| Uhunduni | |
|---|---|
| Damal | |
| Amung | |
| Region | Central Papua: central highlands,Paniai Regency, Beoga and Ilaga sub-districts; Asmat, Deiya, Mimika, and Puncak regencies, north and southPuncak Jaya; possibly Lanny Jaya and Nduga regencies. |
| Ethnicity | Amung people,Damal people |
Native speakers | (14,000 cited 2000)[1] |
Trans–New Guinea
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | uhn |
| Glottolog | dama1272 |
| ELP | Damal |
 Map: The Amung language of New Guinea The Amung language Other Trans–New Guinea languages Other Papuan languages Austronesian languages Uninhabited | |
Uhunduni, also known asDamal (Damal-kal) andAmung (Amung-kal) after two of its dialects, is the language of theAmung people andDamal people. It is aTrans–New Guinea language that forms an independent branch of that family in the classification ofMalcolm Ross (2005). However, it is treated as an isolate by Palmer (2018).[2] This language family is also calledIngkipilu in a classification byAnton Moeliono. The wordDamal came from theDani people, whileUhunduni came from theMoni people.[3]
Dialects are Amongme, Amung, Damal, Enggipilu.
Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Uhunduni to be classified as part ofTrans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between Uhunduni andproto-Trans-New Guinea.[4]
Ross (2005) lists the pronouns as:
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | na | iru | enoŋ |
| 2 | a | erop | |
| 3 | na | nuŋ |
Iru is an inclusive dual.
The following basic vocabulary words of Damal (Uhunduni) are from the Trans-New Guinea database,[5] citing Voorhoeve (1975).[6]
| gloss | Damal |
|---|---|
| head | niŋok |
| hair | niŋatok |
| eye | noŋop |
| tooth | naik |
| leg | dok; nok |
| louse | ma |
| dog | mitim |
| pig | bow |
| bird | elato; olem |
| egg | olemagam |
| blood | nimang |
| bone | dok; nok |
| skin | nigip |
| tree | em |
| man | me |
| sun | ul |
| water | o; uk; ut |
| fire | ka; kanelep |
| stone | kela |
| name | nem |
| eat | nowin |
| one | amenkak |
| two | au; u |
TheNew Testament in Damal was published in 1988.
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.