Mombum languages
The Mombum languages, also known as the Komolom or Muli Strait languages, are a pair of Trans–New Guinea languages, Mombum (Komolom) and Koneraw, spoken on Komolom Island just off Yos Sudarso Island, and on the southern coast of Yos Sudarso Island, respectively, on the southern coast of New Guinea. Komolom Island is at the southern end of the Muli Strait.[2]
Mombum | |
---|---|
Komolom Muli Strait | |
Geographic distribution | Komolom Island, southern New Guinea |
Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea
|
Glottolog | momb1255[1] |
![]() Map: The Mombum languages of New Guinea
The Mombum languages
Other Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited |
History of classification
Mombum was first classified as a branch isolate of the Central and South New Guinea languages in Stephen Wurm's 1975 expansion for Trans–New Guinea, a position tentatively maintained by Malcolm Ross, though he cannot tell if the similarities are shared innovations or retentions from proto-TNG. Usher instead links them to the Asmat languages.[2] Koneraw is clearly related to Mombum, but was overlooked by early classifications. Along with the Kolopom languages, they are the languages spoken on Yos Sudarso Island (Kolopom Island).
Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018), who refer to the languages as the Komolom branch, tentatively leave it as unclassified rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea.[3]
Pronouns
Pronouns are:
sg pl 1 *nu *nu-mu, *ni 2 *yu *yu-mu 3 *eu
References
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Mombum-Koneraw". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- New Guinea World, Muli Strait
- 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.
- 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, Proto–Muli Strait