Bosavi languages

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Bosavi
Papuan Plateau
Geographic
distribution		Papuan Plateau, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
  • Bosavi
Glottologbosa1245
Map: The Bosavi languages of New Guinea
  The Bosavi languages
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The Bosavi or Papuan Plateau languages belong to the Trans-New Guinea language family according to the classifications made by Malcolm Ross and Timothy Usher. This language family derives its name from Mount Bosavi and the Papuan Plateau.

Geographically, the Bosavi languages are situated to the east and south of the East Strickland group. They can be found around Mount Bosavi, located east of the Strickland River and southwest of the western edge of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea. Although no extensive subgrouping analysis has been conducted, Shaw's lexicostatistical study in 1986 provides some insights.

Based on this study, it is indicated that Kaluli and Sonia exhibit a significant lexical similarity of 70%, which is higher than any other languages compared. Therefore, it is likely that these two languages form a subgroup. Similarly, Etoro and Bedamini share a subgroup with a lexical similarity of 67%. The languages Aimele, Kasua, Onobasulu, and Kaluli-Sunia exhibit more shared isoglosses among themselves than with the Etoro-Bedamini group. Some of these shared isoglosses are likely to be innovations.[1]

Languages[edit]

The languages, which are closely related are:[1]

Its worth noting these languages share at best 70% lexical (vocabulary) similarity, as in the case of Kaluli-Sonia, and Edolo-Beami.[1] The rest of related languages likely shares around 10-15% lexical similarities.

The unity of the Bosavi languages was quantitatively[clarification needed] demonstrated by Evans and Greenhill (2017).[2]

Palmer et al. (2018) consider Dibiyaso to be a language isolate.[3]

Pronouns[edit]

Pronouns are:

sg pl
1 *na *ni-
2 *ga *gi-
3 *ya *yi-

Vocabulary comparison[edit]

The following basic vocabulary words are from the Trans-New Guinea database:[4]

gloss Aimele Beami Biami Edolo Kaluli Kaluli (Bosavi dialect) Kasua Onabasulu Sonia
head mufa tialuna; tiaruma taluba b~pusʌ mise; misẽ pesʌi bizei; pesai kuni eneipi
hair mufa fɔnɔ hinabu; osa hinabo b~pusʌ heni misẽ fɔ̃; mise foon medafɔn bizei fʌnu; pesaifano alu; kuni alu eneipi fɔn
ear keleni kẽ kȩ kɛhe kenẽ; malo kælæn kenane; kinɛli kɔheni; koneni ekadem
eye si si sii si si si si si
nose migi mi mi migʌni migi mi; mĩ mi; mĩ miki
tooth bisi pese; pẽsẽ pese p~bese beso; bis pes apa pese ʌnenʌ
tongue dabisẽ eri; kɔnɛ̃su kona̧su eli eʌn; sano inem tepe; tepɛ eane; ɛane tʌbise
leg inebi emo emo emɔ gidaafoo; gip onatu; unɛtu emo; emɔ eisep
louse tede imu imu imũ fe; fẽ tekeape arupai; pfɛi (fe); fẽ fi
dog ãgi wæːme; weːme wæmi ɔgɔnɔ gasa; kasʌ kasa kasoro; kʌsoro gesu; kesɔ wɛi
pig kẽ gebɔ suguʌ kabɔ kɔpɔľɔ tɔfene kɛ
bird abɔ mæni hega; mæni hayʌ ɔ̃bẽ; oloone; oobaa anemae; ɛnim haga; haka ʌbɔ
egg abɔ us̪u ɔsɔ oso isɔ ɔ̃bẽ uš; us natape; ufu hokaisu; sɔ ʌtʌm
blood omani hæːľe heale hiʌle hɔbɔ; hooboo bebetʌ; pepeta ibi hʌbʌ
bone ki kasa; koso kasa kiwiː ki ki; kiː kiwi uku
skin kãfu kadofo; kadɔfɔ kadofo kʌdɔfɔ dɔgɔf; toogoof kapo kapo; kʌːpɔ tomola; tɔmɔla ʌkʌf
breast buː toto; tɔtɔ toto tɔtɔ bo; bu bo bɔ; po bu bɔ
tree yebe ifa ifa i i i; tai i yep
man kɔlu tunu tunu̧ tɔnɔ kalu senae; senɛ inɔlɔ; inoro ʌsenʌ
woman kaisale uda uda udia ga; kesali; kesari kesare; kesʌľe ido; idɔ nʌisɔʌ
sun ofɔ esɔ; eṣɔ eso esɔ of; ɔf opo ɔbɔ; opo haro; hɔlɔ of
moon ole aubi awbi aube ili kunɛi; opo aube; aubo weľe
water hãni hãlɔ̃; harõ ha̧lo ɔ̃tã hɔ̃n; hoon hoŋ hano; hʌnɔ̃ hano; hanɔ mɔ͂
fire di daru; nalu dalu nulu de; di de homatos; tei de; ti de
stone dɔa igi kele igi u etewʌ; etoa abane ka
road, path nɔgo isu
name wi diɔ; diɔ̃ dio ẽi wi unũ wi imi
eat mayã na; naha na-imo- nahãː maya kinatapo; mɛnẽ namana; namena menʌ
one ageli afai afa̧i̧ age ãgel; angel semeti; tekeape agale itidi
two ageleweli adunã aduna agedu a̧dep; ãdip ɛľipi aganebo; aida ani

Word count, and grammar sketches.[edit]

Kaluli Sonia Aimele Kasua Onobasulu
Word count 400 140 1,000
Grammar sketches 2,500 600

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c The Trans New Guinea family Andrew Pawley and Harald Hammarström
  2. ^ Evans, Bethwyn; Greenhill, Simon (2017). "A combined comparative and phylogenetic analysis of the Bosavi and East Strickland languages" (PDF). 4th Workshop on the Languages of Papua. Universitas Negeri Papua, Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia.
  3. ^ Palmer, Bill (2018). "Language families of the New Guinea Area". 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. 1–20. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  4. ^ 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.
  • Shaw, R.D. "The Bosavi language family". In Laycock, D., Seiler, W., Bruce, L., Chlenov, M., Shaw, R.D., Holzknecht, S., Scott, G., Nekitel, O., Wurm, S.A., Goldman, L. and Fingleton, J. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 24. A-70:45-76. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1986. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.45
  • Shaw, R.D. "A Tentative Classification of the Languages of the Mt Bosavi Region". In Franklin, K. editor, The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea. C-26:187-215. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1973. doi:10.15144/PL-C26.187
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