| West Trans–New Guinea | |
|---|---|
| (proposed) | |
| Geographic distribution | Indonesia (Highlands ofWestern New Guinea) East Timor (in and aroundTimor) |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | None |
 Map: The West Trans–New Guinea languages of New Guinea The West Trans–New Guinea languages Other Trans–New Guinea languages Other Papuan languages Austronesian languages Uninhabited | |
TheWest Trans–New Guinea languages are a suggestedlinguistic linkage ofPapuan languages, not well established as a group, proposed byMalcolm Ross in his 2005 classification of theTrans–New Guinea languages. Ross suspects they are an olddialect continuum, because they share numerous features that have not been traced to a single ancestor using comparative historical linguistics. The internal divisions of the languages are also unclear.William A. Foley considers the TNG identity of the Irian Highlands languages at least to be established.
The West Trans–New Guinea languages are a group of small families and isolates within Trans–New Guinea which are only tentatively connected. TheIrian Highlands families (Dani andPaniai Lakes) appear to belong together, and the Timor andWest Bomberai languages share two probable innovations in their pronouns, compared to the rest of TNG.
The following classification is from Ross (2005), Schapper et al. (2012), and Holton et al. (2012).
Bunak and the Alor–Pantar languages are sometimes grouped together as "West Timor".
Pronouns are:
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *na | *ni |
| 2 | *ka | *ki |
reflecting pTNG *na, *ni, *ga, *gi. The pTNG dual/inclusive *-pi- may be reflected in East Timor 1excl *ini, 1incl *api, in West Timor *ni, *pi, and reversed in West Bomberai *bi, *in, but are not attested from the Irian Highlands. The *k of the second person is only found on the mainland; in TAP the forms are *a and *i.
Despite their geographic proximity, the Papuan languages of Timor are not closely related, and demonstration of a relationship between any of them is difficult, apart from the clearly relatedAlor–Pantar languages on the islands neighboring Timor.
Arthur Capell first proposed that the Timor languages were a family in 1941, and Watuseke &Anceaux did the same for Timor–Alor–Pantar in 1973. Both units have been broken up in more recent classifications, though their ultimate relationship is generally accepted.
In 1957 HKL Cowan linked the Timor languages to theWest Papuan family. However, whenStephen Wurm expanded Trans–New Guinea in 1975, he decided Timor–Alor–Pantar belonged there, and he linked it to theSouth Bird's Head languages in a South Bird's Head – Timor–Alor–Pantar branch of that phylum. Wurm noted similarities with West Papuan, a different family, but suggested this was due tosubstratum influence.
Of the Irian Highlands families, Capell linked the Dani languages toKwerba in 1962. Wurm added Dani-Kwerba, the Wissel Lakes (Paniai Lakes) languages, and South Bomberai to TNG as separate branches of that family. Ross (2005) suggests a possible link between Dani and Paniai with his West TNG proposal, but excludes South Bird's Head as a separate branch of TNG, and Kwerba as belonging to a different family altogether. He did not note any connections to West Papuan.
The following table includesDani andEkagi basic vocabulary fromWilliam A. Foley (1986).[1]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g.na-,nai- for “eat”) or not (e.g.mo,tani for “sun”).
| gloss | Dani | Ekagi |
|---|---|---|
| ‘two’ | bite | wiya |
| ‘man’ | ap | yame |
| ‘water’ | i | uwo |
| ‘fire’ | idu | bodiya |
| ‘tree’ | e | piya |
| ‘leaf’ | ega | iye |
| ‘root’ | omagen | mani |
| ‘house’ | o | owaa |
| ‘breast’ | eɗak | ama |
| ‘tooth’ | aik | ego |
| ‘bone’ | -oak | mitoo |
| ‘ear’ | -atuk | gapa |
| ‘hair’ | -eti | iyo |
| ‘leg’ | -esok | bo |
| ‘blood’ | mep | emo |
| ‘hand’ | -egi | gane |
| ‘egg’ | tewe-gen | napo |
| ‘sun’ | mo | tani |
| ‘axe’ | posiye | |
| ‘netbag’ | su | agiya |
| ‘eat’ | na- | nai- |
| ‘die’ | kagi- | bokai- |
| ‘say’ | i- | tii- |
| ‘give’ | et- | mai- |
| ‘big’ | gok | ebo |