Wogamus languages
The Wogamus languages are a pair of closely related languages,
| Wogamus | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Wogamush River, western East Sepik Province, in the Upper Sepik River basin of Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Sepik
|
| Glottolog | woga1248 |
They are classified among the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea; Malcolm Ross and William A. Foley (2018)[2] place them in the Upper Sepik branch of that family.
The Wogamus languages are spoken along the banks of the Wogamush River and Sepik River in western East Sepik Province, just to the east of the Iwam languages.
Noun classes
Wogamus languages have noun classes reminiscent of those found in Bantu languages. Noun classes in Wogamusin and Chenapian are listed below, with Wogamusin -um ‘three’ and Chenapian -mu ‘three’ used as examples.[2]
Class no. Semantic category Wogamusin prefix Chenapian prefix Wogamusin example Chenapian example 1 humans s(i)- s(i)- s-um si-mu 2 higher animals: dogs, pigs, etc. r- gw- r-um gw-umu 3 plants, trees, vines, etc. b- b- b-um b-umu 4 no specific pattern h- n- h-um n-əmu 5 no specific pattern ŋgw- kw- ŋgw-um kw-umu
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from the Trans-New Guinea database.[3] The Wogamusin data is from Foley (2005)[4] and Laycock (1968),[5] and the Chenapian data is from SIL field notes (1983).
gloss Chenapian Wogamusin head toapᵒ; tuwap towam hair taoɛnavon; taunabon ear gwabuo; ugwabə mam eye džinano; ǰinino li nose mɨnɨk; munɩk boliŋ tooth diu; duɨʔ ndəl; ndɨl tongue taun; ton taliyen leg soʷanaup; šonawəp su louse damian; dəmiaʔ tetak dog gwara; ogwara wal pig kᵘo; ku bird džɛosiʔ; ǰɛoši yah egg noə; ṣⁱu no blood ne; nᵊe noh bone dža; ǰa· rubwi skin bɩn; bön mbe breast mu; muʔ muk tree məntəp; montoap mbotom man tama; tamö tam woman tauwo; tawö taw sun džabɨn; ǰaƀan yam moon nu luh water džoʔ; ǰoʔ yək; yɨk fire un kur stone nogɛrao; noguařo noŋg road, path uni name tamgu one nař; sⁱərəʔ a (M); ed (F) two ǰⁱək; nɛsi; ṣiṣi nwis
Footnotes
- Chenapian–Wogamusin, New Guinea World
- Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". 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. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
- Foley, W.A. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". In Pawley, A., Attenborough, R., Golson, J. and Hide, R. editors, Papuan Pasts: Cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. PL-572:109-144. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2005.
- Laycock, Donald C. 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66.
References
- 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.