Dani languages

Dani
Ethnicity Dani, Lani, Yali, etc
Geographic
distribution		 Highlands of Papua Province
Linguistic classification

Trans–New Guinea

Subdivisions
  • Wano
  • Dani proper
  • ?Ngalik
Glottolog dani1287[1]

The Dani languages are a family of clearly related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken by the Dani and related peoples in the highlands of Papua Province, Indonesia. Foley (2003) considers their TNG status to be established. They may be most closely related to the languages of Paniai Lakes, but this is not yet clear. Capell (1962) had posited that their closest relatives were the Kwerba languages, which Ross (2005) rejects.

Languages

Larson (1977) divided the family into three branches based on lexicostatistics, and Nggem was later added as a fourth. The Ngalik languages are very poorly attested.

The independent pronouns and possessive/object prefixes of Central Dani are:

sgpl
1 *an, *n[a]*ni-t, *nin[a]-
2 *ka-t, *k[a]*ki-t, *kin[a]-
3 *a-t, *∅/w-*i-t, *in[a]-

Phonology

The phonology of the Central Dani language sub-groupings:

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d k ɡ ʔ
Fricative β s ɣ h
Nasal m n ŋ 
Lateral l
Flap ɾ
Implosive ɓ ɗ
Approximant w j

Vowels

front central back
high close i u
ʏ ʊ
mid e o
low a

[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Dani". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ Nijhoff, Martinus (1966). Outline of Dani Morphology (PDF). Van Het Koninklijk Instituut Voor Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde.
  3. ↑ "Dani (Western) Language Sample". Language Museum. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson. Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. 


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