Social:Trans-Fly–Bulaka River languages

Short description: Hypothetical family of Papuan languages

Trans-Fly–Bulaka River
South-Central Papuan
(obsolete)
Geographic distribution	New Guinea
Linguistic classification	Proposed language family
Subdivisions	Bulaka River Waia Pahoturi Yam
Glottolog	None
Map: The Trans-Fly–Bulaka River languages of New Guinea   The Trans-Fly–Bulaka River languages   Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Australian languages   Uninhabited

The Trans-Fly–Bulaka River aka South-Central Papuan languages form a hypothetical family of Papuan languages. They include many of the languages west of the Fly River in southern Papua New Guinea into southern Indonesian West Papua, plus a pair of languages on the Bulaka River a hundred km further west.

The family was posited by Stephen Wurm as a branch of his 1975 Trans–New Guinea proposal. Wurm thought it likely that many of these languages would prove to not actually belong to Trans–New Guinea, but rather to have been heavily influenced by Trans–New Guinea languages. Malcolm Ross (2005) concurred, and removed most of them.

Classification

None of the families are closely related; indeed, it is difficult to demonstrate a link between any of them. Wurm's 1975 TNG branch included the following eight demonstrated families:

• Kiwaian, on the banks and east of the Fly River
• Waia, north of the Fly delta
• Tirio, on the western bank of the Fly River
• Eastern Trans-Fly languages, south of the Fly delta
• Pahoturi, west of the Eastern languages
• Yam, up to and just across the Indonesian border
• Moraori, between Upper Maro and the Marind language
• Bulaka River, west of Marind

Ross (2005) accepted the TNG identity of Tirio, Moraori, and, tentatively, Kiwaian. He split off the four Eastern Trans-Fly languages as an independent family. The remainder of the family, which he calls South-Central Papuan, is only tentatively retained: their pronouns are suggestive of a relationship, but this has not been demonstrated.

Trans-Fly–Bulaka River  (South-Central Papuan)	Bulaka River family       Pahoturi family     Waia isolate       Yam (Morehead – Upper Maro) family

A more conservative approach would break up Wurm's Trans-Fly–Bulaka River entirely, with two or three of the families remaining within Trans–New Guinea, and five or six being independent. Evans (2012), for example, argues that the inclusion of the Yam language at least is not justified on present evidence. Timothy Usher treats the Bulaka River and Yam languages as separate families, and links the Pahoturi– clade to the Eastern Trans-Fly languages.

Southern New Guinea linguistic area

A Southern New Guinea linguistic area, which spans both Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, consisting of the following families is mentioned in Evans (2018).

• Yelmek-Maklew - 500 speakers
• Yam (Morehead-Upper Maro) - 3,000 speakers
• Pahoturi River - just over 4,000 speakers
• Oriomo (Eastern Trans-Fly) - 6,500 speakers
• Trans-New Guinea (TNG)
  • Kolopom - just over 7,000 speakers
  • Marori - fewer than 20 elderly speakers
  • Gogodala-Suki - 30,000 speakers
  • Kiwaian - 37,000 speakers
  • Anim
    • Marindic - 10,000 speakers
    • Tirio (Lower Fly)
    • Ipiko (Inland Gulf)

Languages within the Southern New Guinea linguistic area generally share these typological features.

• lack of tone (except Kuni-Boazi, possibly Marind, and some Kiwai dialects)
• complex verb morphology
• limited or no gender (except for the four-way gender system in Anim languages, and the masculine vs. feminine contrast on undergoer-prefixes in the Tonda languages and some Oriomo languages)
• lack of verb chaining or switch-reference
• single-word verbs form an open class

Pronouns

The pronouns Ross reconstructs for the three families he keeps together are suggestively similar, but it has not been possible to reconstruct common forms:

Proto-Yam (Proto–Morehead – Upper Maro)

I/we	*ni
you	*bu
s/he/they	*be

Proto-Pahoturi

I	*ŋa-na	we	?
thou	*ba or *be	you	*-bi
s/he	*bo	they	?

Proto-Bulaka River

I	*ŋöl	we	*ŋag
thou	*ob	you	*el
s/he	*ib	they	*im

Lexical comparison

The lexical data below is from the Trans-New Guinea database and Usher (2020) (for Proto-Kiwai), unless noted otherwise. Neighboring languages not traditionally classified within Trans-Fly – Bulaka River are also included for comparison.

