Chimbu–Wahgi languages

The Chimbu–Wahgi languages are a language family sometimes included in the Trans–New Guinea proposal.

Chimbu–Wahgi
Central East New Guinea Highlands
Simbu – Western Highlands
Geographic
distribution		Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationNortheast New Guinea and/or Trans–New Guinea?
  • Chimbu–Wahgi
Subdivisions
  • Chimbu
  • Hagen
  • Jimi
  • Wahgi
Glottologcent2120[1]
Map: The Chimbu–Wahgi languages of New Guinea
  Chimbu–Wahgi languages
  Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

Languages

There is little doubt that the Chimbu–Wahgi family is valid. The languages are:[2]

Phonology

Several of the Chimbu–Wahgi languages have uncommon lateral consonants: see Nii, Wahgi, and Kuman for examples.

Chimbu–Wahgi languages have contrastive tone.[3]

Pronouns

The singular pronouns are:

sg
1 *ná
2 *nim
3 *[y]é

Dual *-l and plural *-n reflect Trans–New Guinea forms.

Evolution
See also: Wahgi language § Evolution

Middle Wahgi reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:[3]

  • ama ‘mother’ < *am(a,i)
  • amu ‘breast’ < *amu
  • numan ‘louse’ < *niman
  • numan ‘thought, mind, will’ < *n(o,u)
  • man, muŋ ‘fruit, nut, lump’
  • muŋgum ‘kidney’ < *maŋgV ‘round object’
  • mundmuŋ ‘heart’ < *mundun-maŋgV
  • mokum, mokem ‘knuckle, joint’ < *mo(k,ŋg)Vm ‘joint’
  • mundun mo- ‘be pot bellied’ < *mundun ‘internal organs, belly’
  • ŋaŋ ‘small male child’ < *ŋaŋ[a] ‘baby’
  • apa- ‘maternal uncle’ < *apa ‘father’
  • embe(m) ‘name’ < *imbi ‘name’
  • muk ‘blue’ < *muk
  • tuk- ‘chop’ < *tVk- ‘cut, cut off’
  • no- ‘eat’ < *na-
  • mek si- ‘to vomit’
  • mek ‘vomitus’ < *makV[C] + t(e,i)- ‘to vomit’
gollark: No.
gollark: Fun fact: my unlicensed hovercraft pub is technically legal.
gollark: It's possible that it's invoking a few dark rituals to do so, but you know.
gollark: My phone's music player app is highly advanced™ and also capable of categorizing by tag autonomously.
gollark: Ah yes, seedling?

References
  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Chimbu-Wahgi". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. Usher, Timothy. Simbu-Western Highlands. New Guinea World.
  3. 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. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.

Further reading
  • 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.
  • Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Chimbu-Wahgi. TransNewGuinea.org.
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