a linguistic history of awyu-dumut...section. i would also like to thank my friend and fellow...

A Linguistic History of Awyu-Dumutmorphological study and reconstruction of a Papuan language family

c© 2014, Ruth WesterCover: artwork from Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, 1984Cover design: Flip Wester sr. and Ridderprint BV

Typeset in LATEXPrinted and bound by Ridderprint BV, RidderkerkISBN: 978-90-5335-793-4

VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT

A Linguistic History of Awyu-Dumutmorphological study and reconstruction of a Papuan language family

ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT

ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aande Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,

op gezag van de rector magnificusprof.dr. F.A. van der Duyn Schouten,

in het openbaar te verdedigenten overstaan van de promotiecommissie

van de Faculteit der Letterenop donderdag 20 maart 2014 om 15.45 uur

in de aula van de universiteit,De Boelelaan 1105

door

Ruth Wester

geboren te Ukarumpa, Papoea Nieuw Guinea

promotor: prof. dr. L.J. de Vriescopromotor: dr. G.P. Reesink

Acknowledgments

The writing of a PhD thesis can be compared to going on a long journey, in whichthe traveller amasses numerous experiences and learns about herself in the process.I can honestly say that writing “A Linguistic History of Awyu-Dumut Languages”has been a pleasant journey, no doubt largely due not only to the exciting researchtopic, but also to all those who travelled with me, supporting and encouraging mealong the way.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the excellent work done by PetrusDrabbe, a Catholic priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in New Guineabetween 1935 and 1960. Each page of his clear and detailed grammar descriptionscommunicates his love of languages and his deep insight into how they work. Icould not have wished for better data, and hope this book does his life’s work atleast some justice.

My promotor Lourens de Vries is the one who got me started on this journey,and I cannot thank him enough. After Lourens secured the funding by the Nether-lands Research Council (NWO) for the project “The Awyu-Dumut language familyin its cultural and linguistic context”, I joined him and Wilco van den Heuvel asthe third member of the ‘Awyu-Dumut family’ at the VU University in Amsterdam.Lourens, thank you for your contagious enthusiasm, your ability to always inspire,your encouragement whenever I was stuck, and your availability and willingnessto answer questions whenever I felt like asking them. Thanks also for graciously let-ting me disagree with you on the origins of Awyu-Dumut switch reference. I havelearned much from you, not just about linguistics but also about life, and will missour collaboration.

Ever since I can remember, wantok is the term used by those with the surname‘Wester’ to refer to those with the surname ‘Reesink.’ Ger, you have been an excel-lent wantok the past four years, and going back to the origin of this Tok Pisin word,I would like to thank you for ‘speaking the same language’ as I. The endless hoursyou selflessly put in as co-promotor, as well as your wisdom, insight and eye fordetail, will not quickly be forgotten. Thank you for coming along on this journey.

The highlight of my PhD journey was without a doubt my three-month stay atthe Australian National University in Canberra, funded by the Australian Nether-

lands Research Collaboration (ANRC) and the VU University Amsterdam. The re-searchers at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific provided a welcoming and sti-mulating research environment. I would like to thank Nick Evans, Andrew Pawley,Malcolm Ross, Harold Koch, Mark Donahue, Bethwyn Evans, Gwendolyn Hyslop,Alexander François, Julia Miller, Christian Döhler, Darja Hoenigman, Fanny Cottet,Niko Kobepa, Aung Si, Charlotte van Tongeren and Matthew Carroll for their inte-rest in and comments on my research, and for sharing their own research with me.A special thank you goes to my housemates at Wongoola Close for making my timein Australia unforgettable.

However, most of my time was not spent in Australia but in Amsterdam at theVU. Bertie Kaal and Agata Cybulska, thank you for being such great roommates,putting up with my sighs, exclamations and inexplicable stories about Drabbe andAwyu-Dumut languages, and for enjoying so many coffees (or ‘wiener melanges’)with me. Good luck on finishing your own PhD journeys. Wilco, thank you foryour continual support, your ability to listen, your gentle encouragement along theway and for always believing my research was going well and meaning something.Thank you also for your meticulous – and fast – reading of the entire draft versionjust before your summer holidays. I have thoroughly enjoyed working together andcan only hope I will have colleagues like you in the future.

I would like to thank my reading committee for taking the time to read andcomment on the thesis. An additional thank you to Laura Robinson for commentingon draft versions of chapters 4 and 6 at an early stage, giving me much-neededconfidence, and mercietjes to Michael Dunn for helping me with the phylogeneticssection. I would also like to thank my friend and fellow linguist Cindy Groff Heinerfor editing my thesis.

Throughout my journey I have been supported by my wider community offriends and family. I am grateful to my parents for an upbringing that instilleda deep appreciation of diversity in me, and to my dad for suggesting I study lin-guistics when I was 16 years old. Furthermore, I would like to thank my eldestbrother Flip for making it look so difficult to do a PhD, as that made it much eas-ier. And thank you Thomas for your timely suggestion that I use LATEX instead ofWord to format this book, saving me numerous frustrations and opening up a wholenew world. A big thank you also goes to all my friends and family members whocheered me on, both to those who were truly intrigued and to those who still cannotremember the names ‘Awyu-Dumut’ and ‘Drabbe’ after four years. Lastly, I wouldlike to thank Gerben Dekker. Your belief in me and your unwavering love kept andkeep me going. You are the very best travel companion, and I look forward to themany journeys ahead that we will share.

Oslo, January 2014Ruth Wester

Contents

Introduction 1

1 Setting the Scene 31.1 Location and Sources of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.2 Previous Study of Awyu-Dumut Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.3 Awyu-Dumut Languages are Constructs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.4 Methodology: the Comparative Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.5 The Structure of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191.6 A Note on Glossing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2 Proto Phonology and Phylogenetics 212.1 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.2 Orthography and Morphophonemics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.3 Sound Correspondences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.4 PAD Consonant Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.5 Note on Korowai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.6 Sound Changes and Subgrouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.7 Note on Awyu-Dumut Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362.8 Phylogenetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

3 Nouns and Adjectives 493.1 Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.2 Compound Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503.3 Possession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533.4 Plurality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533.5 Kinship Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543.6 Coordination of Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

4 Awyu-Dumut Pronouns 654.1 Reconstruction of Awyu-Dumut Personal Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . 65

4.2 Awyu-Dumut Possessive Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724.3 Awyu-Dumut Emphatic Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

5 Subject Person-Number Marking 775.1 First Person Singular Subject Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785.2 Non-first Person Singular Subject Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805.3 First Person Plural Subject Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835.4 Non-first Person Plural Subject Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

6 Mood 876.1 Verb Stems and Mood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886.2 Irrealis Mood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916.3 Realis Mood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936.4 Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

7 Tense 1057.1 Past Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067.2 Future Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1137.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

8 Aspect 1178.1 Position Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178.2 Iterative Verb Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218.3 Connective Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1238.4 Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

9 Negation 1279.1 Awyu Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1279.2 Dumut Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1339.3 Kombai Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1399.4 Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

10 Deictics and Demonstratives 14110.1 Awyu-Dumut Basic Deictics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14110.2 Awyu-Dumut Demonstratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14710.3 Awyu-Dumut Textual Deixis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14910.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

11 Clause Linkage 15511.1 Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15511.2 Clause Chaining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15711.3 Subordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15811.4 Tail-head Linkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

11.5 Awyu-Dumut Switch Reference Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17311.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Conclusion 191

Appendix A: Word List 195

Bibliography 211

Samenvatting (Dutch Summary) 219

List of Tables

1.1 The comparative method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.1 Awyu-Dumut phonemes and orthography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.2 Awyu-Dumut common morphophonemic changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232.3 Sound correspondences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.4 Reflexes of *p . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.5 Initial /p/ in four languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.6 Reflexes of *t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.7 Reflexes of *k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282.8 Reflexes of *mb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.9 Reflexes of *nd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.10 Reflexes of *ŋg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302.11 Reflexes of *m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.12 Reflexes of *n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.13 Reflexes of *r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.14 Reflexes of initial *w and *y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.15 PAD consonant inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.16 Shiaxa epenthetic vowel examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352.17 Vowels in PA, PD and Kombai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372.18 Examples of PD *u >Mandobo /ö/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382.19 PD *ü >YWB and DWB /i/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382.20 PD *a >MAN /o/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382.21 PD *a to MAN /e/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392.22 PA *ü to /u/ in PSA, SHI, YEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392.23 PA *u to Shiaxa /o/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392.24 PA *e to YEN, PSA, AXU /i/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.25 Lexicostatistic results of Healey and Voorhoeve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.26 Coded lexical items showing various cognate patterns . . . . . . . . . . . 412.27 Cognate sets from Table 2.26 expressed in a binary matrix . . . . . . . . . 43

3.1 Dumut and Kombai intensifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503.2 Awyu-Dumut endocentric nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3.3 Awyu-Dumut coordinate compound nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523.4 Awyu-Dumut kinship terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553.5 Awyu-Dumut kinship plural markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4.1 Greater Awyu and Awyu-Dumut pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664.2 Awyu-Dumut and Trans New Guinea proto pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . 714.3 Awyu-Dumut possessive pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734.4 PAD possessive pronouns compared to PAD and PTNG personal pronouns 74

5.1 Awyu-Dumut first person singular subject markers . . . . . . . . . . . . 785.2 Shiaxa epenthetic vowel examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795.3 Awyu-Dumut non-first person singular subject markers . . . . . . . . . . 815.4 Future NON1SG Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825.5 Two analyses of realis mood in Awyu languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825.6 Awyu-Dumut first person plural subject markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835.7 Awyu-Dumut non-first person plural subject markers . . . . . . . . . . . 85

6.1 Awyu primary and secondary stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896.2 Additional Pisa and Shiaxa verb stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906.3 Awyu-Dumut semi-finite irrealis forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926.4 Dumut realis paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956.5 Comparison of -t and -ken forms in Yonggom Wambon texts . . . . . . . 996.6 Awyu realis paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016.7 Kombai realis paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

7.1 Dumut past paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1077.2 Shiaxa and Yenimu hodiernal past paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087.3 Shiaxa person-number markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097.4 Awyu hesternal past paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097.5 Awyu distant past paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107.6 Aghu distant past paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117.7 Awyu historical past paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1127.8 Awyu past tenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1127.9 Dumut future tense paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1147.10 Digul Wambon immediate future paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

8.1 Durative markers and verbs in Awyu-Dumut languages . . . . . . . . . 1208.2 Awyu-Dumut iterative verb stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218.3 Awyu-Dumut connective verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

9.1 Aghu negated paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1299.2 Pisa negated semi-finite paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1309.3 Pisa negated finite paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1309.4 Dumut negation strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1339.5 Mandobo negated future tense paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1359.6 Digul Wambon negated irrealis semi-finite paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . 138

9.7 Digul Wambon negated irrealis semi-finite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1389.8 Dumut negation strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

10.1 Awyu-Dumut deictics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14210.2 Reconstructed Awyu-Dumut deictics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14610.3 Awyu-Dumut demonstratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

11.1 Temporality and conceptual non-close markers found on SS verbs . . . . 178

List of Figures

1.1 Approximate location of the Awyu-Dumut language family . . . . . . . 41.2 Location of Awyu-Dumut languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.3 Greater Awyu language family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.4 Portrait of Petrus Drabbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.1 NeigborNet network graph of Awyu-Dumut languages . . . . . . . . . . 442.2 Bayesian rooted tree based on 430-item word list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462.3 Bayesian rooted tree based on Swadesh subset of word list . . . . . . . . 47

4.1 Greater Awyu language family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

7.1 Awyu-Dumut verb structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Abbreviations

ADJ AdjectiveCAUS CausativeERG Ergative markerCONN ConnectiveCOORD CoordinatorCOP CopulaDIST.PST Distant pastDS Different subjectDUR DurativeERG Ergative markerF FinalFOC Focus markerFUT FutureHAB HabitualHIST Historical pastI InitialIMP ImperativeIRR IrrealisIT IterativeINTENS IntensifierLIG LigatureLOC LocativeM MedialNEG NegatorNON1 Non-first personNON.CLOSE Conceptually non-closePST PastPL PluralPN Person-numberPOSS Possessive

REAL RealisSEQ Sequence markerSG SingularSIM Simultaneity markerSS Same subjectSUBJ Subject markerSUPP Support verbTOP Topic marker

AXU Aghu languageDWB Digul Wambon languageMAN Mandobo languageKOM Kombai languageKOR Korowai languageKYD Komyandaret languagePA Proto AwyuPAD Proto Awyu-DumutPD Proto DumutPSA Pisa languagePTNG Proto Trans New GuineaSHI Shiaxa languageTSA Tsaukwambo languageWNG Wanggom languageYEN Yenimu languageYWB Yonggom Wambon language

EB elder brotherEZ elder sisterF fatherFF father’s father

FM father’s motherM motherMB mother’s brotherMF mother’s fatherMM mother’s mother

WM wife’s mother

YB younger brother

YZ younger sister

ZS sister’s son

Introduction

All that is has a history, a story about where or what it came from, and how itbecame what it is. Each language, spoken by generation upon generation, has ahistory. This book presents the linguistic history of a Papuan language family calledAwyu-Dumut. It focuses on the history of the morphology within the Awyu-Dumutlanguage family, bound morphology being one of the most stable elements withina language. Through bottom-up reconstruction of proto morphology, I establishwhere Awyu-Dumut morphology came from and what it might have looked likeoriginally. However, just knowing the source or origin of a language does not tell itscomplete history: each language travels a long path after splitting off from its protolanguage. Therefore, I also trace diachronic changes in morphology, illustrating howAwyu-Dumut languages have developed over time, becoming what they are today.While focusing on the shared histories that bind Awyu-Dumut languages together,this book will also shed light on the morphological diversity found within Awyu-Dumut languages, telling each language’s own story.

This book aims to show that, given high-quality data, it is profitable and pos-sible to use a bottom-up reconstructive approach to Papuan language families, re-constructing entire language systems of lower-level families. My hope is that thepicture of the Awyu-Dumut linguistic history presented in this book will prove tobe a useful piece in the greater puzzle of unraveling the past of Papuan people, andwill inspire anyone involved in this effort.

Without the years of intensive linguistic work on the Papuan languages of NewGuinea undertaken by Petrus Drabbe between 1935 and 1960, not a word of thisbook could have been written. The current work makes the rich content of Drabbe’sgrammars available to a larger audience who are unable to access or read his Dutchpublications. Unlike Drabbe’s work, this book is not a synchronic grammar de-scription and hence does not offer as exhaustive a discussion of Awyu-Dumut mor-phology as a grammar would. Rather, this is a comparative work, offering newperspectives on each Awyu-Dumut language through contrasting it with its sisterlanguages.

