Pawaia language
Pawaia, also known as Sira, Tudahwe, Yasa, is a Papuan language that forms a tentative independent branch of the Trans–New Guinea family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005).
Distribution
Pawaia is spoken in:
Classification
Although Pawaia has reflexes of proto-Trans–New Guinea vocabulary, Ross considers its inclusion questionable on available evidence. Usher classifies it instead with the Teberan languages. Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) leave it as unclassified rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea.
Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Pawaia to be classified as part of Trans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between Pawaia and proto-Trans-New Guinea.
- emi ‘breast’ < *amu
- in ‘tree’ < *inda
- su ‘tooth’ < *(s,t)i(s,t)i
Phonology
Pawaia is also tonal, contrasting high and low tone.
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary words are from Macdonald (1973) and Trefry (1969), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:
gloss |
Pawaia
|
head |
mu
|
hair |
muse; sị
|
ear |
nȩᶦ; nɛ̣i
|
eye |
to; toᵘ
|
nose |
ho; họ
|
tooth |
su
|
tongue |
ha̧pi; hɛmina
|
leg |
hɛ; si̧ʔi̧
|
louse |
po; poř
|
dog |
hạ; hɛ̧
|
pig |
ya
|
bird |
deř; ge
|
egg |
ge džu; yo
|
blood |
sɛni; su̧
|
bone |
džɛmɛ; yɛmi
|
skin |
hɛʔȩ; hɛi
|
breast |
ɛmi
|
tree |
i̧; in
|
man |
džʌʔla; yala
|
woman |
oi; u
|
sun |
ol; olsuɛ; sia
|
moon |
we; wɛ
|
water |
sa
|
fire |
sia
|
stone |
tobu; topu
|
road, path |
sụ
|
name |
hɛʔɛpi; hopi
|
eat |
hatisụɛ; ti haʔayɛ
|
one |
pɛʔɛmi; pomi
|
two |
naʔau; nau
|
Further reading
- Trefry, David. 1969. A Comparative Study of Kuman and Pawaian. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
References
- ^ a b Pawaia at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ New Guinea World, Tua River
- ^ Oroi is next to Kaiau and is located in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
- ^ a b Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". 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. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- ^ a b c d Trefry, D. A comparative study of Kuman and Pawaian. B-13, vi + 99 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1969. doi:10.15144/PL-B13
- ^ Macdonald, G.E. "The Teberan Language Family". In Franklin, K. editor, The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea. C-26:111-148. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1973. doi:10.15144/PL-C26.111
- ^ 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.
External links
- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Pawaia