Kaure–Kosare languages

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

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. The languages are Kaure and Kosare.

Classification

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.

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.

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:

*m*n
*p*t*k
*b*g
*s*h
*w*ɽ[*j]

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

*i*u
*e*o
*ɛ*ɔ
*æ*a

Diphthongs are *ɛi, *ɛu, *ai *au.

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:

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

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:

glossProto-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

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

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”).

glossKaureKosareNarau
head kasera; pleŋ; pɔklaipotɔ´
hair hai; hatpotɔifukura hai
ear goklu; huaglüt'kɔro
eye gewe; hwai; hwewĩsɛrit
nose gopo; hapumoro 'kakò
tooth sbeje; səbokaipɛkisebekai
tongue sremu; sɾumupɛrɛ´
leg due; duɛnue
louse mi; mĩmi
dog sesé
pig pipikandu
bird hou; hu; kuo
egg hore; te; waleho's̪ɛri
blood hi; katesa; katsaña
bone era; laq; loa'kákò
skin aguli; arohei; axlit
breast mu; muqkó kakò
tree te; tei; teijatĩⁿdibimesini
man debla; didonepra
woman daeḑɩmɔ'kasia
sky lɛbünubɷ
sun hafei; haɾi; hareiɛnɛ´ⸯkaberja
moon gaka; pokapaka
water bi; biq; gomesibiɛbi
fire sa; saʔ; sareŋsásare
stone təsi; tɛsi; tisi'naka
road, path selukɛmɔrɔ´
name bəre; blɛ; nokomnemorɔ
eat ganasi; kadi; kandɛkɛnɛ´kanaisini
one gogotia; kauxjaʔ; kaxotiakora'ɸɛ
two tɾapli; təravərei; trapitau

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 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.