Gogodala–Suki languages

The Gogodala–Suki or Suki – Aramia River languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea, spoken in the region of the Aramia River.

Gogodala–Suki
Suki – Aramia River
Geographic
distribution
Aramia River region, Western Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationPapuan Gulf ?
  • Gogodala–Suki
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologsuki1244
Map: The Gogodala–Suki languages of New Guinea
  The Gogodala–Suki languages
  Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

Languages

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The languages are:

Gogodala–Suki languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.[1]

List of Gogodala–Suki languages
Language Location Population
Suki north-central Morehead Rural LLG 3,500
Gogodala Gogodala Rural LLG 26,000
Ari Gogodala Rural LLG ?
Waruna Gogodala Rural LLG ?

Reconstruction

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Phonology

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The reconstructed sound system is,[2]

*m *n
*p *t *k
*b *d *g
*s
?*r

It's not clear that there was *w or *j distinct from *u and *i.

*i *u
*e *o
*a

Pronouns

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Free pronouns[2]
singular plural
1st person *nɛ *sɛ
2nd person *dɛ
3rd person *o(-b) ?
Object prefixes[2]
singular plural
1st person *n- *s-
2nd person *- *d-
3rd person *- *d-

(2SG and 3SG is zero.)

Lexicon

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Proto-Suki–Aramia (i.e., Proto-Gogodala–Suki) lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[2]

gloss Proto-Suki-Aramia
1SG *nɛ
2SG
3SG *o(-b)
1PL *sɛ
2PL *dɛ
again *goarma
and/with *da
animate ref. *-te
be/live *e[r]
breast *bu
eat *na
fat/grease *sap[e/ɛ]
fire *ir[a]
garden *ega[d]
girl *sua
give to 3SG *ata
heavy *mene
know *it[a/o]ua
language *gi
leaf *bagu
locative *-m
louse *amu
man *dar[o/a]
mouth *magat
night *is[ɛ/a]
nose *min
other *et[a/o]
path *na...
penis *o
see *ti
skin/bark *kakar
stative *-[V]taka
tail *uani
this/here *mɛ-m
tooth *poso
tree *[e]i
wallaby/meat *[u]kapu
what?/who? *p[a]oa
where?/to *bɛ
wing *it[e/a]
woman *ato
yesterday/tomorrow *[ɛ/a]n[ɛ/a]p

Vocabulary comparison

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The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970),[3] Voorhoeve (1970), and Reesink (1976), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[4]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. atogi, ato, atu for “woman”) or not (e.g. mɛnəpila, poso, tamki for “tooth”).

gloss Ari Gogodala Suki
head gabi ganabi tibodu
hair tiːta tita nigbagu
ear etubada; kɛso igibi iakadgu
eye tokodaba tao itumku
nose ndogu mina umuku
tooth mɛnəpila poso tamki
tongue mɛlɛpila
leg gupi
louse ikami ami daka
dog sokɛ soke ebme
pig uai kuainu
bird soma
egg momona
blood dede
bone mboige gosa budu
skin kakala; puka kaka kaka
breast omo omo
tree yei riku
man dalagi dala; dalagi daru; guargia
woman atogi ato; susɛgi atu
sun gadepa kadɛpa kamgu
moon tɔkɔ
water ogo wi
fire awa ila araka
stone -nadi
road, path nape nabidi napru; rapru
name enoma gagi yaka
eat na- na
one maitaia
two saki

Evolution

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Gogodalic-Suki formed a branch of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross. Possible reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[5]

Gogodala language:

  • omo ‘breast’ < *amu
  • magata ‘mouth, jaw’ < *maŋgat[a]
  • mele-pila ‘tongue’ < *mele-mbilaŋ
  • imu ‘eye’ < *(ŋg,k)amu
  • mi ‘louse’ < *iman, *niman
  • kadepa ‘sun’ < *kand(a,e)pa
  • ila ‘tree, fire’ < *inda
  • na- ‘eat’ < *na-
  • mana- ‘sit, stay’ < *mVna-

Suki language:

  • gigoacassowary’ < *ku(y)a
  • na- ‘eat’ < *na-

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Nicholas (2018). "The languages of Southern New Guinea". 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. 641–774. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  2. ^ a b c d Usher, Timothy. 2020. Suki-Aramia River. NewGuineaWorld.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  5. ^ 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.
  • 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.

Further reading

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