1

Setting the Scene

1.1 Location and Sources of Data

Awyu-Dumut languages are spoken in the southwestern part of Papua, Indonesia,from the upper part of the 528-kilometer-long Digul River to its estuary in the Ara-fura sea, between the Digul and Mapi Rivers and from the border area near theFly River east of the Digul River all the way to the southwest of the WildemanRiver. Figure 1.1 indicates the general location of the Awyu-Dumut language fa-mily, whereas Figure 1.2 contains a map of the area where Awyu-Dumut languagesare spoken, with the location of the clan lands of the primary informants for eachlanguage indicated by dots.

Andrew Pawley notes that “to apply the comparative method thoroughly takes along time and needs reliable descriptive data” (Pawley 2005a:4). For Awyu-Dumutlanguages a gold mine of quality descriptive data is available due to the efforts ofDutch missionary linguists Petrus Drabbe and Lourens de Vries, while time is whatI brought to the equation. For six of the nine Awyu-Dumut languages a completegrammar with texts is available, whereas for another three Awyu-Dumut languagesDrabbe wrote a grammar sketch. Furthermore, a 430-item word list is available forall nine Awyu-Dumut languages and can be found in Appendix A. Recent fieldworkby HongTae Jang and Sung-Kyu Choi resulted in completed 430-item word lists forKombai and Digul Wambon, whereas before only 200-item word lists were availablefor these languages.

Although a wealth of information is available on Awyu-Dumut languages, thedata does have its limits. First, the Awyu languages are less well-documented thanthe Dumut languages; a grammar with texts is available for only one of the fourAwyu languages, namely Aghu. The other three Awyu languages, namely Pisa,Shiaxa and Yenimu, are described in a 50-page grammar sketch by Drabbe, whereYenimu in particular is often left out of the discussion. Secondly, the work of bothDrabbe and de Vries focuses more on morphology and less on phonology, resultingin limited phonological descriptions for the Awyu-Dumut languages. Drabbe ad-mits that he writes less about phonology than some might wish but also states that

4 1. Setting the Scene

Figure 1.1: Approximate location of the Awyu-Dumut language family (Wolters Atlas 1950)

“according to our humble opinion, one can also go too far in one’s appreciation ofexact phonological data, or the lack thereof,”1 whereas de Vries concentrated on themorphological description of Digul Wambon, while the phonological introductionto the grammar was written by his collaborator R. Wiersma. As the focus of the cur-rent comparative study is also on morphology, the less-than-ideal phonological de-scriptions of Awyu-Dumut languages are not problematic. Thirdly, most of the textsincluded in the grammars are myths. As most texts come from one genre, findingexamples of all types of constructions in the texts is not always easy. Future tenseverb forms, for example, are infrequent in myths, which always take place in thepast. The grammars can be compact at times, with few examples given of specificlinguistic phenomena. However, as the reader will see, the data are of a sufficientquality and quantity to allow for the construction of a sizeable proto morphology.

The following sections briefly present all languages relevant to the present study,indicating where they are spoken and what descriptive materials are available forthem. To help the reader place the different languages, a schematic representation ofthe Awyu-Dumut language family, drawn up and presented in de Vries et al. (2012),is given in Figure 1.3.

1“Men kan naar ons bescheiden inzicht ook te ver gaan in de waardering van exacte fonologischegegevens, of van het ontbreken daarvan” (Drabbe 1957:iii).

1.1. Location and Sources of Data 5

Figure 1.2: Map of Awyu-Dumut language constructs (prepared by Jaap Fokkema, cartogra-phy department VU University)

Greater Awyu

Becking-Dawi

KOR TSA KYD

Awyu-Dumut

Dumut

MAN YWB DWB

Awyu

SHI YEN PSA AXU

Ndeiram

KOM WNG TYN

Figure 1.3: Greater Awyu language family


1.1.1 Shiaxa (SHI)

The source for Shiaxa is Drabbe’s grammar sketch Twee dialecten van de Awju-taalfrom 1950. Voorhoeve (1975:375) notes that Shiaxa is spoken along the Shiaxa rivernorth of the Digul River’s delta. Drabbe states that his informants were of theAboghoj clan, who live in Gimikja (Drabbe 1950:93).

1.1.2 Yenimu (YEN)

Like Shiaxa, all data on Yenimu are found in Drabbe’s grammar sketch Twee di-alecten van de Awju-taal. As the title of the sketch implies, it is about two languages,those languages being Pisa and Shiaxa. Only when Yenimu differs from Shiaxadoes Drabbe mention it. Thus Yenimu is similar to Shiaxa in many ways but will betreated as a separate language in the current study.2 Drabbe notes that his Yenimuinformants belonged to the Jaso clan living at Kunubi.

1.1.3 Pisa (PSA)

Pisa is the third language for which data was distilled from Drabbe’s 1950 Twee di-alecten van de Awju-taal. Additional data were available from an unpublished gram-mar sketch written by Drabbe in 1947 entitled Spraakkunst van het Pisa-dialect derAwjoe-taal, which can be found at the KITLV (Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde) library in Leiden. The Pisa language described by Drabbe wasspoken along (the tributaries of) the Wildeman and Kampung Rivers. Drabbe’s in-formants were from the Wefoe and Ikwero clans, who had both moved from theirlocations along the Wildeman River to live near the government post at Masing(Drabbe 1947:1).

1.1.4 Aghu (AXU)

Aghu, also known as ‘Djair’, was spoken between the Digul and Mapi Rivers inDrabbe’s time. Drabbe’s informants came from the Ghoghonasafo clan, who livedalong the Eba River (Drabbe 1957:1). A detailed grammar containing ten texts pub-lished by Martinus Nijhoff in 1957 is the source of Aghu data.

1.1.5 Mandobo (MAN)

Drabbe’s 1959 grammar published by Martinus Nijhoff entitled Kaeti en Wambon isthe source of data for Mandobo. Kaeti is another name for Mandobo and means ‘realpeople’ (Drabbe 1959:4), but I choose to use the stream-based language name ‘Man-dobo’ introduced by Boelaars (1970) in order to avoid confusion with the neighbor-ing Ok language Kati.

2In his proto phonology, Healey (1970) also views Yenimu as a separate language, whereas Voor-hoeve always sees it as a subdialect of Shiaxa.


Mandobo has three very similar dialects: Kambon on the lower Dumut River,Rungwanjap in the middle of the Dumut River and Wambon (not to be confusedwith Yonggom Wambon or Digul Wambon) on the upper part of the Dumut River.The dialect described by Drabbe is that of Rungwanjap, and his main informant wasa 50-year-old man from the Omba clan, who had their homeland along the Marek,a tributary of the Dumut river. Drabbe’s Mandobo description consists of twelvemyths with extensive explanatory notes both about Mandobo language and culture.

1.1.6 Yonggom Wambon (YWB)

Yonggom Wambon, simply called ‘Wambon’ by Drabbe, owes its name to its DigulWambon neighbors, who according to Lourens de Vries (p.c.) call their southernneighbors ‘Yonggom’. Drabbe described Yonggom Wambon as spoken in the littlevillage of Waniktit, which lies along the Wanik, a tiny tributary of the Kao River.The second part of Drabbe’s (1959) published grammar Kaeti en Wambon, from page115 onwards, contains all Yonggom Wambon data used in this book.

1.1.7 Digul Wambon (DWB)

Digul Wambon as described by de Vries & Wiersma (1992) is spoken along the DigulRiver, north of Yonggom Wambon and into the foothills of the central mountainranges. The main informant of Lourens de Vries belonged to the Keriŋŋgere clan, wholive downstream from the village of Manggelum, near the Mbonop maelstrom anda village named Sawagit (Lourens de Vries, p.c.). I supplement the 1992 grammarby Lourens de Vries and Robinia Wiersma with an unpublished 2008 grammar ofDigul Wambon by HongTae Jang.3 Jang had two main informants; the first wasthe same as de Vries’ informant, namely Ahitup Keriŋŋgerey from the Keriŋŋgere clan,whereas his second informant, Obaja Wandawon, came from the upstream Digularea around Klofkamp.

De Vries had a second informant, Yohanes Yaŋŋginop, while compiling a200-item word list. Yohanes came from the Yaŋŋginop clan but grew up on Malimbisipclan lands. Jang compared the 430-item word list collected by Drabbe for the otherlanguages with the 200 word list gathered by de Vries and elicited all missing items.

1.1.8 Kombai (KOM)

Kombai was the second language described in de Vries’ dissertation (de Vries 1989).In 1993, a Kombai grammar based on de Vries’ dissertation was published by Pa-cific Linguistics (de Vries 1993). In his grammar, de Vries notes that “the Kombailive in a swampy rainforest area, hot and very humid. The terrain is hilly. The soil

3Jang (2008:1-2) refers to the language as Kenon Wambon, noting that there are three dialectsof Wambon. He also notes that he describes the same variety as de Vries & Wiersma (1992). His’Kenyam Wambon’ might correspond to the Wambon variety described by Drabbe (1959).


is very poor and the area extremely sparsely populated. Kombai speakers num-ber around 4000” (de Vries 1993:1). Lourens de Vries informed me that the Kom-bai grammar was based on language data gathered from informants who belongto clans who have settled near the village of Wanggemalo. His main informantwas Khane Renakhoremba from the Renakhoremba clan, who live at the headwatersof the Kawo River, which ends in the Digul River (de Vries, p.c.). In 2013, the430-item word list available for other Awyu-Dumut languages was kindly com-pleted by Sung-Kyu Choi for Kombai using several informants from the villagesof Yaniruma and Wanggemalo, namely Niko Dendemoku, Banio Kabukaruba andYusuf Yafumano.

1.1.9 Waŋgom (WGM)

The existence of a language called ‘Waŋŋgom’ was first recorded by Drabbe, who de-scribed the Waŋŋgom people as northern neighbors of the Mandobo living on theDigul-side of the Erimop watershed. Interestingly, Drabbe notes that Mandobospeakers can more or less understand Waŋŋgom speakers (Drabbe 1959:5). De Vrieslater reported that Waŋŋgom is a dialect close to Kombai, which Kombai speakerstold him they could understand. Intelligibility judgments recorded by both Hughes(2009) and Versteeg (1983) also show that Kombai and Waŋŋgom are closely related;Versteeg gives a lexical similarity percentage of 61%. Furthermore, de Vries et al.(2012) show that morphologically, Waŋŋgom is also very close to Kombai. The mor-phological data on Waŋŋgom are limited to a few paradigms written down in Baas’fieldnotes (Baas 1981), which mostly concern Tsaukwambo.

1.1.10 Tayan (TYN)

Tayan, like Waŋŋgom, is a dialect that is close to Kombai. There is reference to alanguage called Tayan by both de Vries (1993) and Baas (1981), who note that bothKombai speakers and Citak speakers call the speakers of the dialect that borders thesouthwestern border of Kombai and Citak, Tayan speakers. De Vries et al. (2012)classify Kombai, Tayan and Waŋŋgom together as a dialect continuum and as a sub-group of the Awyu-Dumut language family. Unfortunately, no linguistic data what-soever are available for Tayan.

1.1.11 Korowai (KOR)

The Korowai people live in small clans on their clan lands. Concerning the loca-tion of these clan lands, Rupert Stasch, an anthropologist who worked with theKorowai in the 1990’s and 2000’s, writes that “after emerging from the highlandmountain chains, New Guinea’s southern rivers cross a ninety-thousand-square-mile lowland plain. The Korowai lands lie in the northwest corner of this plain,near the mountains and far from the coast, in the upper watersheds of the Eilandenand the Ndeiram Kabur Rivers” (Stasch 2009:05). A grammar on the language of


the Korowai people was published by Oxford University Press in 1997 (van Enk &de Vries 1997). The grammar is based on fieldwork undertaken by both authors inthe late 1980’s. Their main informants were Labulun from the Sendekh clan, who livein the upper area of the Mabul River, and Fenelun from the Molonggai clan, whoseclan lands are where the Khelame stream joins the Becking River.

1.1.12 Tsaukwambo (TSA)

Tsaukwambo is spoken on the Lower Dawi River between the Digul River and theBecking River, both in villages and on clan lands. Field notes of Peter Baas, a DutchReformed missionary who spent a year living in Kawagit in 1981, are the source oflanguage data for Tsaukwambo. Baas gave his notes, written in Bahasa Indonesia,to Lourens de Vries, who presented a summary of their contents in a 2012 article(de Vries 2012a). He writes that “[t]he notebook consists of 235 pages with miscella-neous notes on cultural practices, survey and patrol reports, maps, four Tsaukambotexts, transcribed in IPA and with an interlinear Indonesian translation, a word listwith 110 basic vocabulary items, a few shorter word lists with terms from specificsemantic domains, such as body parts, names of sago species, kinship nouns andnumerals. The first 129 pages are concerned with cultural aspects. The pages 129-178 contain texts, word lists and notes on the Tsaukambo language. The only othersource on Tsaukambo is an Upper Digul Survey by the Summer Institute of Linguis-tics (SIL) linguist Hughes (2009) that gives basic survey information on Tsaukamboand contains a list of 239 Tsaukambo words” (de Vries 2012a:166).

1.1.13 Komyandaret (KYD)

In his Tsaukwambo field notes, Baas (1981:90) mentions a small speech communityof 300-500 people living further north along the Dawi River. According to his Tsau-kwambo informants, the language spoken by Komyandaret speakers is almost thesame as their own, and Baas talks about Komyandaret as a variety of Tsaukwambo.The SIL survey by Hughes (2009) confirms the similarity between Tsaukwamboand Komyandaret, citing a lexical similarity percentage of 60%. Tsaukwambo andKomyandaret are classified together with Korowai as forming the Becking-Dawi di-alect continuum (de Vries et al. 2012). Almost no linguistic data on Komyandaretexist, except for a 239-item word list in the 2009 SIL survey.

1.1.14 Other possible Awyu-Dumut languages

There are several other possible Awyu-Dumut languages for which too little data areavailable to determine their affiliation(s). Voorhoeve classifies Sawuy as an Awyu-Dumut language based on its pronouns (Voorhoeve 1971, 2005), Healey (1970:998)mentions a possible Awyu-Dumut language named Airo-Sumaghage, while socio-linguistic surveys carried out by SIL over the past decade present a plethora of likelyAwyu-Dumut languages. Of all these languages, most data are available for Sawuy;


a word list and some grammatical notes on Sawuy were published by Voorhoeve(1971). As for Airo-Sumaghahe, Healey refers to a mention of it in a genetic studypublished as Simmons et al. (1967), but no language data are available. The SIL lan-guage surveys (Jang (2003), Susanto (2004), Hughes (2009), Kriens & Lebold (2010),Kriens et al. (2013)), although they contain valuable sociolinguistic data, do not con-tain any morphological data and are hence not a source of data for the current study.Furthermore, it is not always easy to relate the languages listed in these surveys tothe languages described in previous published work, making it unclear which lan-guage variety is being discussed. Therefore I limit myself to the languages describedby Drabbe and de Vries.

