Nukuma languages
Appearance
	
	
| Nukuma | |
|---|---|
| Ma | |
| Geographic distribution | East Sepik Province, in the Sepik River basin of Papua New Guinea | 
| Linguistic classification | Sepik 
 | 
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | nuku1256 | 
The Nukuma languages are a small family of three clearly related languages:[1]
They are generally classified among the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea; Malcolm Ross places them in a Middle Sepik branch of that family.
They are spoken to the north of the Sepik River near Ambunti, and west of the Ambulas-speaking region of Mapr (near Wosera town).[2]
Pronouns
[edit]Pronouns in Nukuma languages:[2]
- pronoun - Kwoma - Mende - 1SG - an - an ~ na ~ a - 2SG.M - mɨ - mi - 2SG.F - ni - ɲi - 3SG.M - rɨ - or ~ ri - 3SG.F - sɨ - os ~ si - 1DU - si - ʃi - 2DU - ki - ʃi - 3DU - pɨr - fri - 1PL - no - ni - 2PL - kwo - ci - 3PL - ye - li 
Vocabulary comparison
[edit]The following basic vocabulary words are from Foley (2005)[3] and Laycock (1968),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. masək, masiki for “head”) or not (e.g. miːma, nogəpie for “woman”).
- gloss - Kwoma - Mende - head - masək - masiki - ear - fuː; mabiya - mampla - eye - miː; miyi - məsokome - nose - sumojɨ; sumwonj - miñompo - tooth - pu; tarəkwi - fu - tongue - kwunja; tarekwoy - tarple - leg - yaːte; yati - kumpa - louse - nəkə; nɨka - nika - dog - asa - asa - pig - buri; poyi - bird - apu - afi - egg - apo; bey; mpei - fəla - blood - pi - fi - bone - apo; hapa - hapa - skin - mampə - maume - breast - muk; muku - muku - tree - me - mi - man - ma - ma - woman - miːma - nogəpie - sun - ya - ta - moon - nowəka; nɨwɨka - niyaka - water - uku - uku - fire - hi; hiː - hi - stone - papa - süŋkye - name - hi - eat - a - one - pochi - two - uprus - frišip 
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Ma, New Guinea World
- ^ a b 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. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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. doi:10.15144/PL-572. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
