| Mombum | |
|---|---|
| Komolom Muli Strait | |
| Geographic distribution | Komolom Island, southernNew Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | momb1255 |
 Map: The Mombum languages of New Guinea The Mombum languages Other Trans–New Guinea languages Other Papuan languages Austronesian languages Uninhabited | |
TheMombum languages, also known as theKomolom orMuli Strait languages, are a pair ofTrans–New Guinea languages,Mombum (Komolom) andKoneraw, spoken onKomolom Island just offYos Sudarso Island, and on the southern coast of Yos Sudarso Island, respectively, on the southern coast of New Guinea. Komolom Island is at the southern end of theMuli Strait.[1]
Mombum was first classified as a branch isolate of theCentral and South New Guinea languages inStephen Wurm's 1975 expansion for Trans–New Guinea, a position tentatively maintained byMalcolm Ross, though he cannot tell if the similarities are shared innovations or retentions fromproto-TNG. Usher instead links them to theAsmat languages.[1] Koneraw is clearly related to Mombum, but was overlooked by early classifications. Along with theKolopom languages, they are the languages spoken onYos Sudarso Island (Kolopom Island).
Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018), who refer to the languages as theKomolom branch, tentatively leave it as unclassified rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea.[2]
Pronouns are:
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *nu | *nu-mu, *ni |
| 2 | *yu | *yu-mu |
| 3 | *eu |
The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970)[3] and Voorhoeve (1975),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g.wonderam,wondrum for “head”) or not (e.g.iŋar,itöx for “bone”).
| gloss | Koneraw | Mombum |
|---|---|---|
| head | wonderam | wondrum |
| hair | cin | xu-sin |
| eye | dyan | musax-nam |
| tooth | cire | zix |
| leg | kan | kaŋk |
| louse | am | am |
| dog | ubui | ipwi |
| pig | u | u |
| bird | baŋa | konji |
| egg | yausil | |
| blood | iri | iri |
| bone | iŋar | itöx |
| skin | par | par |
| tree | to | tu |
| man | nam | nam |
| sun | dzuwo | zawa |
| water | mui | mwe |
| fire | war | wad |
| stone | mate | mete |
| name | ur | ur |
| eat | gim-nugu | nuku- |
| one | tenamotere | te |
| two | kuinam | kumb |