1.2 Previous Study of Awyu-Dumut Languages

1.2.1 Petrus Drabbe

Figure 1.4: Petrus DrabbeSource: Boelaars (1995)

Petrus Drabbe (*04-06-1887, † 27-10-1970) was a Catholicmissionary of the order of the Sacred Heart who did de-scriptive linguistic work in West Papua between 1935and 1960. Before his arrival at the mission station onthe Mimika coast, he had already spent 20 years on theMoluccan Tanimbar Islands doing ethnographic, linguis-tic and missionary work. Although he was not formallytrained as a (field) linguist – there was no such educa-tion when he was young – he had a natural talent forlanguage description and took great interest in any lan-guage he came across. That he took pleasure in the sci-entific study of languages is clear from a quote in a radioaddress he gave in 1962, where he says “I have alwaysdone my work with pleasure, because every language isa fascinating miracle and it is an intense pleasure to ana-lyze such a miracle, as one makes new and unexpecteddiscoveries again and again.”4

Drabbe spent 25 years doing linguistic fieldwork in New Guinea, being freedfrom other missionary work from 1939 onwards. Every few years he went to anew area to study other languages. The following list gives an indication of whichlanguages Drabbe worked in during which years, as he listed them himself in his1962 radio address.

• Kamoro, from 1935 until 1938

• Sampan, 1938

4“Ik heb mijn werk altijd met veel plezier gedaan, omdat iedere taal een boeiend wonder is en heteen intens genoegen is zulk een wonder te ontleden, doordat men telkens nieuwe en onverwachteontdekkingen doet.” (Drabbe 1962:27)

1.2. Previous Study of Awyu-Dumut Languages 11

• Jaqai, 1939

• Awyu (Pisa, Shiaxa, Yenimu), from 1940 until 1942

• 3 languages on Frederik Hendrik Island, from 1940 until 1942

• Kati and another language in the Muyu area, from 1942 until 1945

• Boazi, Jelmek and Maklew, 1946

• furlough in the Netherlands, from early 1947 until early 1950

• Ekagi and Moni, 1950-1951

• Marind, 1952-1954

• Awyu (Aghu) and Dumut languages (Mandobo, Wambon), from early 1954until 1956

• Three Asmat dialects, from 1956 until the end of 1958

• A fourth dialect of Asmat at Kepi, and Tamagario, 1959

• After repeated illnesses, Petrus Drabbe was repatriated to the Netherlands in1960 at the age of 73, where he lived for another 10 years.

Thus, Drabbe first worked on three Awyu languages, Shiaxa, Yenimu and Pisa, forwhich he wrote a grammar sketch published in 1950, while only a decade later didhe encounter a fourth Awyu language, Aghu, as well as the Dumut languages, forwhich he wrote more elaborate grammars. According to a 1954 publication in An-thropos, Drabbe thought on his first encounter with Mandobo – a Dumut language– that it was related to the Ok languages he had studied in the Muyu area dur-ing World War II. Culturally, the Mandobo and other Dumut speakers are closer tothe Ok language speakers than to Awyu language speakers. An example of a cul-tural difference between Awyu speakers and Mandobo speakers that Drabbe notesis the difference in dress. Awyu speakers wear ‘schaamschorten’, while Dumut andOk speakers wear ‘penisdoppen.’5 Only careful comparison of Mandobo to bothKati (an Ok language) and Awyu languages revealed that Mandobo was an Awyu-Dumut language, an indication that Drabbe did do some classification and compa-rison in the midst of his descriptive efforts.

Petrus Drabbe’s observations and analyses are sharp and clear. More than halfa century after their publication, Drabbe’s grammars are still very useful becauseof his straight-forward way of describing the phenomena he found in Papuan lan-guages and because he included many glossed examples and texts. His down-to-

5‘Schaamschorten’ are a type of skirt made of fibers, while it is unclear what Drabbe meansexactly by ‘penisdoppen’; perhaps they are akin to what the Korowai wear, described by van Enk& de Vries (1997:44) as “a leaf wrapping to cover the glans of the penis.” The exact words Drabbeuses are as follows: “we hadden het vooropgezette idee, dat Kaeti en Kati zeker verwant zoudenzijn, wat ook tot op zekere hoogte waar is, maar we dachten er geen ogenblik aan, dat het Kaetiwel eens meer verwant zou kunnen zijn met het Awju, wat achteraf toch blijkt het geval te zijn.Ons vooropgestelde idee kwam hier vandaan dat etnografisch Kati’s en Kaeti’s duidelijk bij elkaarhoren; zo is o.a. de dracht (rotangordel met penisdop, en bij feestelijke gelegenheden de peniskoker)dezelfde, en verschilt geheel van die der Awju’s (schaamschortdragers)” (Drabbe 1959:5).


earth personality might also have contributed to Drabbe’s lasting success as a lin-guist, as described in an obituary by Professor Gonda, who worked together withDrabbe in the Netherlands. Professor Gonda describes Drabbe as follows:

Father Drabbe was a likeable, generous man, thoroughly real, focused onfacts, taking life as it came, and also wary of any form of interpretationoutside his linguistic studies. The intellectual and emotional parts of hisperson went together harmoniously, according to those who knew himbetter than I ever did. He was never exuberant, but he could take plea-sure in everyday, innocent things, and knew, if necessary, how to expresshis sympathies and annoyances, but always in a personal manner. Withgreat sobriety he was able to see the relative importance of things, and inhis scientific study he was aware of the limits of his own ability, and ofthe limited importance of every human labor.6

Drabbe himself ascribes his linguistic abilities and insights as perhaps coming fromGod when he says: “It seemed that Our Dear Lord gave me a special sort of abi-lity for the work to which He called me... I must admit honestly that I have oftencalled upon the Holy Spirit to do a little Pentecost miracle in me, for the sake of thePapuans.”7

1.2.2 Alan Healey and Bert Voorhoeve

Ten years after Drabbe left Papua, Alan Healey published a proto phonology ofAwyu-Dumut languages, taking word lists collected and published by Drabbe ashis source of data. Alan Healey was a member of SIL and defended a PhD the-sis at the Australian National University ANU in 1964 on a comparative study ofOk languages. By the time Healey published his Awyu-Dumut proto phonologyin 1970, Bert Voorhoeve, a Dutch linguist, had already hypothesized that Awyu-Dumut languages were part of a larger language family consisting of Asmat, Okand Awyu-Dumut languages, which he called the Central South New Guinea phy-lum (Voorhoeve 1968). In 1970, Voorhoeve, together with Ken McElhanon, pro-posed the existence of a Trans New Guinea family, at that point in time consis-ting of Voorhoeve’s Central South New Guinea phylum and McElhanon’s recon-structed Finnistere-Huon phylum (Voorhoeve & McElhanon 1970). Throughout the

6“Pater Drabbe was een aimabel, hartelijk man, door en door reëel, faktisch ingesteld, het levennemend zoals het was, en ook buiten zijn taalkundige studiën afkerig van enige vorm van interpre-tatie. De intellectuele en emotionele zijden van zijn persoon gingen, ook volgens hen die hem veelbeter gekend hebben dan ikzelf, op harmonische wijze samen. Uitbundig was hij nooit, maar hijkon veel plezier hebben in gewone, onschuldige dingen, en wist, als het nodig was, van zijn sympa-thieën en van ergernis wel degelijk, maar dan op zeer persoonlijke wijze, blijk te geven. Hij was erin grote nuchterheid in geslaagd de relatieve belangrijkheid der dingen te zien en was zich ook bijzijn wetenschappelijke werk wel degelijk van de grenzen van zijn eigen kunnen en van de beperktebelangrijkheid van ieder mensenwerk bewust” (Gonda & Anceaux 1970:450-461).

7“Maar het leek, dat O.L. Heer me een speciaal soort knobbel heeft gegeven voor het werk waar-toe Hij mij bestemde...ik moet eerlijk bekennen, dat ik heel vaak de H. Geest heb aangeroepen, dathij ten bate van de Papoea’s een klein Pinksterwondertje met mij zou doen” (Drabbe 1962:20).

1.2. Previous Study of Awyu-Dumut Languages 13

chequered career of the Trans New Guinea family hypothesis, as clearly sketched byAndrew Pawley (2005b), it has never been doubted that Awyu-Dumut languages area part of the Trans New Guinea family, whatever other languages may or may notbelong to it.

Years after Healey published his proto phonology of Awyu-Dumut languages,Bert Voorhoeve published a second proto phonology of Awyu-Dumut languages in2001, incorporating data on Digul Wambon, Kombai and Korowai that had becomeavailable through Lourens de Vries’ fieldwork (see Section 1.2.3). Both Healey’s andVoorhoeve’s proto phonologies will be further discussed in Chapter 2. Due to theirground-breaking work on Awyu-Dumut proto phonology, I am able to focus on theproto morphology in the current study.

1.2.3 Lourens de Vries; Awyu-Dumut group at VU

Twenty years after Petrus Drabbe left New Guinea, Lourens de Vries arrived. From1981 until 1992, he lived in the Awyu-Dumut area, working as a linguistic mis-sionary for the Dutch Reformed Mission (Zending Gereformeerde Kerken: ZGK).From 1981 until 1983, he lived in the village of Manggelum and worked on DigulWambon. From early 1984 he and his family lived in Wanggemalo where he stu-died Kombai and from where he also made frequent trips to the Korowai village ofYaniruma as well as to Korowai clan lands. Lourens de Vries’ doctoral thesis, de-fended in 1989, concerns Digul Wambon and Kombai, while in 1997 he co-authoreda book on Korowai grammar (van Enk & de Vries 1997). After his return to theNetherlands in 1993, Lourens de Vries always kept an interest in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages, publishing on them over the next 20 years (most importantly, de Vries (1994,2005, 2006, 2010)).

From 2009, Lourens de Vries has been the project leader of a 4-year researchproject funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) enti-tled The Awyu-Dumut language family of Papuan languages in its cultural and linguisticcontext at the VU University Amsterdam, in the context of which the current re-search was undertaken. Besides Lourens de Vries and myself, the Awyu-Dumutresearch group at the VU has a third member, Wilco van den Heuvel, who studiedthe relationship between Awyu-Dumut languages and their immediate neigbors. Ina paper containing preliminary results (de Vries et al. 2012), the three members ofthe Awyu-Dumut research group conclude that Kombai and Korowai are both partof larger dialect chains and that the dialect chain of which Korowai is a part, theBecking-Dawi chain, is only distantly related to the other Awyu-Dumut languages.The dialect chain to which Kombai belongs, the Ndeiram chain, forms a subgroupof the Awyu-Dumut language family. These preliminary results led to the establish-ment of the family tree of Awyu-Dumut languages represented in Figure 1.3 above.


1.3 Awyu-Dumut Languages are Constructs

Awyu-Dumut speakers in pre-contact days did not have or use names for their lan-guages; when asked about the name of the language they spoke and what groupor ‘tribe’ they belonged to by missionaries such as Drabbe, they replied with termsmeaning ‘our sound’ or ‘sound of real people’, and for the group to which theybelonged they used terms meaning ‘(real) people’ or ‘humans’. For example, thelanguage (and group) name ‘Aghu’ means ‘person’, as does ‘Kombai’, which isan Indonesianized version of xoba ‘person’. At times, languages and groups werenamed after the river or stream where they were spoken by the first western personwho had need for a name. For Shiaxa and Yenimu, Drabbe notes that “one of thedialects here treated is spoken along the Shiaxa, and here and there we will givesome differences which occur along the Yenimu, a branch of the Shiaxa. Because thegroups which live along these little rivers have no common name, we simply speakof the Shiaxa dialect and the Yenimu dialect.”8 In a similar manner, ‘Korowai’ isan Indonesianized version of xolufo ‘upstream’, referring to the clans who live ‘up-stream’. The names ‘Mandobo’ and ‘Digul Wambon’ are also river-based, whereasthe origins of the names ‘Pisa’ and ‘Yonggom Wambon’ remain unknown; ‘Pisa’ is aname the speakers thereof used for themselves, whereas ‘Yonggom’ is a name givento Yonggom Wambon speakers by Digul Wambon speakers, according to Lourensde Vries (p.c.). Drabbe admits freely that he is the one giving the Awyu-Dumut lan-guages names, stating that “because of lack of a better name, or rather because oflack of an actual name, we speak of the Kaeti language.”9

In clan societies such as those in which the Awyu-Dumut speakers lived whenDrabbe and de Vries worked on their grammar descriptions, clan membership andclan lands are the focus of identity, rather than language. Awyu-Dumut speakersdo not necessarily view the language they speak as setting them apart from the nextclan or group that speak another language. De Vries notes that in Awyu-Dumutsociety, “[l]anguage transcends clan lands; people of many different clan lands mayshare a language. But among the Awyu-Dumut, language as a clan transcendingentity is never the focus of identity construction. Not language but clan affiliationsdetermine who you are” (de Vries 2012b:10). People within one clan may speak dif-ferent languages, and conversely, people who speak the same language may belongto very different clans. Thus the speakers of one language do not necessarily have acommon sense of identity; indeed, they might be enemies. Hence, language is nota strong marker of (group) identity in Awyu-Dumut societies. At the same time,

8“Een der beide dialecten welke we hier behandelen wordt gesproken aan de Sjiagha, en wezullen hier en daar enige afwijkingen geven die aan de Jenimu voorkomen, een tak van de Sjiagha.Daar de groepen die aan de riviertjes wonen geen algemene naam hebben, spreken we eenvoudigvan Sjiagha- en Jenimu-dialect.” (Drabbe 1950:93)

9“Daarom spreken ook wij bij gebrek aan beter, of liever bij gebrek aan een werkelijke naam,van Kaeti taal.” (Drabbe 1959:4) Note that Kaeti is the term Drabbe uses for Mandobo; Mandobo is thestream along which this language is spoken, and was used as a language name by Boelaars (1970).Here Mandobo is preferred to avoid confusion with a neighboring Ok language called Kati.

1.3. Awyu-Dumut Languages are Constructs 15

language is used as a tool to express one’s relationships, in a society in which it isimportant to whom you are connected. Foley notes that “like other cultural arti-facts, language is a trade item” in New Guinea (Foley 1986:24). Likewise, de Vriesnotes about Awyu-Dumut society that “[w]hen two clans or two individuals withdifferent languages or dialects have a relationship in the context of trade, marriage,or otherwise, the partners not only exchange goods to symbolise their relationshipbut they also exchange elements of language. By borrowing elements from the lan-guage of partners and relations, sociocentric conceptions of identity are expressedin language”(de Vries 2012b:12). Thus the mix of languages that a group or indi-vidual speaks reflects their identity. Awyu-Dumut ideas about language were quitedifferent from the language ideologies held by the missionaries, linguists and go-vernment officials who encountered them, whose language ideologies originatedin nation states with national languages where language is related to culture, poli-tics and national identity. When naming languages that before had no names, theyassumed that these languages were bounded entities that were expressions of ho-mogeneous cultures, and that the people who spoke a language formed a culturalunit. Quite the opposite was the case in the New Guinea context, where “commu-nities must be viewed as foci in areal networks of cultural and linguistic patterns.Each community constructs its identity by drawing on the available pool of culturaland linguistic traits” (Foley 1986:26).

