Awyu–Ok languages

Awyu–Ok
Digul River – Ok
Geographic
distribution
central New Guinea
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Proto-languageProto-Awyu–Ok
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologawyu1265

The Awyu–Ok languages are a group of Trans–New Guinea families in central New Guinea established by Timothy Usher, though with precedents in earlier studies.

Languages

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The three language families in Awyu–Ok are as follows:[1]

The Oksapmin language is sometimes classified as the nearest relative of Ok. However, it's unclear whether the similarities are due to relationship or to contact between Oksapmin and Mountain Ok (or both).

Reconstruction

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Proto-Awyu–Ok
Reconstruction ofAwyu–Ok languages
Reconstructed
ancestor
Lower-order reconstructions

Phonemes

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

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
plain labialized
Nasal *m *n
Plosive plain *p *t *k *
prenasalized *ᵐb *ⁿd *ⁿdz *ᵑɡ *ᵑɡʷ
Fricative *s
Semivowel *w *j
Rhotic *ɾ

Pronouns

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

sg pl
1excl *ne *nu
1incl *nup
2m *ŋgep *ŋgip
2f *ŋgup
3m *eː *i
3f *u

The third-person pronouns are an innovation shared with the neighboring branch of Trans–New Guinea, Anim. The Awyu–Ok second-person pronouns show the same vowel ablaut for gender as well.

Basic vocabulary

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Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Digul River-Ok, Proto-Digul River, and Proto-Ok by Usher (2020) are:[1]

gloss Proto-Digul River-Ok Proto-Digul River Proto-Ok
eye *kiːn(-roːp) *kin-rop *kiːn(-roːp)
mouth/tooth *maŋgoːt *maŋgot *maŋgoːt
tongue *poːŋg *pon-kat *poːŋg
blood/men's house *kaim *kaim *kaim
bone *kundoːR *kundor *kundoːR
skin/bark *kaːnd *ka[ː]t *kaːnd
breast *[aː/oː]m; *noːn *[a/o]m; *non
dog *majaːn; *t[i/eː]nd *m[a]jan; *t[i/e]t *majaːn; *tind
egg *w[ai]ndin *w[ai]ndin *windin
sun/day *[a]taːp *[a]ta[ː]p *[a]taːp
moon *wakoːr *wakor *wakoːr
water *[aː/oː]k *[a/o][ː]k *oːk

References

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