| Tama | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Sepik River basin,Papua New Guinea: just to the south ofNuku town in easternSandaun Province |
| Linguistic classification | Sepik
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | sepi1256 |
 The Sepik languages as classified byFoley (2018) | |
TheTama languages are a smallfamily of three clusters of closely related languages of northernPapua New Guinea, spoken just to the south ofNuku town in easternSandaun Province. They are classified as subgroup of theSepik languages.Tama is the word for 'man' in the languages that make up this group.
Yessan-Mayo andMehek are the best documented Tama languages.[1]
Usher (2020) classifies the Tama languages as follows,[2]
Foley (2018), followingDonald Laycock, provides the following classification.[1]
Kalou is actually related toAmal.[3]
The Tama languages distinguish /r/ and /l/, unlike many other Papuan languages that have only oneliquid consonant.[1]
The following basic vocabulary words are from Laycock (1968),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g.suwa,huwa for “leg”) or not (e.g.namra,wapray for “eye”).
| gloss | Mehek | Pahi | Yessan-Mayo[6] | Yessan-Mayo (Warasai dialect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| head | terfa | taraʔwey | tara | |
| ear | namra | wapray | wan | wan |
| eye | lakwo | niaʔwey | la; lə | la |
| nose | wiliŋki | fikihinwi | raŋkɨ; raŋki | haŋki |
| tooth | mpi | piaʔwey | lər; lir | rir |
| tongue | tawul | tafəki | tawlə | kawul |
| leg | suwa | huwa | towa; warə | sowa |
| louse | nunum | nunum | nɨ; ni | niʔ |
| dog | wala | waʔay | wala | wale |
| pig | for | |||
| bird | fenre | feydey | ap | apu |
| egg | lakwo | yaʔwey | yen; yɨn | yan |
| blood | kefu | nefum | nap | nap |
| bone | yefa | yefa | yaha | |
| skin | liki | fuhum | was | |
| breast | muku | muwi | mu; mukw | mukw |
| tree | moː | muy | me | meʔ |
| man | tama | tama | tama; tamə | kama |
| woman | tawa | tawa | taː | ka |
| sun | nampul | napuy | yabəl; yampəl | yampəl |
| moon | nekwa | nefʔa | lup; lɨyf | lüp |
| water | okwu | oʔwi | ok; okw | okw |
| fire | kiri | irʔi | k-er; kər | kər |
| stone | arkwo | hijopey | pa | papə |
| eat | a(m) | |||
| one | wurɨ | |||
| two | lisifu | fes | kes |