Engan languages
| Engan | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: | New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification: |
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| Subdivisions: |
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| Glottolog: | enga1254[1] |
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Map: The Engan languages of New Guinea
The Engan languages
Other Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
The Engan languages are a family of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross. The nine languages are clearly related.
- North Engan (Engan proper): Enga, Ipili, Kyaka, Lembena, Bisorio (Nete, Iniai)
- South Engan (Kewa–Huli)
There are a considerable number of resemblances with Wiru, though borrowing has not been ruled out.
Pronouns are easy to reconstruct for the northern and southern branches, but much more difficult for Engan as a whole. Ross (2005) has the following for the singular:
pEngan N Engan S Engan Wiru 1 **nə *na-ba *ní no (gen. anu) 2 **ne-ke *ne-ba *ne-ke ne (gen. ne-ke) 3 ? *ba *[n]i-bu one
External link
Enga-Southern Highlands on newguineaworld
Footnotes
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Enga–Kewa–Huli". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
References
- 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.