Mek languages
Trans–New Guinea language branch From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mek languages are a well established family of Papuan languages spoken by the Mek people and Yali people. They form a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005).
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| Mek | |
|---|---|
| Goliath | |
| Geographic distribution | Yahukimo and Pegunungan Bintang, Highland Papua |
| Ethnicity | Mek people and Yali people |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | mekk1240 |
Map: The Mek languages of New Guinea
The Mek languages
Other Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
Mek, then called Goliath, was identified by M. Bromley in 1967. It was placed in TNG by Wurm (1975).
Languages
The Mek languages form three dialect chains (Heeschen 1998):
- Eastern: Ketengban (including Okbap, Omban, Bime, Onya), Una (Goliath), Eipomek
- Northern: Kosarek Yale–Nipsan, Nalca
- Western: Korupun-Sela (including Dagi, Sisibna, Deibula)
Proto-language
Summarize
Perspective
Phonemes
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as 'perhaps' as follows:[2]
*m *n *ŋ *p *t *k *kʷ *(m)b *(n)d *(ŋ)g *(ŋ)gʷ *s *w *l *j
i u e o ɛ ɔ a ɒ
ei ou ɛi ɔu ai au aɛ aɔ
Pronouns
Pronouns are:[2]
| sg | pl | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *na | *nu[n] |
| 2 | *kan | *kun (?) |
| 3 | *ɛl | *tun, *[t/s]ig |
The difference between the two 3pl forms is not known. 2pl and 3pl have parallels in Momuna /kun tun/.
Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[2]
| gloss | Proto-Mek | Proto-East Mek | Kimyal | Proto-Northwest Mek | Proto-Momuna-Mek | Momuna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hair/feather | *p[ɔ]t[ɔ]ŋ | *pɔtɔŋ | osoŋ | *hɔŋ | ||
| ear/twelve | *aᵓ | ɔ | *aᵓ | |||
| eye | *atiŋ | *asiŋ | isiŋ | *haⁱŋ | *ɒtig | ɒtù |
| tooth/sharp | *jo̝ | *jo̝ | jó | |||
| tongue | *se̝l[ija]mu | *[se̝]l[ija]mu | selamu | *se̝l[i]mu | ||
| foot/leg | *jan | *jan | jan | *jan | *j[a/ɒ]n | |
| blood | *e̝ne̝ŋ | *ɪnɪŋ | eneŋ | *e̝ne̝ŋ | *jo̝ne̝g | |
| bone | *jɔk | *jɔk | jw-aʔ | *jɔʔ[ɔ] | ||
| breast | *mɔᵘm | *mɔᵘm | moᵘm | *mɔᵘm | *mɔᵘm | mɒ̃ᵘ |
| louse | *ami | *ami | imi | *ami | *ami | ami |
| dog | *gam | *[k/g]am | gam | *gam | *gɒm | kɒ̀ |
| pig | *be̝sam | *bɪsam | *bham | wɒ́ | ||
| bird | *mak, *mag | *mak | -ma (?) | *-ma (?) | *mak | má |
| egg/fruit/seed | *do̝[k] | *dʊk | do | *do̝[k] | dɒko ~ dɒku | |
| tree/wood | *gal | gal | *gal | *gɒl | kɒ̀ | |
| woman/wife | *ge̝l | *[k/g]ɪl | gel | *ge̝l | ||
| sun | *k[ɛ]t[e̝]ŋ | *k[ɛ]t[ɪ]ŋ | isiŋ | *he̝ŋ | ||
| moon | *wal | *wal | wal | *wal | ||
| water/river | *m[ɛ/a]g | *mɛk | mag | *m[ɛ/a]g | ||
| fire | *o̝ᵘg | *ʊᵘk | ug | *[u]g | ||
| stone | *gɛⁱl; *gidig | *[k/g]ɛⁱl | girig | *gidig | kè | |
| path/way | *bi[t/s]ig | *bi[t/s]ik | bisig | *bhig | ||
| name | *si | *si | si | *si | *si | si |
| eat/drink | *de̝-(b) | *dɪ-(b) | de- | *de̝-(b) | de- | |
| one | *[na]tɔn | *tɔn | nason | *nhɔn | ||
| two/ring finger | *b[e̝/ɛ]te̝ne̝ | *b[ɪ/ɛ]tɪnɪ | besene | *bhe̝ne̝ |
Modern reflexes
Mek reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[3]
- mun ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
- kuna ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
- saŋ ‘dancing song’ < *saŋ
- getane ‘sun’ < *kVtane
- mundo ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
- ami ‘louse’ < *niman
- si ‘tooth’ < *(s,t)i(s,t)i
- tomo < *k(i,u)tuma ‘night’
- de ‘to burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)
- mon ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
- xau ‘ashes’ < *kambu
Further reading
- Heeschen, Volker. 1978. The Mek languages of Irian Jaya with special reference to the Eipo language. Irian 7(2): 3–46.
- Heeschen, Volker. 1992. The position of the Mek languages of Irian Jaya among the Papuan languages: History, typology and speech. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 148(3/4): 465–488.
References
External links
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