Nukuma
Ma
Geographic
distribution		East Sepik Province, in the Sepik River basin of Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationSepik
Glottolognuku1256

The Nukuma languages are a small family of three clearly related languages:[1]

They are generally classified among the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea; Malcolm Ross places them in a Middle Sepik branch of that family.

They are spoken to the north of the Sepik River near Ambunti, and west of the Ambulas-speaking region of Mapr (near Wosera town).[2]

Pronouns

Pronouns in Nukuma languages:[2]

pronoun Kwoma Mende
1sg an an ~ na ~ a
2sg.m mɨ mi
2sg.f ni ɲi
3sg.m rɨ or ~ ri
3sg.f sɨ os ~ si
1du si ʃi
2du ki ʃi
3du pɨr fri
1pl no ni
2pl kwo ci
3pl ye li

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Foley (2005)[3] and Laycock (1968),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[5]

gloss Kwoma Mende
head masək masiki
ear fuː; mabiya mampla
eye miː; miyi məsokome
nose sumojɨ; sumwonj miñompo
tooth pu; tarəkwi fu
tongue kwunja; tarekwoy tarple
leg yaːte; yati kumpa
louse nəkə; nɨka nika
dog asa asa
pig buri; poyi
bird apu afi
egg apo; bey; mpei fəla
blood pi fi
bone apo; hapa hapa
skin mampə maume
breast muk; muku muku
tree me mi
man ma ma
woman miːma nogəpie
sun ya ta
moon nowəka; nɨwɨka niyaka
water uku uku
fire hi; hiː hi
stone papa süŋkye
name hi
eat a
one pochi
two uprus frišip

See also

References

  1. ^ Ma, New Guinea World
  2. ^ a b Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. ^ Foley, W.A. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". In Pawley, A., Attenborough, R., Golson, J. and Hide, R. editors, Papuan Pasts: Cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. PL-572:109-144. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2005.
  4. ^ Laycock, Donald C. 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66.
  5. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew 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. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
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