Another way in which Awyu-Dumut languages did not fit the language ide-ologies of the scholars who described them is that they are not bounded, discreteentities. Rather, Awyu-Dumut languages form dialect chains or continua. For ex-ample, a clan speaking dialect (or variant) A of a language may understand anotherclan speaking dialect B, who in turn understand clans speaking dialect C and D, butspeakers of dialect A do not understand speakers of dialect D and vice versa. ThusA and D are then defined as different languages, but are part of the same dialectchain. This means that Awyu-Dumut languages have unclear, fuzzy boundaries, asit is unclear which dialects or variants should or should not be grouped as beingpart of a language. Recent SIL surveyors of the Awyu languages note the followingabout dialect chaining in these languages: “The Awyu people [...] speak a numberof closely related languages. In addition, there is a great deal of language ‘chain-ing’ from one village to the next, which makes it difficult to define the boundariesbetween these languages” (Kriens and Lebold 2010:5). In a setting of dialect chain-ing, where language boundaries are unclear, it is imperative to note where one’sinformants come from in order to make clear which variety is being described. BothDrabbe and de Vries are strong on this point, clearly indicating in their grammarswhich clan(s) their informants were from and where those clans lived, so that thevariant they describe can be well located on a map (see Figure 1.2).

Awyu-Dumut languages are constructs, defined by the missionary linguists whodescribed them rather than by the speakers of these languages. The linguistic com-parisons presented in this book are based on the grammars written by Drabbe andde Vries, which are their interpretations that can best be viewed as momentary snap-shots, concrete pictures of a larger reality. The reader should keep in mind through-


out that any statement involving the phrase ‘in language X...’ is in fact an abstrac-tion of ‘in what Drabbe/de Vries defined as language X based on interaction with alimited number of speakers.’

1.4 Methodology: the Comparative Method

The comparative method of historical linguistics, developed in the 19th century inthe study of the geographically widespread Indo-European language family, is em-ployed in this book to reconstruct the proto morphology of a Papuan language fa-mily. Applying the comparative method, summarized as a set of instructions byDurie & Ross (1996) (see Table 1.1), the historical linguist can determine what thelinguistic residues of an earlier (proto) language are within a group of related lan-guages. That is, the comparative method allows the linguist to filter out linguisticsimilarities that languages share because they descend from a common ancestor andhistory.

Table 1.1: The linguistic comparative method summarized as a set of instructions (Durie &Ross 1996)

1. Determine on the strength of diagnostic evidence that a set of languages are geneticallyrelated, that is, that they constitute a ‘family’;

2. Collect putative cognate sets for the family (both morphological paradigms and lexicalitems);

3. Work out the sound correspondences from the cognate sets, putting ‘irregular’ cognatesets on one side;

4. Reconstruct the proto language of the family as follows:

a) Reconstruct the proto phonology from the sound correspondences worked out in (3),using conventional wisdom regarding the directions of sound changes;

b) Reconstruct proto morphemes (both morphological paradigms and lexical items)from the cognate sets collected in (2), using the proto phonology reconstructed in(4a);

5. Establish innovations (phonological, lexical, semantic, morphological, morphosyntactic)shared by groups of languages within the family relative to the reconstructed protolanguage;

6. Tabulate the innovations established in (5) to arrive at an internal classification of thefamily, a ‘family tree’;

7. Construct an etymological dictionary, tracing borrowings, semantic change etc. for thelexicon of the family (or of one language of the family).

The comparative method is closely linked to the family tree metaphor, whichholds that languages split off from a common ancestor and then follow their ownpaths, diverging into separate languages that retain traces of the original proto lan-guage. The tree model assumes that there is no, or very little, contact between lan-guages once they have split off from their common ancestor. However, within the

1.4. Methodology: the Comparative Method 17

Awyu-Dumut language family there is extensive contact – and borrowing of linguis-tic material – between languages. This interaction is fueled by a cultural languageideology that does not see language as a focus of group identity to be protected butrather as something that can be shared or exchanged. This leads to a situation inwhich individuals express their identities – which are largely determined by theirrelationships to those around them – by incorporating (part of) the language(s) ofthose with whom they are in contact (de Vries 2007). Thus a linguistic feature that isshared between Awyu-Dumut languages has a high potential of having its origin inlanguage contact, rather than in a common linguistic ancestor. Nevertheless, a rigo-rous application of the comparative method does allow one to distinguish betweeninherited and borrowed elements. However, it can never be ruled out altogetherthat an element is not borrowed, and hence a claim for genealogical affiliation isalways a probabilistic one (Foley 2000:359).

On the basis of Awyu-Dumut lexical data, the second and third steps as well aspart of the fourth step listed by Durie & Ross (1996), namely the collecting of lexi-cal cognate sets, working out of sound correspondences and the reconstruction of aproto phonology, were carried out by Alan Healey (1970), Bert Voorhoeve (2001) andby myself in Chapter 2 of this book. The applicability of the comparative methodin Papuan lexical data is at times questioned because core vocabulary has beenknown to be borrowed across languages in the Papuan setting (Foley 2000:392) andtherefore, in theory, any item that appears cognate between two Papuan languagescould have been borrowed. Nonetheless, if two languages (or a group of languages)share a large part of their vocabularies, and if regular sound correspondences canbe traced between the languages, then the languages in question are very likelyto be genealogically related. Not only were the lexical data employed to reach aproto phonology, but phylogenetic computational methods were applied to the lex-ical data to arrive at a subgrouping, or internal classification, of the Awyu-Dumutlanguage family (Section 2.8). Thus the lexical data found in Drabbe’s and de Vries’grammars were useful, but as Antoine Meillet already noted, “one can initially es-tablish vocabulary resemblances between two or several languages as an indicationof where to do further research, [but] this cannot furnish a definitive demonstration;vocabulary can only orient the research, and proof comes from elsewhere” (AntoineMeillet, quoted by Nichols 1996). In Awyu-Dumut languages, this ‘elsewhere’ isbound morphology, the reconstruction of which will prove beyond a doubt thatAwyu-Dumut languages share a common ancestor.

The current study focuses on the reconstruction of bound morphology. Concern-ing the use of bound morphology in historical Papuan linguistics, Foley notes that

For non-Austronesian languages, the vast majority of which have no doc-umentation older than 50 years, it is problematic to sift what is true,genetically inherited material from what is borrowed from other lan-guages, especially the borrowings from related contiguous languages orfrom languages now defunct. Consequently, comparative linguistics inPapuan languages must proceed with care and the utmost rigor. It would


appear that bound morphological forms are the most resistant to bor-rowing [again, however, not entirely immune], so that bound morpho-logical forms that appear cognate are the most reliable guide to geneticrelationships between Papuan languages. Although not unchallenged,this working hypothesis seems the most trustworthy, albeit conservative,way to proceed (Foley 2000:359).

Although bound morphology is more resistant to borrowing than are lexical items,it is not immune to being copied, especially not in the cultural environment in whichPapuan languages operate, an environment which encourages linguistic borrowing.Papuan languages might have bound morphology in common for one of three rea-sons. First, the shared bound morphology can be a reflection of genealogical rela-tionship; each language has inherited the morphology from their proto language.Second, shared bound morphology can be due to borrowing, even though bor-rowing of bound morphology is much rarer than lexical borrowing. Third, sharedbound morphology, especially when only the function but not the form is shared,can be ascribed to a shared areal feature that has spread through intensive languagecontact. Thus, to use bound morphology as an effective tool to trace genealogicalrelationship, cognate shared morphology must be distinguished from copied sharedmorphology. The following three constraints facilitate the making of this distinction:

1. the paradigmaticity constraint (Ross 2005:50)

2. the form-function correlation constraint (Foley 2005:110)

3. the systematicity constraint (Foley 2005:141)

Constraint (1) requires (proposed) related languages to share two or more formsin a particular paradigm and leads to entire paradigms, rather than individual forms,being compared. Individual forms are more likely to be borrowed than is an entireparadigm, and thus if multiple similarities or cognates are found in one paradigm,a genealogical explanation becomes more likely.

Constraint (2) requires the forms and meanings of putative cognates in sharedbound morphology to be identical or else relatable in a non-ad hoc manner. Whendiscussing the use of structural similarities to establish genealogical relationship,Pawley notes that “in general, structural resemblances do not constitute strong ev-idence for genetic relationship unless they are also associated with cognate mor-phemes” (Pawley et al. 2005:75). The form-function correlation constraint rules outthe consideration of cases of metatypy as reflecting a common ancestry. Metatypyis a term coined by Malcolm Ross and can be described as a process wherein “themorphosyntactic constructions of one of the languages of a bilingual speech com-munity are restructured on the model of the constructions of the speakers’ otherlanguage” (Ross 2007:116). In such instances, only the function (‘type’) of a gram-matical construction enters the language, rather than the grammatical constructionplus the morphological form that expresses it. Once again, it must be emphasizedthat the borrowing of the function and form of a grammatical construction is rare.

1.5. The Structure of the Book 19

Furthermore, the form-function constraint also prevents the researcher from com-paring morphemes that only share a function in a broad sense. Foley (2005:109-110) cites an example of Laycock and Z’graggen who reconstructed a 1SG pronoun*wun with 1SG, 2SG and 3SG pronoun reflexes in the daughter languages. The form-function constraint prohibits such reconstructions and other mass comparisons like it.

In addition to entire paradigms being compared under strict form-function cor-relation conditions, the overall grammatical systems of languages must be com-pared and must show similarities in bound morphology in multiple, independentparadigms in order to meet Constraint (3). When these three constraints are met, agenealogical relationship is far more likely to account for the observed correspon-dences in bound morphology than an explanation in terms of either chance or lan-guage contact.

A strict application of the form-function correlation constraint forces theresearcher to carry out diachronic trajectory research: when the forms and/or func-tions of bound morphology have changed, the form-function constraint stipulatesthat the innovation paths or the trajectories of change and diversification that a mor-pheme has followed be described and explained in a principled way. This approachallows the researcher to discover the historical processes that have been at work ina language, shaping it into what it is today. Tracing diachronic changes tells a muchmore detailed story about a language (or language family) than would be possibleby merely establishing its genealogical relatedness. I agree with Foley that “we mustnot be side-tracked into believing that isolating the genetic affiliation, the ‘Platonicessence’, of a language will be the key to understanding its nature” (Foley 1998:505)and that “simple labels like ‘Austronesian’ or ‘Papuan’ advance our understandingof the complex linguistic history of New Guinea but little. Seeing them as labels forcomplex assemblages of traits which are negotiable and contestable seems to me tooffer a more fruitful avenue of investigation” (Foley 1998:515-516).

1.5 The Structure of the Book

The structure of this book follows that of a standard grammar description.Chapter 2 focuses on (proto) phonology, summarizing the work done by Healey(1970) and Voorhoeve (2001) and presenting a computational phylogenetic analy-sis of Awyu-Dumut lexical data. Chapters 3 and 4 cover non-verbal morphology:Chapter 3 is about nouns and adjectival morphology, while Chapter 4 is on pro-nouns. In Chapters 6 through 9 Awyu-Dumut verbal morphology is covered, withseparate chapters dedicated to tense, aspect, mood, subject person-number markingand negation. Chapter 10 covers deictics and demonstratives and the grammatica-lization path they follow. Chapter 11 moves on to morphology on the clausal level,describing the diachronic development of switch reference and clause chaining inAwyu-Dumut languages. The book concludes with a short summary and discus-sion of the findings.


Each chapter is divided into a synchronic and a diachronic portion. The syn-chronic portion offers descriptions of the grammatical phenomenon discussed inthat chapter for each Awyu-Dumut language, often discussing the phenomenonwithin each subgroup. These synchronic descriptions summarize Drabbe’s and deVries’ work, while also containing my own reanalyses of their data. Reconstructedproto morphemes and diachronic (grammaticalization) pathways are then offeredin the diachronic portion of each chapter, taking a bottom-up reconstructive ap-proach that first reconstructs Proto Awyu and Proto Dumut before reconstructingProto Awyu-Dumut.

1.6 A Note on Glossing

The examples I use to illustrate and support my analyses come from the grammarsby Petrus Drabbe and Lourens de Vries. The language concerned is indicated foreach example, and a citation is given, which can help the reader locate the originalexample in the grammar. It must be noted that the glosses reflect my own analysesand may, therefore, differ from how they are represented in the grammar or gram-mar sketch of that particular language. Any reanalyses of the data presented inDrabbe’s and de Vries’ grammars are thoroughly explained in the text.

The Leipzig Glossing Rules are followed in the glosses in this book.10 Further-more, any morphophonemic changes that occur are not filtered out of the exam-ples. Thus, for example, if the realis marker -t changes to -l intervocalically in DigulWambon, it is written as /l/ in the example, not as -t. For a list of the most commonmorphophonemic rules that occur in Awyu-Dumut languages, see Section 2.2 in thechapter on Awyu-Dumut phonology.

10http://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php

http://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php

2

Proto Phonology and Phylogenetics

Within the last half century, two major publications appeared concerning the protophonology of Awyu-Dumut language family. Alan Healey was the first to recon-struct a proto phonology of the Awyu-Dumut family in 1970. Bert Voorhoeve incor-porated extra data on Awyu-Dumut languages gathered since 1970 in his “Awyu-Dumut Proto Phonology II” in his 2001 publication. Both researchers used a combi-nation of the comparative method and lexicostatistics to arrive at their conclusions.

The current study of Awyu-Dumut proto phonology employs a strict applica-tion of the comparative method, in addition to using phylogenetic computationalmethods, to arrive at a proto phonology and a subgrouping of the Awyu-Dumutlanguage family. The work by Holton et al. (2012) and Holton & Robinson (2012)on the proto phonology and subgrouping of the Alor-Pantar family of Papuan lan-guages greatly inspired the work presented in this chapter.

In a proper application of the comparative method, sound correspondences areestablished first before an attempt at subgrouping is made, as set out by Durie andRoss (1996) and summarized in Table 1.1. Both Healey and Voorhoeve begin by pre-senting their subgroups without extensively giving sound correspondences; theyfocus immediately on establishing sound changes. In the current chapter, conso-nantal sound correspondences are first established by studying a set of 123 putativecognate sets that can be reconstructed to the proto Awyu-Dumut level. Only thenare regular sound changes reconstructed. In Section 2.7 on Awyu-Dumut vowels,it is concluded that the comparative method cannot be applied rigorously to theAwyu-Dumut vowels but that some sound changes within the vowel system cannonetheless be traced. Phylogenetic computational methods are employed in Sec-tion 2.8 to arrive at a subgrouping of the Awyu-Dumut language family. The conclu-sions drawn in this chapter facilitate and enable the reconstruction of Awyu-Dumutproto morphology.