Body parts

family	language	head	hair	ear	eye	nose	tooth	tongue	leg	blood	bone	skin	breast
Trans-New Guinea	Proto-Trans-New Guinea	*kobutu; *kV(mb,p)utu; *mUtUna; *mVtVna	*iti; *(nd,s)umu(n,t)[V]; *zumun	*ka(nd,t)(i,e)C; *kat(i,e)C; *tVmV(d)	*g(a,u)mu; *ŋg(a,u)mu; *(ŋg,k)iti [maŋgV]; *nVpV	*mundu; *mutu	*magata; *maŋgat[a]; *titi	*balaŋ; *mbilaŋ; *me(l,n)e; *me(n,l)e	*kani(n); *k(a,o)ond(a,o)C; *kitu	*ke(ñj,s)a; *kesa	*kondaC; *kwata(l,n)	*gatapu; *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu	*amu
Komolom	Koneraw	wonderam	cin		dyan		cire		kan	iri	iŋar	par
Komolom	Mombum	wondrum	xu-sin		musax-nam		zix		kaŋk	iri	itöx	par
Yelmek-Maklew	Maklew	ala	aweni		opo		köl		wodo	ehlel	pu	ase
Yelmek-Maklew	Yelmek	bemo	yeyu		opo		köl		wodo	elweke	pu	ge	momo
Yam	Kanum	mel	mel-kata		si		tor		tegu	mbel	mba:r	keikei
Yam	Yei	kilpel	peab		cur		ter		cere	gul	gor	pa:r
Karami	Karami		epurupa	kuse	epegu	wodi	saku	muta	auni	toki	goni	kebora	bodoro
Gogodala-Suki	Gogodala	ganabi	tita	igibi	tao	mina	poso	mɛlɛpila			gosa	kaka	omo
Kiwaian	Proto-Kiwai	*kepuɾu	*mus[ua]	*gaɾe	*idomaɾi	*wodi	*ibo(-nVɾV)	*uototoɾo[p/b]e	*sakiɾo	*kaɾima; *sa[w]i	*soɾo	*tama	*amo

Nature

family	language	louse	dog	pig	bird	egg	tree	sun	moon	water	fire	stone	path
Trans-New Guinea	Proto-Trans-New Guinea	*niman			*n(e,i); *n(e)i; *n[e]i; *yak; *yaka[i]; *yanem	*maŋgV; *munaka; *mun(a,u)ka	*ida; *inda ~ *iñja	*kamali; *kamuli; *ketana	*kal(a,i)m; *kamali; *takVn; *takVn[V]	*nok; *(n)ok; *ok(u); *ok[V]	*inda; *k(a,e)dap; *k(a,e)(n,d)ap; *kambu; *k(a,o)nd(a,u)p	*kamb(a,u)na; *(na)muna; *[na]muna
Komolom	Koneraw	am	ubui	u	baŋa		to	dzuwo		mui	war	mate
Komolom	Mombum	am	ipwi	u	konji	yausil	tu	zawa		mwe	wad	mete
Yelmek-Maklew	Maklew	dobuna	ŋgat	milom	aebola	aloŋ	doyo	olimu		jü	ake	mate
Yelmek-Maklew	Yelmek	dobna	num	milom	tötöli	alo	doyo	alemu		ju	ete	mata
Yam	Kanum	ne:mpin	krar	kwer	sento	bel	per	koŋko		ataka	mens	melle
Yam	Yei	nim	jeu	becek	yarmaker	mekur	per	mir		kao	benj	mejer
Karami	Karami	sugani	kso	giromoi	kaimo		sumari	aimea	kuwiri	auwo	mavio	agabu	ige
Gogodala-Suki	Gogodala	ami	soke	uai				kadɛpa		wi	ila		nabidi
Kiwaian	Proto-Kiwai	*nimo	*[k]umu		*wowogo	*kikopu	*nuk₂a; *kota	*saɾik₂i; *si[w]io	*sagomi; *owe	*kobo	*keɾa	*(nok₂oɾa-)kopi	*gabo

Miscellaneous

family	language	man	woman	name	eat	one	two
Trans-New Guinea	Proto-Trans-New Guinea	*abV; *ambi	*panV; *pan(V)	*ibi; *imbi; *wani	*na; *na-		*ta(l,t)(a,e)
Komolom	Koneraw	nam		ur	gim-nugu	tenamotere	kuinam
Komolom	Mombum	nam		ur	nuku-	te	kumb
Yelmek-Maklew	Maklew	modin		ŋeŋele	oŋa -eio-	mepola	inage
Yelmek-Maklew	Yelmek	gomnek		ŋadöl	ŋa-	ŋklala	ina
Yam	Kanum	ire		iu	anaŋ	namper	yempoka
Yam	Yei	el-lu		ore	cenye	nampei	yetapae
Karami	Karami	sor	kipa			botie	kipainoe
Gogodala-Suki	Gogodala	dala; dalagi	ato; susɛgi	gagi	na
Kiwaian	Proto-Kiwai	*dubu	*oɾobo; *upi	*paini, *paina	*oɾuso (sg.), *iɾiso (pl.)	*nak[o/u]	*netoa

See also

• Trans-Fly languages

References

• Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". in Andrew Pawley. Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. 

External links

• South-Central Papuan languages database at TransNewGuinea.org
• Bulaka River on newguineaworld