| Mairasi | |
|---|---|
| Etna Bay | |
| Geographic distribution | Etna Bay,Kaimana Regency,West Papua |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primarylanguage families |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | mair1253 |
 Distribution of the Mairasi languages | |
TheMairasi languages, also known asEtna Bay[1] are a small independentfamily ofPapuan languages in the classifications ofMalcolm Ross and Timothy Usher, that had been part ofStephen Wurm'sTrans–New Guinea proposal. They are named afterEtna Bay, located in the southeastern corner ofWest Papua province, inIndonesia.
The Mairasi languages are clearly related to each other.
Mairasi cannot be linked to other families by its pronouns. However, Voorhoeve (1975) links it to theSumeri (Tanah Merah) language, either a language isolate or an independent branch of theTrans–New Guinea family.
Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for the Mairasi languages to be classified as part ofTrans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblance between Mairasi, Semimi, andproto-Trans-New Guinea.[2]
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[3]
| *m | *n | ||
| *ɸ | *t | *s | *k |
| *mb | *nd | *ns | *ŋg |
| *w | *ɾ | *j |
Vowels are *a *e *i *o *u. *ns is uncommon.
Usher (2020) reconstructs the free and possessive pronouns as:[3]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1excl | *omo, *o- | *eme, *e- |
| 1incl | *e-tumakia, *e- | |
| 2 | *neme, *ne- | *keme, *ke- |
| 3 | *nani, *na- | ? |
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[3]
| gloss | Proto-Etna Bay |
|---|---|
| hair/feather | *-suɾu |
| ear | *ɸiɾa |
| eye | *mbiatu |
| nose | *-mbi |
| tooth | *-ɾasi |
| tongue | *-saɸia |
| foot/leg | *-koɾa |
| blood | *iseɾe |
| bone | *tuɾa |
| skin/bark | *(na)-kia |
| breast | *joku |
| louse | *kumai |
| dog | *ansi |
| pig | *[ɸ]embe |
| bird | *sai |
| egg | *ete |
| man/male | *koɸo |
| woman | *eɸei |
| sun | *tende |
| moon | *aŋgane |
| water | *ɸat[e] |
| fire | *iɸoɾo |
| stone | *jaɸutu |
| path | *kae |
| name | *u[w]ata |
| one | *tana-(kau) |
| two | *amoi |
Below is a basic vocabulary table of Mairasi languages (Mairasi,Mer,Semimi) with potential cognate matches, from Peckham (1991a,b), quoted inFoley (2018):[4][5][6]
| gloss | Mairasi | Mer | Semimi |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘bird’ | sai | sai | sai |
| ‘blood’ | isere | isere | monad |
| ‘bone’ | natura | singgu | natura |
| ‘breast’ | jogu | jogu | jogu |
| ‘ear’ | navir anda | nevira | ot navira[note 1] |
| ‘eat’ | neneman | namba | neneme |
| ‘egg’ | eːte | ede | anggu ete |
| ‘eye’ | nambutu | nembiatu | ombiatu |
| ‘fire’ | ivore | ivoro | iforo |
| ‘give’ | tomnaijan | nombonaiyomo | tomonai |
| ‘ground’ | wasasai | wasase | makoro |
| ‘hair’ | nasuru | nasuru | nasuru |
| ‘hear’ | ivjeme | iveme | iveme |
| ‘I’ | ʔomo | omo | omo |
| ‘leg’ | naʔor | nakora | okor anda |
| ‘louse’ | ʔumai | kumai | kumai |
| ‘man’ | tatʔovo | neum tato | tatokovo |
| ‘moon’ | unsir | anggane | anggane |
| ‘name’ | nggwata | wata | newata |
| ‘one’ | tanggau | nawaze | tanakau |
| ‘path, road’ | ʔae | kae | kai |
| ‘see’ | natom | daviomo | nondome |
| ‘stone’ | javutu | wavo | javutu |
| ‘sun’ | tende | ungguru | tende |
| ‘tongue’ | nasavia | nesavi | osavi |
| ‘tooth’ | narasi | nerasi | orasi |
| ‘tree’ | ʔiu | u | ʔu |
| ‘two’ | amoi | amoi | amoi |
| ‘water’ | fata | kai | fate |
| ‘we’ | eːme | edumaga | ʔeme |
| ‘woman’ | evei | waini | efei |
| ‘you (sg)’ | ʔeme | kene | keme |
Usher's protoforms of the 20 most stable items[7] in theSwadesh list include the following.[3]
| Proto-Mairasi | gloss |
|---|---|
| *kumai | louse |
| *amoi | two |
| *ɸat[e] | water |
| *-ɸiɾa | ear |
| ? | die |
| *o-mo | I |
| ? | liver |
| *-mbiatu | eye |
| *-ɸaka | hand/arm |
| *iɸi- | hear |
| ? | tree |
| *uɾatu | fish |
| *u[w]ata | name |
| *jaɸutu | stone |
| *-ɾasi | tooth |
| *joku | breast |
| *ne-me | you |
| *kae | path |
| *-tuɾa | bone |
| *-saɸia | tongue |
