| Wogamus | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Wogamush River, westernEast Sepik Province, in the UpperSepik River basin ofPapua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Sepik
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | woga1248 |
TheWogamus languages are a pair of closely related languages,Wogamusin andChenapian.[1]
They are classified among theSepik languages of northernPapua New Guinea;Malcolm Ross andWilliam A. Foley (2018)[2] place them in theUpper Sepik branch of that family.
The Wogamus languages are spoken along the banks of theWogamush River andSepik River in westernEast Sepik Province, just to the east of theIwam languages.
Wogamus languages havenoun classes reminiscent of those found inBantu languages. Noun classes inWogamusin andChenapian are listed below, with Wogamusin -um 'three' and Chenapian -mu 'three' used as examples.[2]
| Class no. | Semantic category | Wogamusin prefix | Chenapian prefix | Wogamusin example | Chenapian example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | humans | s(i)- | s(i)- | s-um | si-mu |
| 2 | higher animals: dogs, pigs, etc. | r- | gw- | r-um | gw-umu |
| 3 | plants, trees, vines, etc. | b- | b- | b-um | b-umu |
| 4 | no specific pattern | h- | n- | h-um | n-əmu |
| 5 | no specific pattern | ŋgw- | cjn|kw- | ŋgw-um | kw-umu |
The following basic vocabulary words are from the Trans-New Guinea database.[3] The Wogamusin data is from Foley (2005)[4] and Laycock (1968),[5] and the Chenapian data is from SIL field notes (1983).
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g.tawö,taw for "woman") or not (e.g.dəmiaʔ,tetak for "louse").
| gloss | Chenapian | Wogamusin |
|---|---|---|
| head | toapᵒ; tuwap | towam |
| hair | taoɛnavon; taunabon | |
| ear | gwabuo; ugwabə | mam |
| eye | džinano; ǰinino | li |
| nose | mɨnɨk; munɩk | boliŋ |
| tooth | diu; duɨʔ | ndəl; ndɨl |
| tongue | taun; ton | taliyen |
| leg | soʷanaup; šonawəp | su |
| louse | damian; dəmiaʔ | tetak |
| dog | gwara; ogwara | wal |
| pig | kᵘo; ku | |
| bird | džɛosiʔ; ǰɛoši | yah |
| egg | noə; ṣⁱu no | |
| blood | ne; nᵊe | noh |
| bone | dža; ǰa· | rubwi |
| skin | bɩn; bön | mbe |
| breast | mu; muʔ | muk |
| tree | məntəp; montoap | mbotom |
| man | tama; tamö | tam |
| woman | tauwo; tawö | taw |
| sun | džabɨn; ǰaƀan | yam |
| moon | nu | luh |
| water | džoʔ; ǰoʔ | yək; yɨk |
| fire | un | kur |
| stone | nogɛrao; noguařo | noŋg |
| road, path | uni | |
| name | tamgu | |
| one | nař; sⁱərəʔ | a (M);ed (F) |
| two | ǰⁱək; nɛsi; ṣiṣi | nwis |