Madang
Madang–Adelbert Range
Geographic distribution	Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classification	Northeast New Guinea and/orTrans–New Guinea Madang –Upper Yuat[1] Madang
Subdivisions	Southern Adelbert Range Rai Coast Croisilles Kalam Mabuso etc.
Language codes
Glottolog	mada1298
Map: The Madang languages of New Guinea   The Madang languages   Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Uninhabited

TheMadang orMadang–Adelbert Range languages are alanguage family ofPapua New Guinea. They were classified as a branch ofTrans–New Guinea byStephen Wurm, followed byMalcolm Ross.William A. Foley concurs that it is "highly likely" that the Madang languages are part of TNG, although the pronouns, the usual basis for classification in TNG, have been "replaced" in Madang. Timothy Usher finds that Madang is closest to theUpper Yuat River languages and other families to its west, but does not for now address whether this larger group forms part of the TNG family.^[1]

The family is named afterMadang Province and theAdelbert Range.

Sidney Herbert Ray identified the Rai Coast family in 1919. In 1951 these were linked with the Mabuso languages byArthur Capell to create his Madang family.John Z'graggen (1971, 1975) expanded Madang to languages of the Adelbert Range and renamed the family Madang–Adelbert Range, andStephen Wurm (1975)^[2] adopted this as a branch of his Trans–New Guinea phylum. For the most part,Malcolm Ross's (2005) Madang family includes the same languages as Z'graggen Madang–Adelbert Range, but the internal classification is different in several respects, such as the dissolution of theBrahman branch.

The languages are as follows:^[1][3]

The time depth of Madang is comparable to that of Austronesian or Indo-European.

Ross (2000) reconstructed the pronouns as follows:

	sg	pl
1	*ya	*i[4]
2	*na	*ni, *ta
3	*nu

These are not the common TNG pronouns. However, Ross postulates that the TNG dual suffixes *-le and *-t remain, and suggests that the TNG pronouns live on asKalam verbal suffixes.

Madang family reflexes ofproto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:^[5]

• pTNG *mbena ‘arm’ > proto-Madang *kambena (accretion of *ka-)
• pTNG *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C ‘fingernail’ > proto-Madang *timbi(n,t) (metathesis)
• pTNG *(n)ok ‘water’ replaced by proto-Madang *yaŋgu

Garuh language:

• muki ‘brain’ < *muku
• bi ‘guts’ < *simbi
• hap ‘cloud’ < *samb(V)
• balamu ‘firelight’ < *mbalaŋ
• wani ‘name’ < *[w]ani ‘who?’
• wus ‘wind, breeze’ < *kumbutu
• kalam ‘moon’ < *kala(a,i)m
• neg- ‘to watch’ < *nVŋg- ‘see, know’
• ma ‘taro’ < *mV
• ahi ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ

Pay language:

• in- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)-
• kawus ‘smoke’ < *kambu
• tawu-na ‘ashes’ < *sambu
• imun ‘hair’ < *sumu(n,t)
• ano ‘who’ < *[w]ani

Proto-Northern Adelbert:^[6]

• *waben ‘arm, hand’ < *mbena
• *bab ‘older brother’ < *[mb]amba
• *ked ‘blood’ < *ke(nj,s)a
• *gemaŋ ‘heart’ < *kamu
• *kumaŋ ‘neck, nape’ < *kuma(n, ŋ)
• *kasin ‘mosquito’ < *kasin
• *um- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• *in- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)[m]-
• *ag- 'see' ‘know, hear, see’ < *nVŋg-
• *me (+verb) ‘NEG’ < *ma- (+verb)
• *yag ‘water’ < *ok[V]
• *tak ‘leaf’ < *sasak

Kalam language (most closely related to theRai Coast languages):

