The Dagan or Meneao Range languages are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the Meneao Range of the "Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea, the easternmost Papuan languages on the mainland. They are the most divergent of the several small families within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea.
| Dagan | |
|---|---|
| Meneao Range | |
| Geographic distribution | Meneao Range, southeastern peninsula of Papua New Guinea: Central Province and Milne Bay Province |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | daga1274 |
Languages
editThe languages are:[1]
- Onjob
- Southwest
- East
- Southeast: Ginuman, Kanasi (Sona)
- Northeast: Dima (Jimajima), Umanakaina (Gwedena), and the nearly extinct Turaka
Although clearly related, they are not particularly close. Umanakaina and Ginuman, for example, are only 23% lexically similar.
Pronouns
editUsher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:[2]
sg pl 1 *n[e/a] *nu 2 *g[e/a] *j[e/a] 3 *me *mV
Vocabulary comparison
editThe following basic vocabulary words are from SIL field notes (1965, 1967, 1973), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[3]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. giana, ginewa, ginawa for “nose”) or not (e.g. iyawa, neigin, ɛbu for “road”).
gloss Dima Daga Maiwa head una iwa kwi'.unwa; kuiyunwa hair deba igumewa gu'mawa; huiawa ear taii(na) darinewa nau'nawa; naunáwa eye yamana yamewa yaŋganwa; yaŋ'ganwa nose giana ginewa ginawa; gi'nunwa tooth wari(na) nodonewa do'nawa; donáwa tongue pepa(na) mɛriwa phed'nawa; pedt nawa leg wana ai'raniwa; beawa louse igu kuisin kwhi'sin; nagam; usiwa dog kwegawa eao kwhe'.au; kueyao pig boro tuan 'bui bird midiwari nɛnip nenip; ve'khæthu egg dodopi bagua ba'giwa; gat toda; kokorek bagiwa blood tawayana dɛnip di bone (e)regura kaemewa mařɛt'nawa skin etona ɛpiwa koápiwa; pha'phunwa breast ama amewa am tree na oma i; ioma man apana apan apan; a'phan woman wawina oaen ve'sin; wɛsin sun gabudara oam kum; khum moon dede siragam dut; duth water oa kaum ioi; yoi fire iarema oma íam; yaŋ'gawa stone akima agim agim; 'agim road, path iyawa neigin ɛbu; 'ɛbu name ewani yaoa i'vi wa eat naiwan mɛ 'nane; naiwi one daiida daiton desi'řoe; désirom two uri dɛrɛ dúam; duːʌm
Evolution
editDagan reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:[4]
- ama 'breast' < *amu
- meri (nawa) 'tongue' < *me(l,n)e
- ira 'tree' < *inda
- asi 'ear' < *kand(e,i)k(V]
- etepa 'bark' < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu 'skin'
- obosa 'wind' < *kumbutu
- oman 'stone' < *ka(m,mb)u[CV]
- nene 'bird' < *n(e)i
References
edit- Notes
- ^ NewGuineaWorld – Meneao Range
- ^ New Guinea World, Owen Stanley Range
- ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
- ^ Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". 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. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- Sources
- 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.