Ndu languages

Ndu languages
Ndu
Geographic
distribution:		 Sepik River basin, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classification: Sepik
Subdivisions:
8–12 languages

The Ndu languages are the best known family of the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea. Ndu is the word for 'man' in the languages that make up this group. The languages were first identified as a related family by Kirschbaum in 1922.

Abelam is the most populous language, with about 45,000 speakers, though Iatmül is better known to the outside world. There are eight to twelve Ndu languages, depending on how dialects are classified. Ethnologue 15 counted them as,

Iatmul, Ngala, Manambu, Yelogu, Abelam (Ambulas), Boiken, Sawos (Malinguat, Keak), Kwasengen (Hanga Hundi),

and edition 16 added,

Burui, Gaikundi (Sos Kundi), Koiwat, Sengo.

Most Sepik and neighboring languages have systems of three vowels, /ɨ ə a/, that are distinct only in height. Phonetic [i e u o] are a result of palatal and labial assimilation of /ɨ ə/ to adjacent consonants. The Ndu languages may take this reduction a step further: In these languages, /ɨ/ is used as an epenthetic vowel to break up consonant clusters in compound words. Within words, /ɨ/ only occurs between similar consonants, and seems to be explicable as epenthesis there as well, so that the only underlying vowels that need to be assumed are |ə| and |a|. That is, the Ndu languages may be a rare case of a two-vowel system, the others being the Arrernte and Northwest Caucasian languages. However, contrasting analyses of these same languages may posit a dozen vowel monophthongs.[1]

References

  1. ^ Gerd Jendraschek (2008) "The vowel system of Iatmul: emerging phonemes and unexpected contrasts"
  • William A. Foley (2005). "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik–Ramu basin." In: Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide and Jack Golson, eds, Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Pacific Linguistics 572. 109-144. Canberra: Australian National University.
  • Donald C. Laycock (1965). The Ndu language family (Sepik District, New Guinea). Pacific Linguistics C-1. Canberra: Australian National University.

External links



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sepik languages — Infobox Language family name=Sepik region=New Guinea familycolor=Papuan family=a primary family of Papuan languages child1=Walio child2=Biksi child3=Upper Sepik child4=Ram child5=Tama child6=Yellow River child7=Middle Sepik child8=Sepik HillThe… …   Wikipedia

  • Sepik-Ramu languages — The Sepik Ramu languages are a hypothetical language family linking the Sepik, Ramu, Nor Pondo (Lower Sepik), Leonhard Schultze (Walio Papi), and Yuat families, together with the Taiap language isolate, and proposed by Donald Laycock in 1973. All …   Wikipedia

  • Middle Sepik languages — Middle Sepik Geographic distribution: Sepik River basin, Papua New Guinea Linguistic classification: Sepik Middle Sepik Subdivisions: Ndu Nukuma Yerakai …   Wikipedia

  • Romance languages — Romance Geographic distribution: Originally Southern Europe and parts of Africa; now also Latin America, Canada, parts of Lebanon and much of Western Africa Linguistic classification: Indo European Italic …   Wikipedia

  • Langues ndu — Les langues ndu sont une famille de langues papoues parlées en Papouasie Nouvelle Guinée, dans le bassin du Sepik[1]. Sommaire 1 Classification 2 Liste des langues 3 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Indo-Aryan languages — or Indic languages Major subgroup of the Indo Iranian branch of the Indo European language family. Indo Aryan languages are spoken by more than 800 million people, principally in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The Old Indo… …   Universalium

  • Donald Laycock — Dr Donald Laycock (1936–1988) was an Australian linguist and anthropologist. He is best remembered for his work on the languages of Papua New Guinea. Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 Selected bibliography 4 Ref …   Wikipedia

  • Malinguat language — Malinguat Sawos Spoken in Papua New Guinea Region Sepik River basin Native speakers 9,000  (1986) Language family …   Wikipedia

  • Manambu language — Manambu Spoken in Papua New Guinea Region Sepik River basin Native speakers 2,110  (no date) Language family Sepik …   Wikipedia

  • Alexandra Aikhenvald — Alexandra Yurievna Aikhenvald (born 1957 in Russia) is the academic coordinator of the Research Centre for Linguistic Typology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She is Natalia Shvedova s niece and Yuly Aikhenvald s great granddaughter …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”