Finisterre–Huon
Geographic
distribution		Finisterre Range and Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Subdivisions
Glottologfini1244
Map: The Finisterre–Huon languages of New Guinea
  The Finisterre–Huon languages
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The Finisterre–Huon languages comprise the largest family within the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classification of Malcolm Ross. They were part of the original TNG proposal, and William A. Foley considers their TNG identity to be established. The languages share a small closed class of verbs taking pronominal object prefixes some of which are cognate (Suter 2012), strong morphological evidence that they are related.

History of classification

Huon and Finisterre, and then the connection between them, were identified by Kenneth McElhanon (1967, 1970). When McElhanon compared notes with his colleague Clemens Voorhoeve, who was working on the languages of southern Irian Jaya, they developed the concept of Trans–New Guinea. Apart from the evidence which unites them, the Finisterre and Huon families are clearly valid language families in their own right, each consisting of several fairly-well defined branches. (See Finisterre languages and Huon languages.)

Pronouns

Ross (2005) reconstructs the pronouns as follows:

sgdupl
1 *na*na-t, *ni-t*na-n, *n-in
2 *ga*ja-ł, *ji-ł, *gi-ł*ja-n, *ji-n, *gi-n
3 *[y]a, *wa, *i*ya-ł, *i-ł*ya-n, *i-n

These are not all coherent: 3sg *ya and *i are found in Huon, for example, while 3sg *wa is found in Finisterre. In other cases, however, the multiple forms are found in both branches.

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970)[1] and McElhanon (1967),[2] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[3]

glossKâteKovaiSelepet
head kpitsec-bunokun; kun-
hair dzâwâ-somot; somot-
ear hatsec-anoâdâp-; ɔndɔp
eye dzâŋe-dziŋosen; sen-
nose sâke-samohâme-; hɔme
tooth mic-dzɔŋɔsât-; sot
tongue nameŋ-biŋionibilam-; nimbilam
louse imeŋapalauimen
dog kpâtogounsoso
bird wipenaŋnâi; nɔi
blood soc-hep-
bone siec-yohaǥit; hahit-
skin sahac-siŋlohâk-; hɔk
breast moŋ-suyonam; nam-
tree yâcnak
man ŋiclok
woman ŋokacapet; ibi
sky sambâŋhibim
sun dzoaŋsualdewutâ; dewutɔ
moon mosaemesenŋe
water opâlapto
fire puŋkɔlɔp
stone kpânâkât; kɔt
road, path hataatamgiop
name dzâne-kut; kut-
eat nâ-ne; ni-
one mocyahakonok
two yayahecyâhâp

Evolution

Finisterre-Huon reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[4]

Kâte language:

  • bɔruŋ ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ ‘flame’
  • butoŋ ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C
  • bekɔ ‘orphan’ < *mbVŋga(-masi)
  • masiŋ ‘widow’ < *masi
  • sambɔŋ ‘sky’ < *sambV ‘cloud’
  • tofeʔ ‘saliva’ < *si(mb,p)atV
  • lo- ‘take’ < *(nd,t)a-
  • munduŋ ‘inner yolk of egg’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
  • go ‘2sg’ < *ŋga
  • hɔmo- ‘die’ < *kumV-
  • bɔriʔ ‘glitter, flash of lightning’ < *(m,mb)elak ‘light, lightning’
  • mi ‘not’ < *ma- ‘not’
  • maŋu(zo) ‘to vomit’ < *mV(k,ŋ)V t(e,i)-
  • ame(ʔ) ‘breast’ < *amu
  • tsimin(uŋ) ‘stiff coarse hair’ < *[nd,s]umu[n,t]V ‘hair’
  • imeŋ ‘louse’ < *iman ‘louse’
  • no ‘1sg’ < *na ‘1sg’
  • nɔ- ‘eat’ < *na-

Selepet language:

  • balam ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ
  • (ni)bilim ‘tongue’ < *mbilaŋ
  • kɔlɔp ‘fire’ < *kend(o,u)p
  • kɔlip ‘long’ < *kuta(mb,p)(a,u)
  • irak ‘new’ < *kVtak
  • sak ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asin
  • somot ‘hair’ < *(s,nd)umu(n,t)[V]
  • madu ‘orphan’ < *masi
  • si- ‘burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)- ‘burn’
  • ga ‘2sg’ < *ŋga
  • kaku- ‘carry on shoulder’ < *kakV-
  • kɔu ‘ashes’ < *kambu ‘ashes’
  • belek ‘lightning’ < *(m,mb)elak
  • ibi ‘name’ < *imbi
  • mete ‘forehead’ < *me(n,t)e ‘head’
  • man- ‘live, dwell’ < *mVn[a]-
  • imen ‘louse’ < *iman ‘louse’
  • (n)am ‘breast, milk’ < *amu ‘breast’

Footnotes

  1. ↑ McElhanon, K.A. and Voorhoeve, C.L. The Trans-New Guinea Phylum: Explorations in deep-level genetic relationships. B-16, vi + 112 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. doi:10.15144/PL-B16
  2. ↑ McElhanon, K.A. 1967. Preliminary Observations on Huon Peninsula Languages. Oceanic Linguistics 6: 1-45.
  3. ↑ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  4. ↑ 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.

References

  • 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.
  • Suter, Edgar (2012). Verbs with pronominal object prefixes in Finisterre–Huon languages. In: Harald Hammarström and Wilco van den Heuvel (eds.). History, contact and classification of Papuan languages. [Special Issue 2012 of Language and Linguistics in Melanesia]. 23-58. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.

Further reading

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