| Ataitan | |
|---|---|
| Tanggu Moam River | |
| Geographic distribution | Moam River,Madang Province,Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Ramu
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | tang1354 |
TheAtaitan languages, also known as theTanggu orMoam River languages, are a smallfamily of clearly related languages spoken in the region of theMoam River in Papua New Guinea. They are,
Z'graggen named the family "Ataitan" as an acronym of the language names. Usher names it after the local river. They are classified among theRamu languages of northernPapua New Guinea.
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[1]
| *m | *n | *ŋ | |
| *p | *t | *s | *k |
| *mb | *nd | [*ndz] | *ŋg |
| *w | *ɾ | *j | *ɣ |
Vowels are *i *ʉ *u *a.
Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:[1]
| sg | du | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *uku[aɣ] | *naŋgi | *ani |
| 2 | *unu[aɣ] | *nuŋgi | *uni[aɣ] |
| 3 | *ma(-n) | ma-ni | ? |
Plus 1sg object *na.
Proto-Tamolan–Ataitan (Proto-Guam–Moam) is nearly identical, except for not having the [aɣ] suffixes, and the final vowels of the 1du and 2du forms is not certain. This may not consider thePorapora languages, however.