| Kiwaian | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | a primary language family |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | kiwa1251 |
 Map: The Kiwaian languages of New Guinea The Kiwaian languages Trans–New Guinea languages Other Papuan languages Austronesian languages Uninhabited | |
TheKiwaian languages form alanguage family of New Guinea. They are a dialect cluster of half a dozen closely related languages.[1] They are grammatically divergent from the Trans–New Guinea languages, and typically have singular, dual,trial, and plural pronouns.[2]
The Trans–New Guinea identity of Kiwaiian is supported by a relatively large number of basic lexical items.Ross (2005) tentatively linked Kiwaiian to the erstwhilelanguage isolatePorome. However, the evidence is only two pronouns, and the connection has not been accepted by other researchers.
Kiwaian languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.[3]
| Language | Location | Population | Alternate names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Kiwai | Kiwai Rural LLG | 20,000 | Island Kiwai |
| Wabuda | Kiwai Rural LLG | 2,750 | |
| Bamu | southBamu Rural LLG | 6,310 | |
| Northeast Kiwai | West Kikori Rural LLG | 6,000 | Urama |
| Kerewo | West Kikori Rural LLG | 1,090 | |
| Morigi | West Kikori Rural LLG | ? |
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[4]
| *m | *n | ||
| *p | *t | *s | *k |
| *b | *d | *g | |
| *w | *ɾ |
| *i | *u | |
| *e | *o | |
| *a |
Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as,[4]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *mo | *nimo |
| 2 | *oɾo | *nigo |
| 3 | ? | *nei |
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[4]
| gloss | Proto-Kiwai |
|---|---|
| head/hair | *kepuɾu |
| hair/feather | *mus[ua] |
| ear | *gaɾe |
| eye | *idomaɾi |
| nose | *wodi |
| tooth | *ibo(-nVɾV) |
| tongue | *uototoɾo[p/b]e |
| leg/foot | *sakiɾo |
| blood | *kaɾima; *sa[w]i |
| bone | *soɾo |
| skin/bark | *tama |
| breast | *amo |
| louse | *nimo |
| dog | *[k]umu |
| bird | *wowogo |
| egg/fruit | *kikopu |
| tree | *nuk₂a; *kota |
| man/male | *dubu |
| woman | *oɾobo; *upi |
| sun/day | *saɾik₂i; *si[w]io |
| moon | *sagomi; *owe |
| water | *kobo |
| fire | *keɾa |
| stone | *(nok₂oɾa-)kopi |
| path | *gabo |
| name | *paini, *paina |
| eat/drink | *oɾuso (sg.), *iɾiso (pl.) |
| one | *nak[o/u] |
| two | *netoa |
Kiwaian reflexes ofproto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[2]
SouthernKiwai language:
Other languages: