Gogodala–Suki languages

The Gogodala–Suki or Suki – Aramia River languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea, spoken in the region of the Aramia River. The four language are clearly related.

Gogodala–Suki
Suki – Aramia River
Geographic
distribution
Aramia River region, Western Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationPapuan Gulf ?
  • Gogodala–Suki
Subdivisions
Glottologsuki1244
Map: The Gogodala–Suki languages of New Guinea
  The Gogodala–Suki languages
  Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

Languages

The languages are:

Gogodala–Suki languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.[1]

List of Gogodala–Suki languages
LanguageLocationPopulation
Sukinorth-central Morehead Rural LLG3,500
GogodalaGogodala Rural LLG26,000
AriGogodala Rural LLG?
WarunaGogodala Rural LLG?

Phonemes

The reconstructed sound system is,[2]

*m*n
*p*t*k
*b*d*g
*s
?*r

It's not clear that there was *w or *j distinct from *u and *i.

*i*u
*e*o
*a

Pronouns

Free pronouns and object prefixes are:[2]

sgpl
1 *nɛ*sɛ
2 *dɛ
3 *o(-b)?
sgpl
1 *n-*s-
2 *-*d-
3 *-*d-

(2sg and 3sg is zero.)

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970),[3] Voorhoeve (1970), and Reesink (1976), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[4]

glossAriGogodalaSuki
head gabiganabitibodu
hair tiːtatitanigbagu
ear etubada; kɛsoigibiiakadgu
eye tokodabataoitumku
nose ndoguminaumuku
tooth mɛnəpilaposotamki
tongue mɛlɛpila
leg gupi
louse ikamiamidaka
dog sokɛsokeebme
pig uaikuainu
bird soma
egg momona
blood dede
bone mboigegosabudu
skin kakala; pukakakakaka
breast omoomo
tree yeiriku
man dalagidala; dalagidaru; guargia
woman atogiato; susɛgiatu
sun gadepakadɛpakamgu
moon tɔkɔ
water ogowi
fire awailaaraka
stone -nadi
road, path napenabidinapru; rapru
name enomagagiyaka
eat na-na
one maitaia
two saki

Evolution

Gogodalic-Suki formed a branch of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross. Possible reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[5]

Gogodala language:

  • omo ‘breast’ < *amu
  • magata ‘mouth, jaw’ < *maŋgat[a]
  • mele-pila ‘tongue’ < *mele-mbilaŋ
  • imu ‘eye’ < *(ŋg,k)amu
  • mi ‘louse’ < *iman, *niman
  • kadepa ‘sun’ < *kand(a,e)pa
  • ila ‘tree, fire’ < *inda
  • na- ‘eat’ < *na-
  • mana- ‘sit, stay’ < *mVna-

Suki language:

  • gigoacassowary’ < *ku(y)a
  • na- ‘eat’ < *na-

References

  1. Evans, Nicholas (2018). "The languages of Southern New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 641–774. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  2. Usher (2020)
  3. McElhanon, K.A. and Voorhoeve, C.L. The Trans-New Guinea Phylum: Explorations in deep-level genetic relationships. B-16, vi + 112 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. doi:10.15144/PL-B16
  4. Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  5. 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. 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.

Further reading

  • Reesink, G.P. "Languages of the Aramia River Area". In Reesink, G.P., Fleischmann, L., Turpeinen, S. and Lincoln, P.C. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 19. A-45:1-38. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1976. doi:10.15144/PL-A45.1
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