22 2. Proto Phonology and Phylogenetics

2.1 Data

The 430-item word list contained in Drabbe (1959:162-181) forms the basis of theproto phonological work done by Healey (1970), Voorhoeve (2001) and myself. Hea-ley restricted himself to lexical items that also appear on the Swadesh 200 list, thusminimizing the chance that he was dealing with borrowed words. The word list towhich Healey had access contained six Awyu-Dumut languages. By the time Voor-hoeve wrote his Awyu Dumut proto phonology II, he had received data on two furtherAwyu-Dumut languages, Digul Wambon and Kombai, from Lourens de Vries. Fromcommunication with Lourens de Vries, it is known that he gave Voorhoeve a wordlist containing 200 lexical items, most of which also occurred in Drabbe’s word list.Thus Voorhoeve had less data for Digul Wambon and Kombai than he did for theother Awyu-Dumut languages. Voorhoeve leaves Yenimu out of his analysis be-cause of its similarity to Shiaxa, and he supplements the Pisa and Mandobo wordlists collected by Drabbe with word lists he himself gathered in the villages of Ketu(Pisa) and Kwem (Mandobo).

The data for the current study are (nearly) complete word lists of 430 itemsfor all Awyu-Dumut languages: Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa, Aghu, Mandobo, YonggomWambon, Digul Wambon, Kombai and Korowai. The full Digul Wambon and Kom-bai word lists were collected in 2012 and 2013 by HongTae Jang and Sun-Kyu Chi,respectively, and I am grateful to them for sharing their data. The Korowai datawere taken from the lexicon contained in van Enk & de Vries (1997). Drabbe’s 430-item word list is the source of data for the other six Awyu-Dumut languages.

2.2 Orthography and Morphophonemics

Appendix A contains the lexical database on which I base my analysis, including thewords that could be reconstructed for Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut. An item was reconstructed for Proto Awyu-Dumut only if it had a reflex inboth an Awyu and a Dumut language. In the appendix, the original orthographies ofthe various sources are maintained. However, the orthography I use in my writingis slightly different; it is presented in Table 2.1 in the column entitled ‘grapheme.’Note that although Drabbe, de Vries and Voorhoeve all claim that Dumut voicedplosives are always prenasalized, they are not consistent in writing them as such, aninconsistency that has made its way into my work as well (when the sources writea voiced plosive as not being prenasalized, I also do so).

Table 2.1: Awyu-Dumut phonemes and their representation

IPA Source Grapheme Languages

p p p SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOR

t t t SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOR

k k k SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOR

continued on next page

2.2. Orthography and Morphophonemics 23

Table 2.1: continued

IPA Source Grapheme Languagesmb mb, b mb, b MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

nd nd, d nd, d MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

ŋŋg ŋŋg, ngg, g ŋŋg, g MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

b b b SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU,KOR

d d d SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU,KOR

g g g SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU,KOR

F f, w f SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, KOM, KOR

B v, w v,w MAN, YWB, DWB

x kh, gh x SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, DWB, KOM, KOR

G ch x SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, DWB

m m m SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

n n n SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

l l l DWB, KOM, KOR

r r r SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM

s s s SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, YWB, DWB, KOR

w w w SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

j j y SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

i i i SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

y ü ü AXU, MAN, KOM, KOR

u u u SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, YWB, DWB, KOR

e e, é e SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

ø ö ö MAN

o o o SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM, KOR

E è E SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, KOR

a a a SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, MAN, YWB, DWB, KOR

Table 2.2: Awyu-Dumut common morphophonemic changes

rule example languages

p→ {w,f,v}/V_V ep+e=ewe (YWB) MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM

there+ TOP =thatt→ {r,l}/V_V mbet+o=mbelo (DWB) MAN, YWB, DWB, KOM

SEQ + CONN =and thenk→ {g}/V_V towe+karigiap=towe garigiap

(MAN)MAN, YWB, DWB

very+afraid=very afraidmb→ ∅/p_ mba-t-ep-mbo=mbalepo (DWB) MAN, YWB, DWB

stay-REAL-1SG-PST =I stayed∅→ n/V_V na+a=nana (KOM) MAN, YWB, DWB, AXU,

1.SG.POSS +house=my house PSA, SHI, YEN, KOM

∅→ n/V_V axı+e=axine (AXU) AXU, PSA, SHI, YEN, KOM

go.FUT + NON1SG =he will goV→ Vŋŋg/_k kumã+ki=kuma ŋŋgi (AXU) AXU, PSA, SHI

sick+be=to be sick

The most common morphophonemic changes that occur in between words and due


to morphological clustering are given in Table 2.2.1 Dumut languages and Kombaishare a fricativization of voiceless plosives when they occur intervocalically. Fur-thermore, two vowels may not follow each other in any Awyu-Dumut language,and a transitional nasal is inserted whenever two vowels appear after one another.The last two morphophonemic changes listed in Table 2.2 concern nasal vowelsfound in Awyu languages and Kombai; the nasality of a final vowel is often trans-ferred to the sound that follows it, or if a vowel follows a nasal vowel, an /n/ occursbetween the two vowels. In his phonological descriptions Drabbe further notes thatthere is extensive vowel harmony in Awyu-Dumut languages.

2.3 Sound Correspondences

In this section, I describe the consonant correspondences found in 123 cognate setsof the Awyu-Dumut 430-item word list that were reconstructible to the Proto Awyu-Dumut level. Only those items that had a reflex in both an Awyu language and aDumut language were reconstructed to Proto Awyu-Dumut. Awyu-Dumut con-sonants behave differently depending on their context; therefore, a distinction ismade between consonants that occur initially, medially and finally. Sometimes thevowels that follow a consonant also influence its realization in the various Awyu-Dumut languages. Taking these conditioning factors into account, there are 27 con-sonant correspondences that can be identified in the dataset. Table 2.3 lists the setof consonant correspondences found in the Awyu-Dumut languages, as well as thereconstructed Proto Awyu-Dumut phoneme for each correspondence set. The envi-ronment column (Env.) indicates the condition in which the correspondence occurs:initial (I), medial (M), or final (F). Sometimes the environment is conditioned by acertain vowel; such vowels will be included in parentheses in the environment co-lumn. A zero (∅) indicates that the Proto Awyu-Dumut sound has been droppedin that particular language, while a slash (/) indicates that there is more than onereflex of a sound. A question mark (?) indicates that there is insufficient data to de-termine a reflex for that language. In tables 2.4-2.14 below containing lexical itemsthat illustrate these sound correspondences, a blank means that the data is missingfor that language, whereas a dash (–) indicates that the language has a non-cognate,different lexical realization for the term in question.

Table 2.3: Awyu-Dumut sound correspondences

PAD Env. SHI YEN PSA AXU MAN YWB DWB KOM KOR

*p I f f f f ∅ ∅ h f f*p M f f f f ∅ w w f ?*p F ∅ ∅ ∅ ∅ p p p f, ∅ p*t I t t t, s t, s t t, s t, s r ?

continued on next page

1 Minor morphophonemic changes in examples will be clarified in the text or in footnotes andare not given in Table 2.2.

2.3. Sound Correspondences 25

Table 2.3: continued

PAD Env. SHI YEN PSA AXU MAN YWB DWB KOM KOR

*t M t t t, s t, s t, r t, s, r t, s, l r ?*t F t, ∅ ∅ ∅ ∅ t t t l, ∅ l*k I (i,e,u) k k k k k k k x x*k I (a, o) x x x x k k k x x*k M (i,e,u) k k k k g g x x x*k M (a,o) x x x x g g x x x*k F x, ∅ ∅ ∅ ∅ k k k x, ∅ ?*mb I b b b b mb mb mb b b*mb M b b b b mb mb mb b b*nd I d d d d nd nd nd d d*nd M d d d d nd nd nd d d*ŋŋg I ŋŋg g g, ŋŋg g, ŋŋg ŋŋg ŋŋg ŋŋg g ?*ŋŋg M ŋŋg g g, ŋŋg g, ŋŋg ŋŋg ŋŋg ŋŋg ŋŋg ?*m I m m m m m m m m m*m M m m m m m m m m ?*m F ∅ ∅ n n n, m m m m m*n I n n n n n n n n n*n M n n n n n n n n ?*n F ∅ ∅ n n n n n ∅, n n*r I r ? r ∅ r r l l l*r M r r r r r r l r, l ?*w I w w w w w w w w f*y I y y y ∅ ∅, y y ∅ ∅, y y

2.3.1 Voiceless plosives

*p

Proto Awyu-Dumut *p is found in initial, medial and final position, as shown inTable 2.4.Initial *p has a reflex /f/ (IPA F) in Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa, Aghu and Kombai. InYonggom Wambon and Mandobo, initial *p is dropped, while in Digul Wambon,initial *p changes into /h/. It must be noted that Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa and Aghudo have words that begin with a /p/, as shown in Table 2.5, but these words cannotbe reconstructed to a Proto Awyu-Dumut form with an initial *p, as there are nocognates that have a reflex of *p in any of the other languages. The initial /p/ inthese words is hence not a reflex of Proto Awyu-Dumut *p but rather, as alreadynoted by (Healey 1970:1000), reflects a history of borrowing in Proto Awyu.In the whole dataset, medial *p occurs only once, namely in kip(V)i ‘wind’, so it canonly be reconstructed tentatively. This medial *p changes to /f/ in the same lan-guages in which initial *p changes to /f/. In Mandobo, medial *p is dropped, whilein Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon, medial *p changes to /B/, alternativelywritten as /w/ or /v/ in the sources.

Final *p is again more frequent than medial *p. It is dropped altogether in Shiaxa,Yenimu, Pisa and Aghu, while it does not change in Mandobo, Yonggom Wambon


Table 2.4: Reflexes of *p

I name tongue to see M wind

PAD *p *pi *paŋŋgat *peta *p *kip(V)iSHI f fi fagE fete- f kifiYEN f fi fagE fite- f kifiPSA f fi fagE feto- f kifiAXU f fi fage ete- f kifiMAN ø üp oŋŋgat itigio- ∅ kiouYWB ø ip – eto- w kiwuiDWB h hit hatgat hetak- w kiwinKOM f fi faŋŋga fera- f xifeiKOR f fi – – ?

F eye fruit vagina take

PAD *p *ketop *rop *atop *rapSHI ø kero ro ato re-YEN ø kiro ro ato re-PSA ø krimogo jindero ato ra-AXU ø kiomogo – ato a-MAN p kerop rop atop –YWB p kerop rop atop rap-DWB p kelop lop atop lap-KOM ø, f xoro lo aro lofa-KOR p – op – –

Table 2.5: Initial /p/ in four languages

PAD SHI YEN PSA AXU MAN YWB DWB KOM

long – pere piri kowE pi ŋŋguruopŋŋgurup

kolamop ŋŋgolo

old – pusu patu semebe posyü wandop woŋŋgopon sinop munoshoot – piemo- pemo- tı- teen- taem- tamya- rabi-

wound – kEwi kefi pEso peso kogu mbom hitop ruruko

and Digul Wambon. In Kombai, final /f/ is often dropped, but it does occur some-times; de Vries 1993 notes that it is underlying in many instances and only appearswhen the next word or morpheme starts with a vowel (hence /f/ might not alwaysshow up in the word list, although it sometimes does).

Healey does not think that *p occurred initially and medially; rather he positsa *w, noting that final *p and this *w were in complementary distribution (Healey1970:999). However, together with Voorhoeve, I see no need to reconstruct this *w,although Proto Awyu-Dumut *p most likely did have a fricativized allophone.


*t and /s/

Proto Awyu-Dumut *t occurs in initial, medial and final position (Table 2.6). Word-finally, it is dropped in Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa and Aghu, while Kombai sometimesdrops final /t/ and sometimes retains it as an optional /l/. Initially and medially,Proto Awyu-Dumut *t goes to /r/ in Kombai. Pisa, Aghu, Yonggom Wambon andDigul Wambon have reflexes /t/ and /s/ initially; it is not entirely clear under whatconditions *t becomes /s/. The same is true for medial *t, which sometimes but notalways becomes /s/ in Pisa and Aghu, /r/ in Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo,and /l/ in Digul Wambon.

Table 2.6: Reflexes of *t

I armpit cold ear M sweat leech beard vagina

PAD *t *tVŋŋgo(top) *tarü *turu(top) *t *koten *teten *matüt *atopSHI t togo toru toro t,s kote tisi – atoYEN t togo toru turu t kuti – – atoPSA t,s toxõ taru suru t,s kası – masi atoAXU t,s bodo toŋŋgõ tü suketo t,s kesı sisi masü atoMAN t taŋŋgo top – – t,r koten teren matit atopYWB t,s taŋŋgo top sarui turutop t,r koten teren matit atopDWB t,s taŋŋgotop salon silutop t,l – selen – atopKOM r rogo – ruro r kware – maru aroKOR ? – – – ? – – – –

F banana bird louse

PAD *t *tüt *yet *ŋŋgutSHI ø tu yi goYEN ø tu yi guPSA ø su yi aŋŋguAXU ø sjü yi aŋŋguMAN t tyut et ŋŋgutYWB t tit yet ŋŋgutDWB t sit yet ŋŋgutKOM ø, l rü(l) el guKOR ? – – –


Table 2.7: Reflexes of *k

I (a,o) spirit skin to walk I (i,e,u) flower eye to die

PAD *k *kVkVi *kat *ka/*ko- *k *ket *kerop *kum-

SHI x xogoi xa xo- k kete kEro ku-YEN x xoxEi xa xo- k ki kiro ku-PSA x xoxoi xa xo- k ki kriomogo ku-AXU x xoxi xa xo- k ki kiomogo ku-MAN k kugu kota ko- k ket kerop kün-YWB k kagui kotae ko- k ket kerop kim-DWB k kaxui kat/kotai ko-, ka- k ketek kerop kim-KOM x xwai xa xa- x xe xoro xumo-KOR x xayan xal xai- x xel – –

M (a, o) fish to order M (i) knife F urine stairs

PAD *k *rakaV *roka- *k *waki *k *yetuk *parikSHI x axae roxo- ? – ø yiti ti furiYEN x axae roxo- ? – ø yitu –PSA x axae ro- k waki ø yi su afiriAXU x axe o- k woki ø isi –MAN g rogoa – g wegi k erok werikYWB g ragae rogo- g wagi k yetok –DWB x laxai loxo- x waxi k etok halikKOM x – luxa- x waxi ø – faliKOR ? – – x fix ? – –

*k

Proto Awyu-Dumut *k occurs in initial, medial and final position, as illustrated inTable 2.7. Kombai and Korowai always have /x/, a fricativized form of *k, as a reflexof *k. Word-finally, Kombai drops *k. Digul Wambon has reflex /x/ for medial *k,while for initial and final *k it has reflex /k/. In Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon,medial *k becomes /g/, while as in Digul Wambon, initial and final *k remain /k/.

Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa and Aghu have different reflexes initially and medially de-pending on whether *k occurs before a high vowel or a low vowel. When *k comesbefore a low vowel /a/ or /o/, these four languages have a reflex /x/, while be-fore high vowels (/e/, /i/, /u/, /ü/), *k does not change. Medially, there is onlyone cognate set (‘knife’) in which *k precedes a high vowel, but in analogy to thebehavior of word-initial *k before high vowels, it can be hypothesized that medial*k behaves similarly.

Word-finally, *k is dropped in Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa and Aghu. Healey did thinkthere was a word-final /k/ or /x/ in these languages, but only because he viewedthe /k/, /g/ and /x/ that Drabbe writes after verb stems in these languages aspart of the verb stem. However, from Drabbe’s description, it becomes clear that


he includes these consonants after the verb stems in his lexicon to indicate how therealis marker is realized with that particular verb, namely as -k, -g, -x or -ox (Drabbe1957:10). Similarly, Drabbe writes -d or -nd after Shiaxa verb stems in order to indi-cate whether the first person realis marker is realized as -d or -nd in that particularverb (Drabbe 1950:109). These consonants hence are not part of the verb stem, and Iagree with Voorhoeve (2001:365) that *k (or a reflex /x/) does not occur word-finallyin Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa or Aghu. The same misunderstanding probably led Healeyto propose a *x for Proto Awyu-Dumut (where Voorhoeve and I have *k), statingthat a /k/ found in Mandobo or Yongom Wambon was a reflex of that *x.

2.3.2 Voiced plosives

Voiced stops *mb, *nd and *ŋŋg do not occur word-finally in Awyu-Dumut languages,as shown in Tables 2.8, 2.9 and 2.10.

Table 2.8: Reflexes of *mb

I sit chest arm M head tail testicle

PAD *mb *mba- *bema *be(do) *mb *ka(i)mb(i)a *wambut *wamburaSHI b bo- – bedo b xeiba – –YEN b be- – bido b xeiba wobu –PSA b ba- bı bidE b xaibã wobu woburoAXU b ba- besame bido b xabã wobugo wobioMAN mb mba- mbeman – mb kembian wombüt wambirapYWB mb mba- mbemit – mb – wambit –DWB mb mba- – – mb ambat wambit wambilinKOM mb mba- mbema mbei mb xambia wambu wambloKOR b bai- – – b xabean – –

Table 2.9: Reflexes of *nd

I heart sago M meat bird thigh

PAD *nd *ndüma/*dVbo(p) *ndü *nd *kandü *pVndo *midiSHI d dibo do d kodo fodo midiYEN d dibo du d kodo fodo midiPSA d dubaro du d kadu – midiAXU d dübo dü d kudu – midi bigiMAN nd ndümarop ndu nd kandö wando –YWB nd ndimndop ndun nd – andoi –DWB nd dimlop ndu nd kandu – mindinKOM nd ndümo ndoü nd xundo fondo kinomindiKOR d debop daü ? – – –


Table 2.10: Reflexes of *ŋg

I blood M mouth penis tongue

PAD *ŋŋg *ŋŋgom *ŋŋg *maŋŋgot *teŋŋget *paŋŋgatSHI g goŋŋ g – tege fagEYEN g go g – tigi fagEPSA g go g – sigi fagEAXU g gõ g – segi fageMAN ŋŋg ŋŋgom ŋŋg maŋŋgot teŋŋget oŋŋgatYWB ŋŋg ŋŋgom ŋŋg maŋŋgot teŋŋget –DWB ŋŋg ŋŋgom ŋŋg maŋŋgotop teŋŋget hatgatKOM ŋŋg gom ŋŋg moŋŋgoro reŋŋge faŋŋgatKOR ? – ? – – –

Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa, Aghu and Korowai have non-prenasalized reflexes of *mb,*nd and *ŋŋg in most instances. For Korowai, only reflexes for initial and medial*mb and initial *nd were found. Mandobo, Yonggom Wambon, Digul Wambon andKombai retain the prenasalization of voiced stops. For Kombai, this is not apparentfrom the word list, but de Vries (1993) notes that voiced stops are always prenasali-zed in Kombai, though he does not always represent them as such.

Healey does not think that Proto Awyu-Dumut voiced plosives were prenasa-lized, but rather thinks that the prenasalized reflexes in Mandobo and YonggomWambon are the result of the presence of consonant clusters in these languages (Hea-ley 1970:1000). However, I agree with Voorhoeve that these plosives were nasalizedin Proto Awyu-Dumut, while the prenasalization of these sounds disappeared inShiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa and Aghu (Voorhoeve 2001:371).

2.3.3 Nasals

Nasals occur initially, medially and finally in Proto Awyu-Dumut. In Pisa and Aghu,a final nasal is often realized as nasalization on the preceding vowel. In Mandobo,sometimes final *m becomes final /n/. Table 2.11 gives examples of *m in ProtoAwyu-Dumut and its daughter languages, while Table 2.12 illustrates the reflexes ofProto Awyu-Dumut *n in its daughter languages.


Table 2.11: Reflexes of *m

I to drink beard star tendon to come

PAD *m *mi- *matu(t) *minVp *met *me-SHI m mi- – – me mode-YEN m mi- – – me mede-PSA m mi- masirõ mi – –AXU m mi- masü mi me –MAN m emi- matit minap temet me-YWB m mi- matit – met me-DWB m ami- – minop metmet –KOM m mi- maru mi melo me-KOR m mi- – – – –

M widow ripe warm F blood far off to die

PAD *m *rankamo

*yamu *mamV *m *ŋŋgom *kamam *kum-

SHI m xamose – – ø goŋŋ – ku-YEN m xamsE – – ø go – ku-PSA m xamE – – ø, V go xamã ku-AXU m – yomu – ø, V gõ – ku-MAN m ran

kamokomu – n, m ŋŋgom koman kün-

YWB m – amui mamin m ŋŋgom kamam kim-DWB m – – mamin m ŋŋgom kommop kim-KOM m kamo yamu mamü m gom – xumo-KOR ? – – – ? – – –

Table 2.12: Reflexes of *n

I mother EZ M be sleepy extinguishfire

F woman sweat

PAD *n *ni *nani *n *kunu ke *n *ran *kotenSHI n wini ni n kero kono ge- buni- ø – koteYEN n wini neni n kiru kunu gi- buni- ø – kutiPSA n ni – n kunu gi- buni- ø, V rã kasiAXU n – eni n kunuŋŋ gi- bunü- ø, V rã kesiMAN n nou neni n kinum eren ge- – n ran kotenYWB n noi nani n kinum kok ke- – n ran kotenDWB n ni non n kinimxexe- – n lan –KOM n nani nani n xunu-ge – ø, n la(n) kwareKOR n ni – ? – – ? – –


2.3.4 Liquids and glides

Table 2.13: Reflexes of *r

I woman ulcer M ear enough eye stairs

PAD *r ran rü(n) *r *turu(top) *kare *kerop *parikSHI r – ruŋŋ r toro yaxaro kEro furiYEN ? – – r turu kiro –PSA r rã ru r suru xarini krimogo afiriAXU ø ã üne ø – xaini kiomogo –MAN r ran orün r – kare kerop werikYWB r ran – r turutop kare kerop –DWB l lan – l silutop kit kelop halikKOM l la(n) lü r, l ruro – xoro faliKOR l lal – ? – – – –

Table 2.14: Reflexes of initial *w and *y

initial *w tail knife testicle

PAD *w *wambut *waki *wambura(p)SHI ? – – –YEN w wobu – –PSA w wobu waki wobu-roAXU w wobugo woki wobioMAN w wombüt wegi wambirapYWB w wambit wagi –DWB w wabit waxi wambilinKOM w wabu waxi wabloKOR f – fix –

initial *y bird garden urine

PAD *y *yet *yaküp, *yatim *yetukSHI y yi – yiti ti-YEN y yi – yituPSA y yi – yi su-AXU ø i – isiMAN ø, y et yogüp erokYWB y yet yagip yetokDWB ø et – etokKOM ø, y el yarimo –KOR y – yasim –

Proto Awyu-Dumut *r occurs word-initially and word-finally (Table 2.13). In Aghu,*r is always dropped. Digul Wambon and Korowai have /l/ as a reflex of *r. Kombai

2.4. PAD Consonant Reconstruction 33

has both /l/ and /r/ as distinct sounds; a minimal pair is ro ‘hole’ versus lo ‘sound’(de Vries 1993:6). For initial *r, it is not possible to determine what Yenimu has as areflex, whereas for Korowai, it is unknown what the reflex is of Proto Awyu-Dumutfinal *r.

There are two glides in Proto Awyu-Dumut that only occur word-initially, *wand *y (see Table 2.14). They do not occur frequently, but cognate sets with initial*w or *y are found in nearly all Awyu-Dumut languages, clearly showing that thesetwo sounds belong in the Proto Awyu-Dumut consonant inventory. The initial *wcannot be seen as a reflex of *p (remember that medial /w/ in Digul Wambon andYonggom Wambon is a reflex of medial *p).

2.4 PAD Consonant Reconstruction

Having established regular sound correspondences, the Proto Awyu-Dumut con-sonant inventory can be reconstructed (see Table 2.15). It consists of eleven con-sonants. All consonants occur initially, the glides *w and *y exclusively occur ini-tially. Voiced plosives and *r did not occur word-finally in Proto Awyu-Dumut,while voiceless plosives and nasals had no restriction on their distribution, occur-ring initially, medially and finally.

Table 2.15: PAD consonant inventory

labial alveolar velar

voiceless plosive p t kvoiced plosive mb nd ŋŋgnasal m nglide w yliquid r

This consonant inventory differs from the one presented by Voorhoeve (2001) inthat it has no *s, while Healey (1970:999) also reconstructs an *f and and *x for ProtoAwyu-Dumut. I propose that /f/, /s/ and /x/ in Proto Awyu-Dumut’s daughterlanguages are fricativized reflexes of Proto Awyu-Dumut *p, *t and *k.

2.5 Note on Korowai

For Korowai, it is not known in many instances whether it even has a reflex of acertain Proto Awyu-Dumut phoneme in a certain environment. For example, it can-not be determined whether Korowai has a reflex for Proto Aywu-Dumut initial *t.Although all Proto Awyu-Dumut phonemes except *ŋŋg have a reflex in Korowai,for 8 out the 27 consonant environments it cannot be determined whether Korowaihas a reflex of a Proto Awyu-Dumut consonant in that environment. Thus it can-not be ascertained whether Korowai has a reflex for Proto Awyu-Dumut medial *p,


initial *t, medial *t, initial and medial *ŋŋg, medial *m, medial *n and medial *r. Incomparison, a reflex is found in all other examined languages in all environments;only Shiaxa and Yenimu each have one environment in which a reflex could not bedetermined (initial *w and initial *r, respectively). Furthermore, the reflexes thatare found in Korowai are always only found in one cognate set, whereas reflexes inother languages are nearly always supported by occurrence in two or more cognatesets. Thus the phonological evidence is too weak to prove without a doubt that Ko-rowai is an Awyu-Dumut language, even though the correspondences that can betraced between Korowai, Proto Awyu-Dumut and the other languages are too nu-merous to be ascribed to mere chance or borrowing. What is clear is that Korowai isthe most divergent language of all the languages examined and can only be consi-dered distantly related to the other languages. For these reasons, Korowai will notbe a part of the further discussion of Awyu-Dumut languages or the reconstructionof Proto Awyu Dumut in this book.

2.6 Sound Changes and Subgrouping

With a reconstructed Proto Awyu-Dumut consonant inventory, it is now possible totrace the sound changes between Proto Awyu-Dumut and its daughter languages.From the sound correspondences illustrated in Section 2.3 and summarized in Table2.3, the following 20 regular sound changes can be distilled:

1. PAD initial and medial *p >/f/ in SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU and KOM

2. PAD initial *p dropped in MAN and YWB

3. PAD initial *p >/h/ in DWB

4. PAD medial *p >B in YWB and DWB

5. PAD medial *p dropped in MAN

6. PAD final *p dropped in SHI, YEN, PSA and AXU

7. PAD final *p >(underlying) /f/ in KOM, or dropped

8. PAD final *t dropped in SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU

9. PAD final *t >(underlying) /l/ in KOM, or dropped

10. PAD initial *k before low vowels >/x/ in SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU and KOM

11. PAD medial *k before low vowels >/x/ in SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU, DWB and KOM

12. PAD medial *k before high vowels >/x/ in DWB and KOM

13. PAD medial *k >/g/ in MAN and YWB

14. PAD final *k dropped in SHI, YEN, PSA, AXU

15. PAD final *k >(underlying) /x/ in KOM, or dropped

16. PAD *mb, *nd and *ŋŋg denasalized in SHI, YEN, PSA and AXU

2.6. Sound Changes and Subgrouping 35

17. PAD final *m and *n dropped in SHI and YEN

18. PAD final *m and *n dropped or realized as nasalized vowel in PSA and AXU

19. PAD initial *r >/l/ in DWB and KOM

20. PAD initial *r dropped in AXU

These sound changes can be used to make a preliminary subgrouping of Awyu-Dumut languages. Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa and Aghu share a number of innovationsor sound changes. They drop final consonants *p, *t, *k, *m and *n and denasalizevoiced stops *mb, *nd and *ŋŋg. Mandobo, Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambonkeep the final consonants and the prenasalization of the voiced stops. Thus thereare two subgroups that can be established on the basis of final consonant deletionand nasalization of voiced stops; these two subgroups correspond to the Awyu andDumut subgroups established by Healey (1970) and Voorhoeve (2001).

A side note must be made concerning the final consonant deletion in Awyu lan-guages. In some instances, Shiaxa has an extra vowel at the end of a word thatthe other three Awyu languages do not have; some examples are given in Table2.16. The Shiaxa epenthetic vowel is hypothesized to be added to a word or mor-pheme in order to reach a CV.CV syllable structure; a CV.CV syllable structure isfound in all Awyu languages. The consonant that precedes the extra vowel in Shi-axa corresponds to the final vowel found in Dumut languages. Hence Shiaxa inthese instances retains the Proto Awyu-Dumut final consonant. In order for Shiaxato be able to do so, Proto Awyu must have had underlying final consonants, muchlike Kombai. These underlying final consonants only surfaced when followed by avowel.

