Nimboran languages
The Nimboran languages are a small family of Papuan languages, spoken in the Grime River watershed, that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal. However, when proto-Nimboran pronouns are reconstructed (*genam "I" and kom or komot "thou"), they have little resemblance to the proto-TNG pronouns *na and *ga. Usher places them in a North Papuan stock that resembles Cowan's proposal.[1]
| Nimboran | |
|---|---|
| Grime River | |
| Geographic distribution | Grime River, New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Northwest Papuan?
|
| Glottolog | nimb1257 |
Foley (2018) classifies the Nimboran languages separately as an independent language family.[2]
Classification
The languages are:[1]
Proto-language
Pronouns
The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for proto-Nimboran are,
I *genam thou *kom, komot s/he ?
Below are pronouns in the Nimboran languages as given by Foley (2018):[2]
Nimboran pronouns Nimboran Kemtuik Gresi Mlap Mekwei 1excl ngo gənam ganam ngam kə ~ kat 1incl yo imot 2 ko mot ko kom kmot 3 no nemot
As in Kaure, pronouns are not specified for number in the Nimboran language.[2]
Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[1]
gloss Proto-Grime River head *jaŋkaMBʉ leaf/head hair *ndɜp ear *kam[a/ɔ]; *kəni[n/ŋ] eye *namuɔ tooth *səɺiŋ; *wasəɺa[ŋ] tongue *anəmbəɺ[i/ɛ]ŋ; *mambəɺ[ɜ/ɔ]p foot/leg *masi blood/red *kin seed/bone *ndɜn skin/bark *asu[p/k] breast/milk *min louse *səna[ŋ] dog *unduɔ pig *inəmbuɔ bird *jʉ egg *səwip[i] tree/wood *ndi man/male *səɺu woman *kambuŋ; *ki sun *wɔj moon *mbanu water/river *mbu fire *kip; *kɜj stone *ndəmuɔ path *tap name *sʉ eat *ndam one *kapəɺaj[a] two *namuan
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1975),[3] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[4]
gloss Gresi Kemtuik Mekwei Mlap Nimboran head yaŋkabu iŋkabu yekembu yaŋkambu iŋgiambu hair bətə-dop dop bəterep məndü-pra mendü-pro eye nam nmu-tugon namo-den nuŋgroŋ nuŋgroŋ tooth səriŋ wasraŋ siŋyaŋ səriŋ-dowŋ hriŋ-douŋ leg masi masi masi mesi mesi louse səna səne səne səne hnaŋ dog udo udo ando undo unduo pig nəmbu nəmbo mbo ibo ibwo bird iü iü ü iü iü egg si si səbi süp süp blood kiŋ kiŋ kiŋ kiŋ kiŋ bone don don den dowŋ douŋ skin suk saisuk asuk sup sub tree di di di di di-tim man sərə səruə si sru hru sun woy woy woy woy uai water bu bu bu bu bu fire koy koy kei-sini kip kip stone dom dəmu dəmo dəmu demue name sü siü siu sü sü eat dam dam anime dam dam one kray kraya kapray tendu tendü two namon namon naman namoŋ namuan
References
- Grime River. New Guinea World.
- 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. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- 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
- Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
- 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
- Nimboran word lists from Voorhoeve (1975) (TransNewGuinea.org)
- Grime River. New Guinea World.