Kamula language

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Kamula
Wawoi
RegionWestern Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
(1,100 cited 2000)[1]
Trans–New Guinea or unclassified
Language codes
ISO 639-3xla
Glottologkamu1260
ELPKamula
Map: The Kamula language of New Guinea
  The Kamula language
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited
Coordinates: 6°57′07″S 142°39′17″E / 6.951833°S 142.654804°E / -6.951833; 142.654804 (Kasigi)

Kamula (Kamira, Wawoi) is a Trans–New Guinea language that is unclassified within that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005). Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) leave it as unclassified.[2]

Demographics

[edit]

Kamula is spoken in two widely separated areas,[2]: 80  including in Kamiyami village of the Wawoi Falls area in Bamu Rural LLG, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.[3]

Routamaa (1994: 7) estimates that there are about 800 speakers of Kamula located in 3 villages in Western Province, with no dialectal differences reported.[4] This is because the Kamula had originally lived in camps near Samokopa in the northern area, but a group had split off and moved to Wasapea in the south only around 50 years ago.[5]: 14 

In the northern villages of Kesiki and Samokopa, Kamula children were reported as preferring to speak Doso over Kamula. A minority of Kamula people in the northern area also live in Dibiyaso-speaking villages, where they are multilingual in Kamula, Doso, and Dibiyaso. Kamula people in the southern village of Wasapea are also fluent in Gogodala.[6]

Classification

[edit]

The little data that exists for Kamula pronouns does not fit in with the neighboring East Strickland or Bosavi languages (though 1sg likely reflects proto-TNG *na), so Kamula is best left as an unclassified language an independent branch of Trans–New Guinea pending further study.

Attested pronouns are 1sg nɛ̃, 2sg wɛ̃, and ̩pl diɛ.

Phonology

[edit]

Kamula phonology:[8]

Consonants

[edit]

Kamula has 12 consonants.

BilabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
plosivepdk ɡ
nasalmn
fricativesh
approximantwj
lateral approximantl

Vowels

[edit]

Kamula has 7 vowels.

FrontCentralBack
closeiu
close-mideo
open-midɛ ⟨a꞉⟩ɔ ⟨o꞉⟩
opena

Vocabulary

[edit]

The following basic vocabulary words are from Dutton (2010),[9] Reesink (1976),[10] and Shaw (1986),[11] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[12]

glossKamula
headdokupala; tɔkɔnʌlʌ
hairkokosasi; kɔkɔsʌse
earmolo; mɔlɔ
eyeinʌma; inoma
nosemu; mũ
toothɛpe
tonguete; tɛ
legɛtɛ; hetei
louseiyʌ; iya
dogɛsemala; esemʌlʌ
pigʌľiʌ
birdtea
eggtemoko; temɔkɔ
bloodumali; umʌ:li
boneɛľu; ɛro
skinkapala; kʌpʌlʌ
breastmɛmɛ
treedali; tʌli
manɔpɔlʌimi; opřami
womaneya; ɛ̃yã
sunsali; sʌľi
moonmama; mʌmʌ
wateryu
firedeľʌpʌ; dřaƀa
stoneewʌľʌ; yawařa
road, pathapi
namehi
eatdampřoma; tʌɛdɔma
onehatropɛ; hʌtɔlɔp
twodapiamɛtɛ; depiʌmɛtɛ

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Kamula at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
  4. ^ Routamaa, Judy. 1994. Kamula grammar essentials.
  5. ^ Routamaa, Judy. 1997. Orthography paper Kamula, Western province.
  6. ^ a b Routamaa, Iska and Judy Routamaa. 1996. Dialect survey report of the Kamula language, Western province.
  7. ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  8. ^ Routamaa, Judy. 1995. Kamula phonology essentials.
  9. ^ Dutton, Tom E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  10. ^ Reesink, Ger. 1976. Languages of the Aramia River Area. Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 19. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  11. ^ Shaw, R.D. "The Bosavi language family". In Laycock, D., Seiler, W., Bruce, L., Chlenov, M., Shaw, R.D., Holzknecht, S., Scott, G., Nekitel, O., Wurm, S.A., Goldman, L. and Fingleton, J. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 24. A-70:45-76. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1986. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.45
  12. ^ 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. doi:10.15144/PL-572. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.

