| Koiarian | |
|---|---|
| Koiari – Managalas Plateau | |
| Geographic distribution | Southeastern peninsula of Papua New Guinea: Central Province and Oro Province |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Glottolog | koia1260 |
The Koiarian languages /kɔɪˈɑːriən/[2] Koiari are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the "Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea.
The languages are:
Dutton (2010) classifies the Koiarian languages as:[3]: 3
Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:[1]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *na | *no |
| 2 | *a | *ja |
| 3 | *aɸu | *[i/e]abu |
The following basic vocabulary words of Proto-Koiarian and other lower-level reconstructions are from the Trans-New Guinea database:[4]
| gloss | Proto-Koiarian | Proto-Koiariac | Proto-Baraic |
|---|---|---|---|
| head | *kina | ||
| hair | *fómo | ||
| ear | *gada | ||
| eye | *ni | ||
| nose | *uri | ||
| tooth | *gubai | ||
| tongue | *bitarV | ||
| leg | *díʔ- | ||
| louse | *ʔumu | ||
| dog | *to | *(ʔ,k)uo | |
| pig | *ofo | *mafV | |
| bird | *ugu[fa] | ||
| egg | *uni | ||
| blood | *taɣo | ||
| bone | *(ʔ)adV | ||
| skin | *vata | ||
| breast | *amu | *m(u,o)sV | |
| tree | *idí | ||
| man | *ata | *baru | |
| woman | *maɣina | *nigi | |
| sun | *vani | *maja-; *ve | |
| moon | *bata | ||
| water | *[i]do | ||
| fire | *vené | ||
| stone | *muni | *Umari | |
| road, path | *ɣuma | ||
| name | *ifí | ||
| eat | *i- | ||
| one | *(i,o)gau | *Ogonu | |
| two | *abu(t)i | *inoki |
Koiarian reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[5]
Like the Binanderean languages, Barai and other Koiarian languages only allow for open syllables and do not allow final CVC.[5]: 87