| Border | |
|---|---|
| Tami River – Bewani Range | |
| Geographic distribution | New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Northwest Papuan?
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | bord1247 |
TheBorder orUpper Tami languages are an independentfamily ofPapuan languages inMalcolm Ross's version of theTrans–New Guinea proposal.
Unlike the neighboringSepik languages and many other Papuan language families of northernNew Guinea, Border languages do not have grammatical gender or number (dual and plural forms).[1]
The Border family is named after theIndonesia–Papua New Guinea border, which it spans. Other than the Border languages, theSkou,Senagi,Pauwasi,Anim, andYam families also span the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Cowan (1957) tentatively proposed a "Tami" family, named after theTami River, that included the modern Border andSko language families. Some of the previously unclassified languages turned out to be Sko and were added to that family; the remainder (including the languages of the upper Tami) constitute the Border family.
Laycock classified Morwap as an isolate but noted pronominal similarities with Border. Ross included Morwap in Border but noted that they do not appear to share any lexical similarities. However, he had quite poor Morwap data. Usher included it as a branch of Border.
Foley (2018) provides the following classification.[1]
The Border languages are:[2]
| Tami River – Bewani Range |
| ||||||||||||
Usher does not mentionNingera and subsumes it into another language.
The pronouns that Ross (2005) reconstructs for Proto-Border are the following:
| I | *ka | exclusive we | *kia- ? |
| inclusive we | *bile ? | ||
| thou | *je | you | ? |
| s/he | *ihe | they | *ihe- ? |
Foley (2018) lists pronouns for the following five Border languages.[1]
| Taikat | Kilmeri | Amanab | Waris | Imonda | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1incl | nuko | bi | pi | pəl | |
| 1excl | ku | ko | ka | ka | ka |
| 2 | kebe | de ~ ne | ne | ye | ne |
| 3 | yɛ | ki | ehe | hi | ehe |
Border family cognates (Awyi,Taikat,Kilmeri,Waris,Imonda) listed byFoley (2018):[1]
| gloss | Awyi /Taikat | Kilmeri | Waris /Imonda |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘bone’ | sagər | kili | kəl |
| ‘cloud’ | tik | tik | |
| ‘eat’ | na- | ni- | ne- |
| ‘egg’ | sur | su | sui |
| ‘eye’ | nondof | dob | nof |
| ‘house’ | ya | yip | yɛf |
| ‘moon’ | usɛ | wɪs | wɛs |
| ‘sun’ | kɛwom | ɒkɒmba | |
| ‘tongue’ | mariel | ber | məde |
| ‘tooth’ | lu | lɒ | |
| ‘tree’ | di | ri | ti |
| ‘water’ | obea | pu | po |
The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1971, 1975),[3][4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents whether they are cognate (e.g.mogor,moŋla,moŋgola for “leg”) or not (e.g.nakan,past,bosok for “nose”).
| gloss | Awyi | Taikat | Manem | Sowanda | Viid | Waris |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| head | naŋger; naŋgər | bagər | bagar | mosok | repek | ku |
| hair | jento; ta | bakta; tar; tat | ta | mog-tse; mog-tše | tea; tɛa | |
| ear | keato | keat | kafŋe | oŋgok | aten | aŋku |
| eye | najo; nayo | nondor | nof | rugok | now | nop |
| nose | nubru | nakan | past | bosok | peŋe | lomus |
| tooth | ka | kaembi | so | nunalk | lelo | |
| tongue | marie | mte | melik | ro | minde | |
| leg | malke | təka | mogor | miŋgak | moŋla | moŋgola |
| louse | tu | kue | ku | ku | ||
| dog | eəl; wŋl | ur | ure; urê | wandr | unde | |
| pig | wot | wot | aŋ; ar | ogtse | sar mejan; sar meyan | mi |
| bird | noj; noy | nor | joŋ jor; yoŋ; yor | teafu | tuawa | |
| egg | suŋul | sur | suiŋ; suir | suk | tu | suul |
| blood | keane | jafor; yafor | psoŋko | tap | nine | towol |
| bone | sakər | sagər | kaŋ; kar | kek | ke | kəi; kəl |
| skin | fəker | fager; fagɛr | tofŋo; tofro | lopok | kep | towol |
| breast | mə̃ | mɛ | maŋ; mar | tot | mandr | tɛt |
| tree | ti | di | ti | ti | ti | |
| man | kir | kir | knigiŋ; knigir | owak | du | tənda |
| woman | kuru | koraha | jaman | uŋwabe | jemena | ŋguabe |
| sun | mentao | kewom; kɛwom | usam | okomba | pola | okumba |
| moon | kuŋgəru | usɛ | wes | wules | wos | wɛs |
| water | wobia; wobio | obea | pu | poa | po | po |
| fire | tao | dow | saw | sue | tow | sue |
| stone | ser | sər | suk | xun | kwondr | hon |
| road, path | məŋgir | meo | monofo | mna | mona | muna |
| name | unha | nabae | ||||
| eat | anɛ; na | na | na | nekem; nɛkɛm | na | ne |
| one | maŋgua | ŋgoa; [ŋgoa] | gueno | moŋgoir | moŋgau | muŋasəl |
| two | naŋger | sampaŋ | sambaga | tambla | sambla |
Between 200 and 250 years ago, Bewani-speakers rapidly expanded and migrated towards neighboring regions, which started off chain migrations among various peoples of the region. The migration of Bewani-speakers split up the territory ofKwomtari-speakers, andFas was displaced to the swampy area of Utai (3°23′26″S141°35′02″E / 3.390507°S 141.583997°E /-3.390507; 141.583997 (Utai)). The displaced Fas-speakers then expanded further east intoOne territory, which caused conflicts between the Fas and One peoples in the Kabore area (3°18′51″S141°50′27″E / 3.314106°S 141.840799°E /-3.314106; 141.840799 (Kabore 1)).[6]
ThePagei,Bewani,Bo, andNingera peoples expanded down thePual River to displace speakers ofInner Skou andSerra Hills languages. Inner Skou speakers were then forced to migrate and discplacedBarupu/Warapu-speakers (Piore River branch). Bewani-speakers, however, could expand eastward into the lowland swampy areas occupied by speakers ofBusa andYale, who were themselves pushed out of the more fertile hills into the lowland swamps. Westward expansion ofBewani-speakers was halted by fighting inKaure territory.[6]
Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". InAndrew 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.