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Turama-Kikorian languages

Language family

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The Turama-Kikorian languages are a family identified by Arthur Capell (1962) and part of the Trans-New Guinea languages (TNG) family in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and Malcolm Ross (2005). The family is named after the Turama River and Kikori River of southern Papua New Guinea; the alternative name is based more narrowly on the Omati River.

01Languages

The four languages are clearly related, though Rumu is divergent. Ross states that Rumu links the other (Turama) languages to TNG.

  • Turama-Kikorian family

02Proto-language

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:

glossProto-Rumu-OmatiProto-Omati RiverRumu
head/top *mab*mabmapô
leaf/hair/feather *b[au]t*bɔt?paɾâu
ear *go̝*go̝
eye *isĩ*isĩihī
nose *ju*ju
tooth *magu*magumakù
foot/leg *tãᵋ*tãᵋɾɛ̂
bone *tab*tabɾapò
breast *sõ̝*sõ̝
louse *gutɔm*gutɔmkuɾɔ̀
dog *gas*gaská ~ kaé
pig *gɔ[u]n*gɔnkɔù
bird *gaᵋ*gaᵋká ~ kaé
egg *d[ɔ]um*d[ɔ]um
tree *i*iì
sun *ɛsɔa*ɛsɔaɛhɔ̂
water *wẽ̝*wẽ̝
fire *i*iì
path *dɛⁱ*dɛⁱtɛî
name *e̝ne̝ne̝n*ne̝ne̝nenené
two *t[aⁱ/aᵋ]*taᵋtaí

03Basic vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words are from Franklin (1973), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database. The sets of words are not necessarily cognate.

glossRumuIkobi-MenaMenaOmati
head wotu rapomapʰmabomawo
hair patemaporomaborumahabero
ear ku patekupikovikovi
eye ihitasi(tom)sitɔumuisi
nose yu rapobopʰboƀosorowu
tooth makuka̧i̧ yokaiyɔkokame
tongue ɔhɔkumenkumɛnkomene
leg re rikihaehại habohai
louse kurokuromkuromiəkulamu
dog kakaskasəkase
bird kakaekaiɛkae
egg retʌomtʌmɛmena hai
blood hokorekaikaikei
bone rapohaphavohavo
skin heitaukorakʷarukebo
breast so̧so; šošu
tree iiʔi
man ukiwanewɔnami; wɔnegamin
woman wobesibɛsebes
sun ehoiyosyosə; yosusoa
moon pariwasibawasibia; wasibʌŋʌbaira
water umu̧mufae
fire ikomkumukumu
stone akapukamkaməkamu
name painananininɛnɛnenenena
eat natonokun; nouwenʌᵘwedamanai
one riabai; ṛiabaisʌkanɛsʌkanɛsakaina
two taihaehaiɛhatarari
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Turama-Kikorian languages, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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