Engan languages
| Engan | |
|---|---|
| Enga–Kewa–Huli Enga – Southern Highlands | |
| Geographic distribution | New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea or Papuan Gulf? |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | enga1254 |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| File:Engan languages.svg Map: The Engan languages of New Guinea
The Engan languages
Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
The Engan languages, or more precisely Enga–Kewa–Huli or Enga – Southern Highland, are a small family of Papuan languages of the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The two branches of the family are rather distantly related, but were connected by Franklin and Voorhoeve (1973).[1]
Name
[edit | edit source]The name "Engan" is often restricted to the northern branch of the family, to those languages transparently related to Enga, but also sometimes to the family as a whole.
Languages
[edit | edit source]The languages fall into three quite distinct branches: Engan proper, Huli, and Southern Highlands:
- North Engan (Engan proper): Enga–Kyaka–Lembena, Ipili, Bisorio (Nete, Iniai)
- South Engan (Kewa–Huli)
Classification
[edit | edit source]The Engan family constitutes a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages in the classifications of Wurm and of Malcolm Ross, but the evidence for this is weak.
Usher links the Engan and Chimbu languages in a Central New Guinea Highlands family.[2]
There are a considerable number of resemblances with Wiru. Borrowing has not been ruled out as the reason for this, though the pronouns are similar as well.
Proto-language
[edit | edit source]Phonemes
[edit | edit source]Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[3]
*m *n *p *t *k *mb *nd *ŋg *w *l *j
Vowels are *i *e *a *o *u.
Pronouns
[edit | edit source]Pronouns are easy to reconstruct for the northern and southern branches, but much more difficult for Engan as a whole. Ross (2005) has the following for the singular, Wiru has been added for comparison:
pEngan N Engan S Engan Wiru 1 **nə *na-ba *ní no (gen. anu) 2 **ne-ke *ne-ba *ne-ke ne (gen. ne-ke) 3 ? *ba *[n]i-bu one
Usher (2020) has not yet published reconstruction of Engan as a whole, but has done Engan proper:[4]
Engan proper sg du pl 1 *na(-mba) *nali(-mba) *nani(-ma) 2 *ni(-mba) 3 *[e]-mba
Vocabulary
[edit | edit source]Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Trans Enga (Proto-Engan) by Usher (2020) are:[3]
gloss Proto-Trans-Enga Proto-Southern Highlands Huli name *ŋge *[i]mbi mi-ni fire/tree *ita *ti iɾa moon *kana *eke, *jumba ege four *tumenda *mala ma- path *kaita *pota haɾiga stand *kata *ka ha cassowary *laima *jati jaɾi skin *jan[o/u] *joŋgale doŋgo-ne
Modern reflexes
[edit | edit source]The Enga-Kewa-Huli reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma, if Engan languages are indeed members of the Trans-New Guinea family, are:[5]
Enga:
- mona ‘heart’ < *mundun
- yaka ‘bird’ < *yaka(i)
- lyaŋa ‘ashes’ < *la(ŋ,k)a
- ŋaŋa ‘baby < *ŋaŋ(a)
- (m)ama ‘mother’ < *am(a,i)
- kuri ‘bone’ < *kondaC
- kare ‘ear’ < *kand(e,i)k(V]
- ne- ‘eat’ < *na
- apa(ne) ‘father’ < *apa
- iti ‘hair’ < *iti[C]
- endo ‘fire’ < *kend(o,u)p
- lema ‘louse’ < *niman
- kana ‘moon’ < *takVn[V]
- mana ‘instructions’ < *mana
- kitama ‘morning’ < *k(i,u)tuma
- kumi- ‘die’ < *kumV-
- re- ‘speak’ < *nde-
- maa ‘taro’ < *mV
- ita ‘tree’ < *inda
Huli:
- ega ‘bird’ < *yaka(i)
- na- ‘eat’ < *na-
- aba ‘father’ < *apa
- iri ‘hair’ < *iti[C]
- ira ‘tree’ < *inda
- ma ‘taro’ < *mV
Kewa:
- ama ‘mother’ < *am(a,i)
- ibi ‘name’ < *imbi
- iri ‘hair’ < *iti[C]
- uni ‘bone’ < *kwanjaC
- apu ‘tail’ < *a(mb,m)u
- lema ‘louse’ < *niman
- oma ‘die’ < *kumV-
- reka- ‘stand’ < *t(a,e)kV-
- la- ‘talk’ < *nde-
- maa ‘taro’ < *mV
- yaa ‘bird’ < *yaka(i)
- am ‘mother’ < *am(a,i)
- ap ‘father’ < *apa
- mbi ‘name’ < *imbi
- ome- ‘die’ < *kumV-
Basic vocabulary
[edit | edit source]Basic vocabulary of Enga and Kewa from William A. Foley (1986). The pairs of words are not necessarily cognate.[6]
gloss Enga Kewa ‘two’ rama laapo ‘man’ akari ali ‘water’ ipa ipa ‘fire’ ita repona ‘tree’ ita are ‘leaf’ yoko yo ‘root’ pingi pitaa ‘house’ ada ada ‘breast’ adu adu ‘tooth’ nege agaa ‘bone’ kori kuli ‘ear’ kare kale ‘hair’ iti iri ‘leg’ kape aa ‘blood’ kupapu kupaa ‘hand’ ruma ki ‘egg’ kapa yaa apaa ‘sun’ nita nare ‘axe’ patama rai ‘netbag’ nuu nu ‘eat’ ne- na- ‘die’ kumi- koma- ‘say’ re- la- ‘give’ mai-/gi- gi- ‘big’ adake adaa
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Karl J. Franklin and C. L. Voorhoeve. 1973. Languages near the intersection of the Gulf, Southern Highlands and Western Districts. In Karl J. Franklin (ed.), The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea, 149-186. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
- ^ https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/central-new-guinea-highlands/start
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ New Guinea World, Trans-Enga
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Foley, William A. (1986). The Papuan Languages of New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Engan. TransNewGuinea.org.
External links
[edit | edit source]- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Enga – Southern Highlands Archived 2016-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
- (ibid.) Trans-Enga