Table 2.16: Shiaxa epenthetic vowel examples

breadfruit flower hair

SHI yuwato kete moxoYEN yowo ki moPSA yawo ki rõAXU xã ki muPA *yowo(t) *ke(t) *mu(x)/*rõ

MAN rawot ket ronYWB rawot ket ronDWB - mutmut lon, mukPD *rawot *ket *ron/*muk

KOM aluwo xe lo

PAD *rawot/*yawot *ket *ron/*muk

Thus Kombai and Proto Awyu are similar in that they both have underlying conso-nants, which are realized only when followed by a vowel. At the same time, Kombai


and Proto Awyu also drop final consonants completely; that is, in many instancesthere is no proof that an underlying consonant is indeed present in a Kombai orProto Awyu word. However, this commonality is not enough reason to subgroupKombai with the Awyu languages; final consonant deletion can very well have beenan independent innovation in Kombai, rather than an innovation it shares with theAwyu languages. The fact that, synchronically, the Dumut language Mandobo isstarting to delete its final consonants (Drabbe 1959:5), suggests that final consonantdeletion is an independent innovation that can take place in all Awyu-Dumut lan-guages.

On the basis of prenasalization of voiced stops, Awyu languages form a separatesubgroup from Kombai and Proto Dumut; both Kombai and Proto Dumut retain theprenasalization of /b/, /d/ and /g/ found in Proto Awyu-Dumut, while the drop-ping of prenasalization is an innovation Awyu languages share. Kombai can also besubgrouped together with Digul Wambon, a Dumut language, on the basis of frica-tivization of *k to /x/ and of Proto Awyu-Dumut medial *r to /l/ change. However,both fricativization and a change of /r/ to /l/ are typologically quite frequent andare therefore a weak criterion for subgrouping languages together. Furthermore,fricativization of *k to /x/ also occurs in Awyu languages, only in fewer contextsthan in Kombai and Digul Wambon.

Based on the 20 regular sound changes presented above, it is unclear whetherKombai should be subgrouped with Awyu languages or with Dumut languages,and thus additional methods must be employed to determine its place in the Awyu-Dumut language family. The processes reflected in most of the sound changes,namely final consonant deletion, fricativization and prenasalization, are cross-linguistically common and not strong criteria to support the subgrouping of lan-guages. Thus the use of phylogenetic methods below, as well as the reconstructionof proto morphology in the remainder of this book, will offer additional argumentsthat solidify the subgrouping of Awyu and Dumut languages.

2.7 Note on Awyu-Dumut Vowels

Two tentative subgroups of Awyu-Dumut were established on the basis of sharedphonological innovations or the lack thereof. For vowels, it is not possible to repli-cate what was done for consonants, namely to establish what the Proto Awyu-Dumut vowels are based on cognate sets. The main reason for this is that Awyu-Dumut vowels show much variation, and there are few cognate sets in which theAwyu-Dumut languages display a similar pattern of vowels. This variation mayexist because Awyu-Dumut vowels are more prone to change than Awyu-Dumutconsonants, and because extensive vowel harmony occurs. There might also be ir-regularities in the recorded data, as Drabbe honestly admits that he finds it difficultto distinguish between different vowels: “It is often very difficult to hear the dif-ference between the various vowels, especially between /a/ and /e/, /e/ and /i/,

2.7. Note on Awyu-Dumut Vowels 37

/i/ and /ü/, /o/ and /u/, /u/ and /ü/ and /ü/ and /ö/.”2 For these reasons,the reconstruction of any Awyu-Dumut vowels must be approached with caution.It can never be as rigorous as the reconstruction of the Awyu-Dumut consonants.

That being said, it is possible to trace some vowel sound changes between ProtoAwyu and its daughter languages, and between Proto Dumut and its daughter lan-guages. The vowel inventories of Proto Awyu and Proto Dumut are based on whichvowels occur in their daughter languages; Proto Awyu has seven vowels and ProtoDumut six, as shown in Table 2.17. The Proto Awyu-Dumut vowel inventory is thesame as the Proto Awyu vowel inventory; Proto Awyu and Proto Awyu-Dumut bothmake a distinction between /e/ and /E/ that was lost in Proto Dumut and Kombai.

Table 2.17: Vowels in PA, PD and Kombai

front roundedfront

central back

closePA *i *ü *uPD *i *ü *uKOM i ü u

close midPA *e *oPD *e *oKOM e o

openmid

PA *E

openPA *aPD *aKOM a

The vowel inventory for Proto Awyu presented here is the same as the one pre-sented by Healey (1970:1002), but in the Proto Dumut vowel inventory Healey hastwo further vowels: *ö and *O. Healey reconstructs *O, a sound that occurs in noAwyu-Dumut daughter languages, when Mandobo has /a/ and Yonggom Wambonhas /o/.3 It is true that Mandobo and Kombai have /a/ in two cognate sets (‘breast’and ‘faeces’) where all the other languages have /o/. This could reflect a com-mon innovation of Mandobo and Kombai, or they might be the only languages thatretained the original sound; the two cognate sets provide insufficient evidence todecide what the best scenario is. However, reconstructing a vowel that has no re-flex in a daughter language is not a good solution either; it is best in those instancesto reconstruct two forms, so *am/*om for ‘breast’ and *a/*o for ‘faeces’. The other

2“Het is dikwijls zeer moeilijk het verschil te horen tussen de verschillende klinkers, en dat geldtvooral voor /a/ en /e/, /e/ en /i/, /i/ en /ü/, /o/ en /u/, /u/ en /ü/ en /ü/ en /ö/” (Drabbe1959:7).

3Recall that Healey did not have access to Digul Wambon data. Note also that Voorhoeve leftvowels out of his analysis.


vowel that Healey includes in his Proto Dumut vowel inventory is /ö/, a vowelonly found in Mandobo. Basing himself on just two languages, Healey concludedthat his *ö changed to /u/ in Yonggom Wambon. However, with the inclusion ofDigul Wambon data, we see that Digul Wambon, like Yonggom Wambon, has /u/where Mandobo has /ö/, so it is more likely that Proto Dumut *u changed to /ö/in Mandobo, as illustrated by the cognate sets given in Table 2.18. The occurrenceof /ö/ is then a Mandobo innovation, which should not be reconstructed in ProtoDumut.

Table 2.18: Examples of PD *u >Mandobo /ö/

climb meat thunder earthquake fat

MAN törö- kadö komöt ondön tögöYWB turu- - kumut indum tuguiDWB matulo- kadu kumut - tuxut

PD *turu- *kadu *kumut - *tuku(t)

Other sound changes in Proto Dumut vowels are Proto Dumut *ü into /i/ in DigulWambon and Yonggom Wambon (Table 2.19), Proto Dumut *a into Mandobo /o/,usually before a syllable containing /a/, /o/ or /u/ (Table 2.20), and Proto Dumut*a into Mandobo /e/, usually before a syllable containing /e/ or /i/ (Table 2.21).

Table 2.19: PD *ü >YWB and DWB /i/

heart tail thorn hit to urinate

MAN ndümarop wombüt orün ü- erok tü-YWB ndimndop wambit arin in- jetok ti-DWB dimlop wabit alin in- etoksi-

PD *ndüm(a)rop *wambüt *arün *ü(n)- *etok tü-

Table 2.20: PD *a >MAN /o/

break rope feminine fish tail hear

MAN roŋŋgwamo- roŋŋgu rogoa wombüt ndot-YWB ra ŋŋgamo- raŋŋgui ragae wambit ndat-DWB lap ŋŋgamo- laŋŋgui lakhai wabit ndat-

PD *raŋŋgwamo- *raŋŋgu(i) *ragaV *wambüt *ndat-

2.7. Note on Awyu-Dumut Vowels 39

Table 2.21: PD *a to MAN /e/

knife sun torch young woman

MAN wegi teet eŋŋgot meŋŋgeetYWB wagi sat jaŋŋgot maŋŋgatDWB waghi sat jaŋŋgot lan maŋŋgat

PD *waki *tat *(j)aŋŋgot *(lan) maŋŋgat

Within the Awyu subgroup, there are three sound changes that tend to occur in thevowels. Aghu is the only language that has retained *ü; in the three other Awyulanguages, it becomes /u/ (Table 2.22). When *u is reconstructed for Proto Awyu,Shiaxa has /o/, while Yenimu sometimes has /o/ and sometimes has /u/ (Table2.23). Lastly, Proto Awyu *e frequently changes into /i/ in Aghu, Pisa and Yenimu(Table 2.24 on the next page).

Table 2.22: PA *ü to /u/ in PSA, SHI, YEN

banana to chop down to thunder younger brother

SHI tu ru- xo ru- kudaYEN tu ru- xu ru- kudaPSA su ru- xou ru- kudeAXU sjü ü- ghü ü- küda

PA *tü *rü- *xü rü- *küda

Table 2.23: PA *u to Shiaxa /o/

enemy daughter louse to ascend to sleep voice

SHI kowE otobra go oto- kono ré- roghoYEN kufE otoba gu oto- kunu ré- roPSA waki gu subrã aŋŋgu su- kunu ri- ruAXU kufe subã aŋŋgu osu- kumun’i-g u

PA *kufE *(o)tub(r)an *gu *otu- *kunun ré- *ru

These are the vowel sound changes that can be established for Proto Awyu and ProtoDumut with some certainty. In the reconstruction of lexical data, I often revert toreconstructing multiple forms with different vowels, or if there is a choice betweenmore than two vowels, I reconstruct *V. It should again be emphasized that myreconstructed vowels are not rigorously supported by the comparative method, asAwyu-Dumut vowel data are messy and seemingly inconsistent in the picture theypresent.


Table 2.24: PA *e to YEN, PSA, AXU /i/

eyelashes flower penis saliva tears

SHI kero-moxo kete tege xate efe ken-oghoYEN kiro-mo ki tigi xatipa efe kinoPSA kiro-bi ki sigi mase kin-EAXU kio-bı ki segi xasi kin’oxo

PA *kero-mo/kero-bi

*kete *tege *xate ken-oxo

2.8 Phylogenetics

Healey and Voorhoeve used lexicostatistic computational methods to calculate thedegree of similarity between Awyu-Dumut languages, leading to a subgrouping ofAwyu and Dumut languages; their results are presented in Table 2.25. However,lexicostatistic methods are infamous for their subjectivity, relying more often thannot on similarity judgments rather than on the comparative method to determinewhich lexical items are cognate. The lexicostatistical method can always be appliedand yield results, whatever the quality of the data and the cognacy judgments is. Asa check on Healey’s and Voorhoeve’s lexicostatistic methods, I apply phylogeneticcomputational methods to Awyu-Dumut lexical data.

Table 2.25: Lexicostatistic results of Healey and Voorhoeve

SHI YEN PSA AXU MAN YWB DWB

YEN 83/-PSA 51/52 53/–AXU 53/55 55/– 64/68MAN 32/32 34/– 34/33 36/33YWB 32/32 32/– 31/35 33/34 55/62DWB –/34 –/36 –/34 –/51 –/50KOM –/30 –/32 –/30 –/40 –/38 –/36

The left number is the percentage calculated by Healey, and the right number is the percentage calculated by Voorhoeve.Only Healey looked at Yenimu, while Voorhoeve had access to Digul Wambon and Kombai data that Healey did not have.Sources: Healey (1970:1014), Voorhoeve (2001:362)

Phylogenetic methods have been adapted from biology, where they are used to con-struct evolutionary trees of biological species. In the last ten years, phylogeneticmethods have been used in linguistics to model the spread of Austronesian in Ocea-nia (Gray & Greenhill 2005, Gray et al. 2009), the origins of Indo-European (Gray& Atkinson 2003) and Bantu languages (Holden & Gray 2006), as well as the pre-history of Papuan languages (Dunn et al. 2005, Reesink et al. 2009), amongst manyother applications. Nichols & Warnow (2008) offer a clear, useful description andevaluation of the use of phylogenetic methods in linguistics. I will use phylogenetic

2.8. Phylogenetics 41

methods to (a) comment on the treelike (or non-treelike) nature of the Awyu-Dumutdata and (b) to determine the relationships between Awyu-Dumut languages, andespecially to determine where Kombai fits in the Awyu-Dumut family tree, some-thing that could not be determined using the sound changes established using thecomparative method. These analyses are based on the 430-item lexicon described indetail in Section 2.1 and found in Appendix A.

Phylogenetic methods are a powerful addition to the comparative method in de-termining the evolutionary histories of languages. Whereas the comparative methodsees language evolution as entirely treelike, phylogenetic computational methodsview language change as variation in different character states; the various char-acter states (be they lexical items, morphological items, phonological sound corre-spondences, etc.) can each tell a different story.

The comparative method assumes that the development of separate languagesoccurs in a linear, hierarchical fashion and aims to produce one specific family tree,leaving no room for alternatives. As a result, trees in the comparative method ex-clude any horizontal transfer. However, lexical evidence shows that multiple cog-nacy patterns occur within one language family, and that there are therefore mul-tiple conflicting trees that can account for the data. It is also clear that horizontaltransfers between different languages or subgroups of a language family occur. Theseven lexical items in Table 2.26 each present a different cognacy pattern; not oneword is coded exactly like another word. Some languages tend to go together, likeYonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon (in 5 out of 7 words), but they do not alwaysdo so, and in the case of dry, Digul Wambon groups with the Awyu languages ratherthan with Yonggom Wambon. On the basis of Table 2.26, seven different trees can bedrawn to capture the development of the eight Awyu-Dumut languages. For phylo-genetic models of language evolution, the fact that there are multiple evolutionaryhistories within one language family is not problematic, as will become clear be-low where I present the results obtained by using (a) a split decomposition networkanalysis and (b) a stochastic Bayesian tree model.

Table 2.26: Coded lexical items showing various cognate patterns

bone breadfruit chin dry flower hair torch

SHI boge 1 yuato 1 gando-boge 1 kera 1 kete 1 noxo 1 xeino 1

YEN begi 1 yowo 1 tere-begi 2 soxo 2 ki 1 mo 2 sia 2

PSA bagi 1 yawo 1 makabi 3 se 2 ki 1 rõ 3 sia 2

AXU bigi 1 xã 2 te-bigi 2 so 2 ki 1 xõ 4 xasisia 3

MAN mirap 2 raot 3 ŋŋgandöm 1 tomap 3 ket 1 ron 3 eŋŋgot 4

YWB mit 2 rawot 3 maŋŋgor-ip 4 kerewet 4 ket 1 ron 3 yaŋŋgot 5

DWB mit 2 lawot 3 maŋŋgot 4 sok 2 ketek 2 lon, mux 3, 2 yaŋŋgot 5

KOM fia 3 aluwo 3 gadu 1 roxe 2 xe 1 lo 3 kwaiyeria 6


2.8.1 Coding of the lexical data

All 430 lexical items (except known borrowings) in the Awyu-Dumut dataset werecarefully coded for cognacy following the consonantal sound correspondences andchanges established using the comparative method. Table 2.26 shows the codingof seven lexical items, while Appendix A contains the coding for all lexical itemsin the 430-item word list.4 If a word has the same reflex in all Awyu-Dumut lan-guages, all languages receive the same character value, indicating that the word iscognate throughout the language family. When a language has a different lexicalitem from another language, which might arise either through innovation or bor-rowing, that lexical item receives another character value, resulting in a new cog-nate class (also called ‘character state’). Thus for the word ‘bone’, Shiaxa, Yenimu,Pisa and Aghu form cognate class one, marked by character value (1), Mandobo,Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon form cognate class two, marked by charac-ter value (2), while Kombai forms a cognate class by itself, marked by (3). If a lexicalitem cannot be established as a cognate reflex using established sound changes, itgets a new character value. For example, the final /ek/ in Digul Wambon ketek‘flower’ cannot be traced as originating in a regular sound change, and hence ketekis assigned to a new cognate class. On the other hand, Shiaxa kete ‘flower’ is cognatewith other reflexes of the word ‘flower’ because Shiaxa is known to regularly addepenthetic vowels at the end of words, ‘retaining’ the final consonant, as it does foryuato ‘breadfruit.’