[edit]
    Kamula
    Wawoi
    RegionWestern Province, Papua New Guinea
    Native speakers
    (1,100 cited 2000)[1]
    Trans–New Guinea or unclassified
    Language codes
    ISO 639-3xla
    Glottologkamu1260
    ELPKamula
    Map: The Kamula language of New Guinea
      The Kamula language
      Other Trans–New Guinea languages
      Other Papuan languages
      Austronesian languages
      Uninhabited
    Coordinates: 6°57′07″S 142°39′17″E / 6.951833°S 142.654804°E / -6.951833; 142.654804 (Kasigi)

    Kamula (Kamira, Wawoi) is a Trans–New Guinea language that is unclassified within that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005). Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) leave it as unclassified.[2]

    Demographics

    Kamula is spoken in two widely separated areas,[2]: 80  including in Kamiyami village of the Wawoi Falls area in Bamu Rural LLG, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.[3]

    Routamaa (1994: 7) estimates that there are about 800 speakers of Kamula located in 3 villages in Western Province, with no dialectal differences reported.[4] This is because the Kamula had originally lived in camps near Samokopa in the northern area, but a group had split off and moved to Wasapea in the south only around 50 years ago.[5]: 14 

    • Kesiki, at Wawoi Falls in Bamu Rural LLG (main village) (6°57′07″S 142°39′17″E / 6.951833°S 142.654804°E / -6.951833; 142.654804 (Kasigi))
    • Samokopa in Bamu Rural LLG (one day's walk from Kesiki) (6°55′52″S 142°44′48″E / 6.931064°S 142.746689°E / -6.931064; 142.746689 (Samakopa))
    • Wasapea (Kamiyami[6]) in Gogodala Rural LLG (seven days' walk, or 90 km to the south of Kesiki) (7°53′20″S 142°38′56″E / 7.889003°S 142.648998°E / -7.889003; 142.648998 (Wasapeya))[7]

    In the northern villages of Kesiki and Samokopa, Kamula children were reported as preferring to speak Doso over Kamula. A minority of Kamula people in the northern area also live in Dibiyaso-speaking villages, where they are multilingual in Kamula, Doso, and Dibiyaso. Kamula people in the southern village of Wasapea are also fluent in Gogodala.[6]

    Classification

    The little data that exists for Kamula pronouns does not fit in with the neighboring East Strickland or Bosavi languages (though 1sg likely reflects proto-TNG *na), so Kamula is best left as an unclassified language an independent branch of Trans–New Guinea pending further study.

    Attested pronouns are 1sg nɛ̃, 2sg wɛ̃, and ̩pl diɛ.

    Phonology

    Kamula phonology:[8]

    Consonants

    Kamula has 12 consonants.

    BilabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
    plosivepdk ɡ
    nasalmn
    fricativesh
    approximantwj
    lateral approximantl

    Vowels

    Kamula has 7 vowels.

    FrontCentralBack
    closeiu
    close-mideo
    open-midɛ ⟨a꞉⟩ɔ ⟨o꞉⟩
    opena

    Vocabulary

    The following basic vocabulary words are from Dutton (2010),[9] Reesink (1976),[10] and Shaw (1986),[11] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[12]

    glossKamula
    headdokupala; tɔkɔnʌlʌ
    hairkokosasi; kɔkɔsʌse
    earmolo; mɔlɔ
    eyeinʌma; inoma
    nosemu; mũ
    toothɛpe
    tonguete; tɛ
    legɛtɛ; hetei
    louseiyʌ; iya
    dogɛsemala; esemʌlʌ
    pigʌľiʌ
    birdtea
    eggtemoko; temɔkɔ
    bloodumali; umʌ:li
    boneɛľu; ɛro
    skinkapala; kʌpʌlʌ
    breastmɛmɛ
    treedali; tʌli
    manɔpɔlʌimi; opřami
    womaneya; ɛ̃yã
    sunsali; sʌľi
    moonmama; mʌmʌ
    wateryu
    firedeľʌpʌ; dřaƀa
    stoneewʌľʌ; yawařa
    road, pathapi
    namehi
    eatdampřoma; tʌɛdɔma
    onehatropɛ; hʌtɔlɔp
    twodapiamɛtɛ; depiʌmɛtɛ

    References

    1. ^ Kamula at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    2. ^ 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.
    3. ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
    4. ^ Routamaa, Judy. 1994. Kamula grammar essentials.
    5. ^ Routamaa, Judy. 1997. Orthography paper Kamula, Western province.
    6. ^ a b Routamaa, Iska and Judy Routamaa. 1996. Dialect survey report of the Kamula language, Western province.
    7. ^ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
    8. ^ Routamaa, Judy. 1995. Kamula phonology essentials.
    9. ^ Dutton, Tom E. 2010. Reconstructing Proto Koiarian: The history of a Papuan language family. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
    10. ^ Reesink, Ger. 1976. Languages of the Aramia River Area. Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 19. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
    11. ^ Shaw, R.D. "The Bosavi language family". In Laycock, D., Seiler, W., Bruce, L., Chlenov, M., Shaw, R.D., Holzknecht, S., Scott, G., Nekitel, O., Wurm, S.A., Goldman, L. and Fingleton, J. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 24. A-70:45-76. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1986. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.45
    12. ^ 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. doi:10.15144/PL-572. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.

    • TransNewGuinea.org database
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