| Senagi | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | New Guinea (Papua New Guinea andIndonesia) |
| Linguistic classification | an independentlanguage family |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | sena1264 |
TheSenagi languages are a smallfamily ofPapuan languages in the classification ofMalcolm Ross, that had been part ofStephen Wurm'sTrans–New Guinea proposal. They consist of the two languagesAngor andDera.
The Angor language is unusual in that it distinguishes gender in the second- and third-persondual and plural(you andthey), but not in the singular. It is not clear if Dera does the same.
In Papua New Guinea, they are spoken inAmanab Rural LLG ofSandaun Province. They are also spoken across the border inKeerom Regency, Indonesia.[1][2]
The Senagi family consists of only two languages:
The most promising external links are with theSepik andTorricelli languages. The pronoun for "I" is reconstructed as*wan for both proto-Senagi and proto-Sepik, while the Angor masculine dual and plural pronominal suffixes-fa- and-mu- appear to reflect the proto-Sepik and proto-Torricelli dual and plural pronominal suffixes*-p and*-m.
Pronouns are:[3]
Verbal morphology in Senagi languages is highly complex and irregular.[3]
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.
