| Amto–Musan | |
|---|---|
| Samaia River | |
| Geographic distribution | Samaia River,Sandaun Province,Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Arai–Samaia or independentlanguage family
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | amto1249 |
Amto–Musan is alanguage family of two closely related but mutually unintelligiblePapuan languages,Amto andSiawi, spoken along theSamaia River ofSandaun Province ofPapua New Guinea.
Foley (2018) and Usher (2020) agree that the family consists of two languages.[1][2]
Amto–Musan was left unclassified by Ross (2005) (seePapuan languages#Ross (2005)) due to lack of data; Wurm (1975) had posited it as an independent family. The family hastypological similarities with theBusalanguage isolate, but these do not appear to demonstrate a genetic relationship.
Timothy Usher links the Amto–Musan languages to their neighbors, theArai languages and thePyu language in as Arai–Samaia stock.[3]
Foley (2018) classifies them separately as an independent language family.[1] Foley also notes that due to heavy contact and trade withLeft May languages, Amto–Musan languages have borrowed much cultural vocabulary from Left May.[1]
Amto-Musan family cognates listed byFoley (2018):[1]
| gloss | Amto | Musan |
|---|---|---|
| ‘bad’ | supuware | pioware |
| ‘bird’ | ai | ʔai |
| ‘black’ | towan | tewane |
| ‘breast’ | ne | ne |
| ‘ear’ | ye | ʔe |
| ‘eye’ | mo | mene |
| ‘fire’ | mari | mari |
| ‘leaf’ | he | sɛʔ |
| ‘liver’ | tei | teʔ |
| ‘louse’ | nanu | nanu |
| ‘man’ | kyu | yɛnokono |
| ‘mother’ | ena | inaʔ |
| ‘nape’ | tipiyari | tibiare |
| ‘older brother’ | apɔ | aboʔ |
| ‘road’ | mo | mono |
| ‘sago’ | tɔ | tawe |
| ‘tongue’ | həne | hanɛ |
| ‘tooth’ | i | ʔi |
| ‘tree’ | ami | ameʔ |
| ‘water’ | wi | wi |
Possible cognates between the Amto-Musan andLeft May families:[1]
| gloss | Amto | Musan | Ama | Nimo | Owiniga |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘breast’ | ne | ne | nano | nɔ | nano |
| ‘arm’ | næ | naino | ina | ||
| ‘louse’ | nani | nanu | ani | eni | |
| ‘tooth’ | i | ʔi | i | i | |
| ‘water’ | wi | wi | iwa | wi | bi |
Possible loanwords reflecting the close trade relationship between Amto-Musan and Left May speakers:[1]
The following basic vocabulary words are from Conrad & Dye (1975),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[5]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g.tipeki,ʌbɛki for “stone”) or not (e.g.twæ,nani for “head”).
| gloss | Amto | Siawi |
|---|---|---|
| head | twæ | nani |
| hair | (twæ) iwɔ | nanigi |
| ear | ye | eʔ |
| eye | mo | mene |
| nose | ni | Ǐimʌ |
| tooth | i | ʔi |
| tongue | hæne; hʌne | hanɛ |
| louse | nanu | nani |
| dog | hɔ | soː |
| pig | ma | kinʌdiʔ |
| bird | ai | ʔai |
| egg | aiː | iǏɔ |
| blood | nʌkei | hařʔ |
| bone | hae | hařʔ |
| skin | ka | ʔaoko |
| breast | ne | ne |
| tree | amɩ | ameʔ |
| man | kyu | yɛnokono |
| woman | hama | ʔeǏo |
| water | wiː | wi |
| fire | maři | maǏi |
| stone | tipeki | tʌbɛki |
| road, path | mo | mono |
| eat | meːne | pe |
| one | ohu | sʌmo |
| two | kiyaA | himolo |