Pahoturi
Paho River
Geographic
distribution		Pahoturi River, New Guinea
Linguistic classificationTrans-Fly or independent language family
  • Pahoturi
Subdivisions
Glottologpaho1240
Map: The Pahoturi languages of New Guinea

The Pahoturi River languages are a small family of Papuan languages spoken around the Pahoturi (Paho River). This family includes eight language varieties including Agöb (Dabu), Em,[1] Ende, Idan,[2] Idi, Idzuwe,[3] Kawam, and Taeme, which are spoken in the Pahoturi River area south of the Fly River, just west of the Eastern Trans-Fly languages. Idzuwe is no longer spoken. Ross (2005) tentatively includes them in the proposed Trans-Fly – Bulaka River family,[4] though more recent work has classified Pahoturi River as an independent family within the region.[5]

Some Pahoturi River speakers were originally hunter-gatherers, but have recently shifted to becoming gardeners.[5]: 649 

Classification

Wurm (1975) and Ross (2005) suggest that the Pahoturi languages may be related to the Tabo (Waia) language just north of the Fly delta. However, they present no evidence, and the pronouns do not match.[6]

Evans and colleagues (2018) classify the Pahoturi River languages as an independent language family.[5]

Languages

Five of the varieties have traditionally been grouped[5] into the following two language groups:

  1. Agöb (Dabu), Ende, and Kawam
  2. Idi and Taeme

Preliminary work on the language family suggests that these varieties form a dialect chain. It is assumed that Em is more closely related to Agob and Ende, while Idan and Idzuwe are more closely related to Idi and Taeme.

Pahoturi River languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.[5]

List of Pahoturi River languages
Language Location Population Alternate names
Idi central-east Morehead Rural LLG 774
Taeme northeast Morehead Rural LLG 834 Tame, Kondobol, Yao
Agob southeast Morehead Rural LLG 1,437 Bugi, Dabu
Ende east Morehead Rural LLG 542
Kawam east Morehead Rural LLG and west Oriomo-Bituri Rural LLG 457 Wipim

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[7]

*m *mʷ *n *ŋ [*ŋʷ]
*p *pʷ *t *ʈ *ts *k *kʷ
*b *bʷ *d *ɖ *dz *g *gʷ
*mb *mbʷ *nd *ɳɖ *ndz *ŋg *ŋgʷ
*l *ɭ
*w *r *ɽ *j

Pronouns

The pronouns Ross reconstructs for the family are:[4]

Proto-Pahoturi River

I *ŋa-na we ?
thou *ba or *be you *-bi
s/he *bo they ?

Lindsey lists the following pronouns for each of the language varieties in the family.[8]

Pahoturi River pronouns
Case English Agob Em Ende Kawam Idi Taeme
Nominative I (1sg) ŋəna ŋəna ŋəna ŋəna ŋən ŋən
thou (2sg) boŋo boŋo boŋo buŋo bæ bæ
s/he (3sg) bo bogo bogo bo bo bo
we exclusive

(1.nsg.excl)

ŋumi ŋumi ŋəmi ŋəmi ŋəmi/bi bi
we inclusive

(1.nsg.incl)

ibi ibi ibi ibi jɪbi jəbi
you (2nsg) bibi bibi bibi bibi bæ bæ
they (3nsg) ubi ubi ubi ubi bo/wɪbi bo/ubi
Accusative I (1sg) ŋənam ŋənam ŋənəm ŋonom bom ŋənəm
thou (2sg) bæm bæm bam bæm babom babom
s/he (3sg) obom obom obom obom obom obom
we exclusive

(1.nsg.excl)

ŋənam ŋumim ŋəmim ŋəmim bim ŋəmim
we inclusive

(1.nsg.incl)

ibom ibam ibim ibim jəbim jɪbim
you (2nsg) bæm bæm bibim bibim bibim bibim
they (3nsg) obam obæm ubim ubim ubim/wəbim ubim
Dative I (1sg) ŋɵmɽe ŋəmɽe ŋəmɽe ŋəmre blæ ŋəmʎæ
thou (2sg) bæɽe babɽe babɽe bæbre bæblæ bæbʎe
s/he (3sg) obɽe obɽe obɽe obo oblæ obʎe
we exclusive

(1.nsg.excl)

ŋɵmra ŋumra ŋəmira ŋəmira bli ŋəmʎi
we inclusive

(1.nsg.incl)

ibra ibra ibra ibra jəbli jɪbʎi
you (2nsg) bæra babra bibra bibra bibli bibʎi
they (3nsg) obra obra ubira ubira ubli ubʎi
Possessive I (1sg) ŋɵmo ŋəmo ŋəmo ŋomo bo/bænæ ŋəmo
thou (2sg) bəne bəne bəne bəne bənæ bənæ
s/he (3sg) obo obo obo obo obo/obænæ obo
we exclusive

(1.nsg.excl)

ŋəma ŋəma ŋəma ŋəma ba ŋəma
we inclusive

(1.nsg.incl)

iba iba iba iba jəba jəba
you (2nsg) bina bina bina bina bəna bəna
they (3nsg) oba oba oba oba oba wəba

Documentation status

The Pahoturi River languages are all under various states of documentation. The following table lists some general lexical, grammatical, textual, and typological resources that have been identified for each of the currently spoken Pahoturi River languages.

Lexical resources
Resource Agob Em Ende Idan Idi Kawam Taeme
Yamfinder wordlist 1[9] 1[10] 4[11][12][13][14] N 2 3[15][16][17] 1[18]
Swadesh list Y[19] N N N Y N N
Dictionary N N Y[20] N Y N N
Textual resources
Resource Agob Em Ende Idan Idi Kawam Taeme
Language data corpus (any) Y[21][22] Y[22] Y[22][23][24] N Y[25][26][22][27][28][29] Y[22] Y[22]
North Wind and the Sun text N N Y[30] N Y[31] N N
The Pear Story N N N N N N N
Bible translation N N Y (Mark)[32] N N Y (Mark)[33] Y (Luke)
Bible stories/Words of Life Y[34] N Y[35] N Y[36] N Y[37]
Typological resources
Resource Agob Em Ende Idan Idi Kawam Taeme
Leipzig Valency Questionnaire N N Elicited the verbs in the Q, not online N Elicited the verbs in the Q, not online N N
Social Cognition Parallax Interview Corpus N N 5[22] N Y N N
Grambank N N Y[38] N Y[39] N N
Intercontinental Dictionary Series N N Y[40] N N N N
Numeral Systems of the World's Languages N N Y N Y N Y
PR Verbal Number questionnaire N N Y[41] N Y N N

References

  1. ^ Lindsey, Kate (2017). "A first look at the Pahoturi River family". Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference.
  2. ^ Scanlon, Catherine (2023). "Idan: a hidden language variety steps into the open (Pahoturi River family)". Current Trends in Papuan Linguistics II.
  3. ^ Lindsey, Kate; Schokkin, Dineke; Wu, Nairan (2022). "The Pahoturi River language family, with special reference to its verbal puzzles". Linguistic Typology.
  4. ^ a b Ross, Malcom. "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Pacific Linguistics: 15–66.
  5. ^ a b c d e Evans, Nicholas; et al. (Wayan Arka, Matthew Carroll, Yun Jung Choi, Christian Döhler, Volker Gast, Eri Kashima, Emil Mittag, Bruno Olsson, Kyla Quinn, Dineke Schokkin, Philip Tama, Charlotte van Tongeren and Jeff Siegel) (2018). "The languages of Southern New Guinea". 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. 641–774. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  6. ^ Hammarström, Harald. "Tabo". Glottolog. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  7. ^ New Guinea World, Paho River
  8. ^ Lindsey, Kate L. (April 16, 2018). "Language Corpus of Ende and other Pahoturi River Languages". PARADISEC. doi:10.26278/5c1a5cfcaacde. LSNG08. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  9. ^ Gurel, Nugan Paal (2018). "Yamfinder and Proto PR Survey (Agob)".
  10. ^ Bolet, Sawe (2017). "Yamfinder Survey (Em)".
  11. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder survey (Ende)". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  12. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder survey (Ende)". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  13. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder survey (Ende)". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  14. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder survey (Ende)". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  15. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder Survey (Kawam)". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  16. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder Survey (Kawam) - Mamena Agesa". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  17. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder Survey (Kawam) - George Yagai". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  18. ^ "Nabu - Yamfinder survey (Tame)". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  19. ^ "Agob Swadesh List". www.language-archives.org. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  20. ^ "CV & Publications". Kate Lynn Lindsey. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  21. ^ "Nabu - Australia, PNG, Solomon Islands". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g "Nabu - Language Corpus of Ende and other Pahoturi River Languages". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  23. ^ "Nabu - Ende Recordings". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  24. ^ "Nabu - CoEDL Corpora Collection". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  25. ^ "Nabu - Recordings of the Idi language". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  26. ^ "Nabu - Idi Field Methods, LSA Linguistic Institute". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  27. ^ "Nabu - Languages of Southern New Guinea: Idi". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  28. ^ "Nabu - Languages of Southern New Guinea: Coconut Interviews". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  29. ^ "Nabu - Social Cognition Project". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  30. ^ Kaoga Dobola, Andrew (2018). "Kämag a Yäbäd".
  31. ^ Schokkin, Dineke; Gast, Volker; Evans, Nicholas; Döhler, Christian (2021). 5. Phonetics and phonology of Idi. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-9979673-2-6.
  32. ^ "Mak Bine Yesu Bo Pallall Mer Abal Ttam Eka Buk (Ende Eka Walle): The Gospel of Mark in Ende Language: Fine Soft cover (2010) | Masalai Press". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  33. ^ "Mak Bo Peba: Kawam Ekä Arong (The Book of Mark in Kawam Language) - Wycliffe Bible Translators; The Lewada Bible Translation Centre: 9789980035240 - AbeBooks". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  34. ^ "Agob language". globalrecordings.net. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  35. ^ "Agob: Ende language". globalrecordings.net. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  36. ^ "Idi". globalrecordings.net (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  37. ^ "Taeme language". globalrecordings.net. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  38. ^ "Grambank - Language Agob-Ende-Kawam". grambank.clld.org. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  39. ^ "Grambank - Language Idi-Taeme". grambank.clld.org. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  40. ^ "IDS - Ende (Papua New Guinea)". ids.clld.org. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  41. ^ "Nabu - Filming aspectual and pluractional video stimuli". catalog.paradisec.org.au. Retrieved 2023-08-18.

External links

Papuan language families (Palmer 2018 classification)
Primary language families
Categories