorhoeve, C.L. "Miscellaneous Notes on Languages in West Irian, New Guinea". In Dutton, T., Voorhoeve, C. and Wurm, S.A. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 14. A-28:47-114. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1971. doi:10.15144/PL-A28.47
  4. ^ Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-B31
  5. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  6. ^ Clouse, D.A. 1997. Towards a reconstruction and reclassification of the Lakes Plain languages of Irian Jaya. In Franklin, K. (ed). Papers in Papuan Linguistics No. 2. Pacific Linguistics: Canberra.
  7. ^ Heeschen, V. 1978. The Mek languages of Irian Jaya with special reference to the Eipo language. Irian, 2: 3-67.
  • 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.
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