| Piawi | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Papua New Guinea |
| Genetic classification: |
Ramu-Lower Sepik ? Ramu ? Arafundi-Piawi ? Piawi |
| Subdivisions: |
Hagahai
Haruai
|
The Piawi languages are a small independent family of Papuan languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross, that had been part of Stephen Würm's Trans-New Guinea proposal. Papua New Guinea (or ˈpæpjuːə in Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini) officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Ramu-Lower Sepik languages form a family of 35 Papuan languages spoken in the Ramu and Sepik river basins of northern Papua New Guinea List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The term Papuan languages refers to those Languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. Malcolm David Ross (born 1942 is a linguist and professor at the Australian National University. Stephen Adolphe Wurm ( August 19, 1922 – October 24, 2001) was a Hungarian -born Australian linguist. Trans–New Guinea (TNG is a Hypothetical family of Papuan languages spoken in New Guinea and neighboring islands
Contents |
Classification
Piawi consists of only two languages:
- Piawi family: Hagahai (Pinai), Haruai (Waibuk)
Davies and Comrie 1985 noted some pronominal similarities with the Engan languages in Trans-New Guinea, which Ross took into consideration, but no lexical similarities. Trans–New Guinea (TNG is a Hypothetical family of Papuan languages spoken in New Guinea and neighboring islands Comrie believes the family is as isolate. According to Ross, connections with Ramu languages such as Arafundi appear more promising. The Ramu-Lower Sepik languages form a family of 35 Papuan languages spoken in the Ramu and Sepik river basins of northern Papua New Guinea
Pronouns
Below is a comparison of proto-Piawi, proto-Ramu, Arafundi, and proto-North Engan pronouns, per Ross. Initial nasals are ubiquitous, and indeed are very common throughout New Guinea, so they are in themselves not good evidence of a relationship.
| "I" | "thou" | "s/he" | "we two" | "you two" | "we" | "you" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pPiawi | *ni-ga | *na-ga | *nu-ga | *(n)ane-ga-li(mi) | *ni-ga-li(mi) | *ane-ga, *nane-ga | *ni-ga |
| pRamu | *aŋko, *ni | *un, *nu | *man | *a-ŋk-a | *(n)o-ŋk-oa | *a-ni, *na-ni | *u-ni, *nu-ni |
| Arafundi | ɲiŋ | nan | nda | aci | niɲi | aŋ | nuŋ |
| pN Engan | *na-ba | *ne-ba | *-ba | *na-li-ba | *ɲa-li-mba | *na-ni-ma | *ɲa-ma, *ɲa-ka-ma |
Both Engan and Piawi have a dual suffix *li.
See also
References
- Ross, Malcolm (2005). The term Papuan languages refers to those Languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. Malcolm David Ross (born 1942 is a linguist and professor at the Australian National University. "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages", in Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide, Jack Golson, eds. Andrew Kenneth Pawley (born 1941 is Head of the Department of Linguistics at the Australian National University, Australia. : Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 15-66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
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