• meg ‘teeth’ < *maŋgat[a]
• md-magi ‘heart’ < *mundu-maŋgV
• mkem ‘cheek’ < *mVkVm ‘cheek, chin’
• sb ‘excrement, guts’ < *simbi
• muk ‘milk, sap, brain’ < *muku
• yman ‘louse’ < *iman
• yb ‘name’ < *imbi
• kdl ‘root’ < *kindil
• malaŋ ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ
• melk ‘(fire or day)light’ < *(m,mb)elak
• kn- ‘to sleep, lie down’ < *kini(i,u)[m]-
• kum- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• md- < *mVna- ‘be, stay’
• nŋ-, ng- ‘perceive, know, see, hear, etc’ < *nVŋg-
• kawnan ‘shadow, spirit’ < *k(a,o)
• nan, takn ‘moon’ < *takVn[V]
• magi ‘round thing, egg, fruit, etc.’ < *maŋgV
• ami ‘mother’ < *am(a,i,u)
• b ‘man’ < *ambi
• bapi, -ap ‘father’ < *mbapa, *ap
• saŋ ‘women’s dancing song’ < *saŋ
• ma- ‘negator’ < *ma-
• an ‘who’ < *[w]ani

Dumpu language:

• man- ‘be, stay’ < *mVna-
• mekh ‘teeth’ < *maŋgat[a]
• im ‘louse’ < *iman
• munu ‘heart’ < *mundun ‘inner organs’
• kum- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• kono ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
• kini- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)[m]-
• ra- ‘take’ < *(nd,t)a-
• urau ‘long’ < *k(o,u)ti(mb,p)V
• gra ‘dry’ < *(ŋg,k)atata

Sirva language:

• mun(zera) ‘be, stay’ < *mVna-
• kaja ‘blood’ < *kenja
• miku ‘brain’ < *muku
• simbil ‘guts’ < *simbi
• tipi ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,)ut(i,u)C (metathesis)
• iːma ‘louse’ < *iman
• ibu ‘name’ < *imbi
• kanumbu ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
• mundu(ma) ‘nose’ < *mundu
• kaːsi ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
• apapara ‘butterfly’ < *apa(pa)ta
• kumu- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• ŋg- ‘see’ < *nVŋg-

The following selected reconstructions of Proto-Madang by Ross (2014)^[7] are from the Trans-New Guinea database.^[8]Proto-Trans–New Guinea reconstructions are fromAndrew Pawley andHarald Hammarström (2018).^{[5]: 141–146}

gloss	Proto-Madang	Proto-Trans–New Guinea
head	*gat(a,i)(m)	*kV(mb,p)utu; mVtVna
hair	*imunu	*(nd,s)umu(n,t)[V]; *iti
ear	*kaun(i)	*kand(i,e)k[V]
eye	*amu	*ŋg(a,u)mu; *(ŋg,k)iti-maŋgV; *nVpV
nose	*mutu(gu)	*mundu
tooth	*make	*titi
tongue	*mele	*me(l,n)e; *mbilaŋ
leg	*kani(n)	*k(a,o)nd(a,o)[C]; *kitu
louse	*[n]iman	*(n)iman
bird	*kVbara	*yaka[i]; *n[e]i
egg	*munaka	*mun(a,e,i)ka; *maŋgV
blood	*ka(d,r)a; *kara	*ke(nj,s)a
bone	*kwaten	*kondaC
skin	*ga(n,r)a	*(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu
breast	*amu(na)	*amu
tree	*tari	*inda
woman	*na-gali(k)	*panV
sky	*ku(m,b)ut	*kumut, *tumuk; *samb[V]
sun	*kamali	*kamali; *ketane
moon	*kalam; *takun	*kal(a,i)m; *takVn[V]
water	*yag(V)	*(n)ok[V]
fire	*k(a,e)dap	*k(a,o)nd(a,u)p; *inda; *kambu
stone	*namanu	*[na]muna; *kamb(a,u)na
name	*ibi; *wañim	*imbi; *wani
eat	*(n,ñ)a	*na-
one	*kati(ŋ,g)a
two	*arigita	*ta(l,t)(a,e)

• 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.
• Pawley, Ross, & Osmond, 2005.Papuan languages and the Trans New Guinea phylum. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 38–51.

• Z'graggen, J A. (1980) A comparative word list of the Northern Adelbert Range Languages, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. (CLDF dataset on Zenododoi:10.5281/zenodo.3537580)

• ELAR archive ofDocumenting the Sogeram Language Family of Papua New Guinea

• Madang languages
• Languages of Papua New Guinea
• Madang–Upper Yuat languages

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata