Kaure–Kosare
AltnameNawa River
RegionNawa River, New Guinea
FamilycolorPapuan
Familya primary language family
Glottokaur1274

The Kaure–Kosare or Nawa River languages are a small family spoken along the Nawa River in West Papua, near the northern border with Papua New Guinea.[1] The languages are Kaure and Kosare.

Classification

Kaure and Kosare (Kosadle) are clearly related. There is a history of classifying them with the Kapori–Sause languages. However, Kapori and Sause show no particular connection to the Kaure languages, and may be closer to Kwerba.[1]

Foley (2018) considers a connection with Trans-New Guinea to be promising, but tentatively leaves Kaure-Kosare out as an independent language family pending further evidence.[2]

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[1]

{|

| *m || *n || || || |- | *p || *t || || *k || |- | *b || || || *g || |- | || *s || || || *h |- | *w || *ɽ || [*j] || || |}

Coda consonants are stop *C (or more precisely *P) and nasal *N.

{|

|*i || || *u |- |*e || || *o |- |*ɛ || || *ɔ |- |*æ || *a || |}

Diphthongs are *ɛi, *ɛu, *ai *au.

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:[1]

{|

! !!sg!!pl |- !1 |*no (?), *na- || *wɛN |- !2 |*ha-(nɛ) || ? |- !3 | ? || ? |}

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[1]

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! gloss !! Proto-Nawa River |- | hair || *haⁱ |- | ear || *hwɔkɽuC |- | eye || *hwe̝N |- | tusk/tooth || *pakaⁱ |- | skin/bark || *ki |- | breast || *muN |- | louse || *miN |- | dog || *se̝ |- | pig || *pî |- | bird || *ho̝C |- | tree || *tɛⁱC |- | woman || *naⁱ |- | sun || *h[æ/a]niC |- | moon || *paka |- | water || *mi[jɛ] |- | fire || *sa(-[n/ɽ]ɛN) |- | eat || *naⁱ |}

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1971, 1975)[3][4] and other sources, as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. poka, paka for “moon”) or not (e.g. goklu, huaglüt, kɔro for “ear”).

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! gloss !! Kaure[6] !! Kosare[7] !! Narau |- ! head | kasera; pleŋ; pɔklai || potɔ´ || |- ! hair | hai; hat || potɔi || fukura hai |- ! ear | goklu; huaglüt || 'kɔro || |- ! eye | gewe; hwai; hwew || ĩsɛrit || |- ! nose | gopo; hapu || moro 'kakò || |- ! tooth | sbeje; səbokai || pɛki || sebekai |- ! tongue | sremu; sɾumu || pɛrɛ´ || |- ! leg | due; duɛ || || nue |- ! louse | mi; mĩ || mi || |- ! dog | se || sé || |- ! pig | pi || pi || kandu |- ! bird | hou; hu; ku || o || |- ! egg | hore; te; wale || ho's̪ɛri || |- ! blood | hi; katesa; katsa || ña || |- ! bone | era; laq; loa || 'kákò || |- ! skin | aguli; arohei; axlit || || |- ! breast | mu; muq || kó kakò || |- ! tree | te; tei; teija || tĩⁿdi || bimesini |- ! man | debla; dido || || nepra |- ! woman | dae || ḑɩmɔ'kasia || |- ! sky | lɛbü || nubɷ || |- ! sun | hafei; haɾi; harei || ɛnɛ´ⸯ || kaberja |- ! moon | gaka; poka || paka || |- ! water | bi; biq; gomesi || biɛ || bi |- ! fire | sa; saʔ; sareŋ || sá || sare |- ! stone | təsi; tɛsi; tisi || 'naka || |- ! road, path | selu || kɛmɔrɔ´ || |- ! name | bəre; blɛ; nokomne || morɔ || |- ! eat | ganasi; kadi; kandɛ || kɛnɛ´ || kanaisini |- ! one | gogotia; kauxjaʔ; kaxotia || kora'ɸɛ || |- ! two | tɾapli; təravərei; trapi || tau || |}

See also

References

  1. ^ New Guinea World, Nawa River
  2. ^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. Vol. 4. The World of Linguistics. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. ^ Voorhoeve, C.L. "Miscellaneous Notes on Languages in West Irian, New Guinea". In Dutton, T., Voorhoeve, C. and Wurm, S.A. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 14. A-28:47-114. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1971. doi:10.15144/PL-A28.47
  4. ^ Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-B31
  5. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  6. ^ Clouse, D.A. 1997. Towards a reconstruction and reclassification of the Lakes Plain languages of Irian Jaya. In Franklin, K. (ed). Papers in Papuan Linguistics No. 2. Pacific Linguistics: Canberra.
  7. ^ Heeschen, V. 1978. The Mek languages of Irian Jaya with special reference to the Eipo language. Irian, 2: 3-67.