This coding method leaves room for multiple realizations of a word within onelanguage. Digul Wambon has both lon and mux for ‘hair’, and these two realizationsare each assigned to distinct cognate classes. This coding process resulted in a8 x 430 matrix (8 x 430 = 3440 character states).

The data was then converted to binary coding, with a distinct binary characterfor each combination of lexical item and cognate class. Table 2.27 contains the binarycode for three lexical items from Table 2.26. Taking ‘breadfruit’ as an example, wesee that each cognate class gets a separate column, and for each language it is notedwhether it has a reflex in that cognate class (1) or not (0). Thus the first columnasks “does this language have a reflex of yawol for ‘breadfruit’?” while the secondcolumn asks “does this language have a reflex of xã for ‘breadfruit’?” and the thirdcolumn asks “does this language have a reflex of rawot for ‘breadfruit’?” and soforth.The resulting binary matrix (8x2280=18240 character states) forms the input for thephylogenetic analyses presented in the next two sections.

4The Awyu-Dumut 430-item word list is much longer than word lists usually employed for phy-logenetic methods. It contains both basic and non-basic vocabulary. Below, a Bayesian phylogeneticanalysis is also applied to a sub-list of basic vocabulary items within the 430-item word list, namelylexical items which also occur on the Swadesh 100 word list.


Table 2.27: Cognate sets from Table 2.26 expressed in a binary matrix

meaning breadfruit dry hair

cognate set 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

SHI 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0YEN 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0PSA 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0AXU 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1MAN 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0YWB 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0DWB 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0KOM 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0

2.8.2 NeighborNet network graph

A network graph shows what patterns exist in the data and what the possible rela-tionships between the different languages are. Such a graph is not acyclic and hencedoes not appear as a tree showing an explicit evolutionary scenario. Rather, it showshow the data do not fit a tree exactly (Nichols & Warnow 2008:763-764). A networkgraph partitions languages into groups according to whether or not they share aparticular character state (Holton & Robinson 2012:134). When there are conflict-ing signals in the data, these are represented as multiple branches connecting thelanguages, or as Nichols & Warnow (2008) put it: “the internal nodes of [a network]graph do not represent ancestors of the given languages, but are introduced in orderto make possible the representation of the conflict between the different splits thatare produced in the data analysis” (Nichols & Warnow 2008:764). Parallel lines ina network graph may represent contact events, borrowing or homoplasy (Nichols& Warnow 2008:764). The greater the ‘webbing’ in the center of the graph, the lesstreelike the data is.

The computer program SplitsTree (Huson & Bryant 2006) was used to generatea network graph of the Awyu-Dumut lexical data using the NeighborNet algorithm(Huson & Bryant 2006). I followed Gray et al. (2010) and Holton & Robinson (2012)in using gene content distances as the distance metric in the NeighborNet analysis.Figure 2.1 contains the network graph thus produced.


SHI

PSA

AXU

DWB

YWB

MAN

KOM

SHI

YEN

KOM

MAN

YWB

DWB

AXU

PSA

Figure 2.1: NeigborNet network graph of Awyu-Dumut languages

The network graph in Figure 2.1 suggests that there are several subgroups in theAwyu-Dumut family. Shiaxa, Yenimu, Pisa and Aghu group together on one end,while Mandobo, Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon are together on the otherend. Kombai is part of neither subgroup, though closer to the Dumut subgroupthan to the Awyu subgroup. Furthermore, Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon seemto form a further subgroup in the Dumut group, while the Awyu group can be di-vided into Shiaxa and Yenimu versus Pisa and Aghu. The parallel lines throughoutthe graph indicate instances of contact between Awyu-Dumut languages, while thelength of the branches indicate each language’s differentiation from the proto lan-guage.

To get a clearer picture of the degree of treelike signal present in the data, I cal-culated a delta score using the SplitsTree program. For a detailed explanation anddiscussion of delta scores, see Gray et al. (2010:3925-3928). The average delta scorefor the Awyu-Dumut languages is 0.26. Comparing this delta score to the deltascores calculated for much larger language families (.22 for Indo-European, but .41for Austronesian, Gray et al. 2010), the Awyu-Dumut data seem to emit a modera-tely treelike signal.

2.8.3 Bayesian analysis

Bayesian phylogenetic methods calculate a statistical tree that best fits the data. Fordata that are not entirely treelike, a Bayesian analysis generates multiple trees andcalculates the most likely tree, with percentage measures indicating how likely eachsplit in a tree is. Nichols & Warnow (2008:774) provide a clear explanation of howBayesian methods work:


Bayesian methods used in phylogenetics utilize the following basic al-gorithmic strategy. The algorithm begins with an initial model tree (i.e.,a rooted tree with initial values for each of the associated parameters ofevolution). Then, the algorithm follows a ‘random walk’ through ‘modeltree space’, at each point computing the probability of the observed se-quences being produced by the given model tree. If this probability ishigher than the previously computed probability, the move to the newmodel tree is accepted; if it is lower, the move is accepted with somelower probability. After a ‘burn-in’ period, the random walk is supposedto be in the stationary distribution, and then the algorithm randomlysamples from the model tree space that it visits. This collection of modeltrees is then used to produce a probability distribution on the space ofmodel trees. A standard output of a Bayesian analysis is a consensus tree(usually the majority consensus tree) of the sampled trees. Sometimes,however, the tree appearing the most frequently (called the ‘maximumposterior probability tree’) is returned.

It is important to note that the statistical tree generated by a Bayesian analysis isdifferent from a family tree reconstructed using the comparative method. Whereasthe comparative method leads to the reconstruction of one absolute tree, a Bayesiananalysis generates the tree that is statistically most likely and that best fits the data.Bayesian methods do not produce a single tree but a probability distribution onthe set of trees that they generate. The comparative method is essentialistic andabsolute, while Bayesian methods are probabilistic, taking into account the non-essentialist nature of language.

A Bayesian analysis using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm wasperformed on the Awyu-Dumut lexical dataset with several different models, usingthe MrBayes program (version 3.2.1, Ronquist & Huelsenbeck (2003)). Each modelwas run for 750,000 generations with a sampling rate of 150 and a burn-in of 25percent, which discarded the first quarter of all samples. The number of chainsused was four and the number of runs done on the data was two. The best perfor-ming model was a gamma distribution model which sampled across the substitu-tion model space.5 Korowai was used as an outgroup to root the Bayesian tree.

Figure 2.2 shows the maximum clade credibility tree thus generated. The firstthing to note is that all branches and subbranches have 100% probability, meaningthat all of the optimal trees make these divisions. The Bayesian tree, like the Neigh-borNet network graph, supports the subgrouping of Awyu languages versus Du-mut languages. It further shows that Kombai is closer to the Dumut languages than

5This model was compared to a gamma distribution model in which all substitu-tions had the same rate. The computer program Tracer (Rambaut & Drummond 2009,http://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/tracer/) was used to calculate Bayes Factors to determine whichmodel performed best (see Kass & Raftery (1995) for a discussion of Bayes Factors). The differentmodels performed almost equally well, but the gamma distribution model with no a priori substitu-tion model did slightly better. The Tracer program was also used to test the effective sample size ofthe various analyses to ascertain that the samples were not auto-correlated.


to the Awyu languages, forming a subgroup with them, as also concluded by Voor-hoeve using lexicostatistic methods. Within the Dumut languages, Mandobo andYonggom Wambon form a subgroup, whereas the Awyu subgroup consists of twofurther subgroups: Shiaxa and Yenimu versus Aghu and Pisa.

Figure 2.2: Bayesian rooted tree based on 430-item word list

In order to see whether a different result would be achieved if only traditional‘basic vocabulary’ were considered, the same model was run on a subset of the430-item word list containing basic vocabulary items also found in the Swadesh 100word list; this subset consisted of 91 lexical items. This analysis arrived at a verysimilar Bayesian tree supporting the same subgrouping as the tree based on the430-item word list, as shown in Figure 2.3. This can be interpreted as meaning thatthis tree is robust, and that the full 430-item word-list containing non-basic voca-bulary emits the same phylogenetic signal as the subset consisting of only basicvocabulary.

2.9. Summary 47

Figure 2.3: Bayesian rooted tree based on Swadesh subset of word list

2.9 Summary

This chapter confirmed Awyu-Dumut as a language family using the comparativemethod, before turning to phylogenetic methods to establish the subgroups of thelanguage family. The application of the comparative method to the lexical data inthis chapter is more transparent - and perhaps more rigorous - than the applicationof the comparative method by Healey (1970) and Voorhoeve (2001). Sound cor-respondences and changes were established before the subgroups of the languagefamily were established, an approach not taken by Healey and Voorhoeve. Further-more, the current analysis was based on a complete 430-item word list for all eightAwyu-Dumut languages and Korowai. Healey based his analysis on around 200lexical items in six Awyu-Dumut languages. Although Voorhoeve had more datathan Healey, he only had around 200 words for both Digul Wambon and Kombai,and did not include Korowai at all. Extra data kindly collected within the last yearby HongTae Jang and Song-Kyu Chi for Digul Wambon and Kombai provided mewith a complete dataset on which to base my analyses.

Phylogenetic methods showed that a statistical tree with high probabilities forthe placement of all Awyu-Dumut languages can be generated. Awyu and Dumuthave been shown by multiple methods to be two subgroups, while the Bayesiananalysis indicated that Kombai is best classified as forming a subgroup with the Du-mut languages. In the reconstructive efforts of the next chapters, Proto Awyu andProto Dumut proto morphemes will be reconstructed before Kombai data is incor-porated to reconstruct a Proto Awyu-Dumut form (thus no reconstruction is done


for the potential sub-node that would link Kombai and Dumut languages together).Korowai will not be taken into consideration in these reconstructions, as its positionwithin the Awyu-Dumut language family is deemed too uncertain, and because pre-viously published research has shown that Korowai has little bound morphology incommon with the other Awyu-Dumut languages (de Vries et al. 2012). The conclu-sion of this book will discuss whether the subgroups generated by the phylogeneticmethods applied to the lexicon are also supported by the shared innovations andretentions found in Awyu-Dumut morphology.

3

Nouns and Adjectives

Nouns and adjectives are in the minority in Awyu-Dumut languages; in frequencyand complexity they are greatly superseded by verbs. The nouns and adjectives thatdo occur in Awyu-Dumut languages have very little morphology. Some possessiveand number morphology does exist, as described in Sections 3.3 and 3.4. In addition,Awyu-Dumut kinship terms have morphology not found on other nouns (Section3.5). This chapter begins with a description of Awyu-Dumut adjectives (Section3.1) and compound nouns (Section 3.2) and concludes with a discussion of nominalcoordinators (Section 3.6).

3.1 Adjectives

All Awyu-Dumut languages have adjectives that function as modifiers of nouns,though they are infrequent. The adjectives that one is most likely to find are wordsthat specify dimension, value and age, thus words for ‘small, large, good, bad, old,new’ and so forth. These types of adjectives are likely to occur in any adjectivalinventory, however small it is (Dixon 1982:46). An Awyu-Dumut adjective followsthe noun it modifies but need not follow the noun directly.

In the three Dumut languages as well as in Kombai, adjectives can be redupli-cated to yield plural adjectives; a plural adjective may occur when the noun that theadjective modifies has a plural referent. Adjectives can be either partly or entirelyreduplicated. In (1), there are multiple men who came, while (2) talks about morethan one pig, which is indicated by the second adjective ‘big’, rather than the firstadjective ‘young’.

(1) Kaguphuman

mba-mbariadult-adult

mi-gin-in.come-REAL-NON1PL

‘The adult humans came.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:118)

(2) Upig

munyoung

mbothat

ndigio-gen-onfatten-REAL-NON1PL

doCONN

ko-gonenibig-big

ke-gen.be-REAL[NON1SG]

‘When they fatten the young pigs, they become big.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:22)

50 3. Nouns and Adjectives

In the same languages where we find reduplication, namely in Dumut languagesand Kombai, we also find intensifiers that, by and large, mean ‘very’ and thus em-phasize that the noun has the quality expressed by the adjective to a high degree.The Mandobo intensifier is mep (3).

(3) upig

mepINTENS

konenibig

togümo-r-o-an.buy-REAL-1SG-PST

‘I bought a very large pig.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:107)

The intensifiers found in Awyu-Dumut languages are listed in Table 3.1. The inten-sifiers follow the adjective, except the Yonggom Wambon intensifier monop and theMandobo intensifier mep, which precede the adjective.

Table 3.1: Dumut and Kombai intensifiers

language intensifier(s)

Yonggom Wambon monopDigul Wambon mbalinMandobo arap, eren, kariagap, mepKombai rabo

Awyu-Dumut adjectives occur independently and have no morphology thatmarks them as being adjectives, except in Yonggom Wambon, Aghu and Kombai,which have optional adjectival markers that follow the adjective. The YonggomWambon adjective markers are -op, -matan and -mban (Drabbe 1959:118), the Aghuadjective marker is -axa (4), while the Kombai adjective marker is -xe.

(4) tadi-axalarge-ADJ

‘large’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:6)

To summarize, all Awyu-Dumut languages have specific adjectives that modifynouns. In Kombai, Aghu and Yonggom Wambon, an optional adjectival markermay occur. In Dumut languages and Kombai, adjectives can be reduplicated whenthe noun they modify is plural. Dumut and Kombai adjectives can be modified byintensifiers. The appearance of adjectives in Awyu-Dumut texts is very infrequent.

3.2 Compound Nouns

A compound noun consists of two or more nouns, and its meaning is either morespecific or entirely different than the combined meanings of the words that makeup the compound. Shopen (2007) distinguishes three different kinds of compoundnouns:

1. Endocentric compounds denote a subclass of items referred to by oneof their elements; this element can be treated as the head of the

3.2. Compound Nouns 51

compound [...] The semantic relationship between the componentsof endocentric compounds can be of a genitive or part-whole type(soap-dish). Or one component may modify the other (e.g. black-bird).

2. Exocentric compounds denote something which is different from ei-ther of their components (e.g. egghead); they cannot be reduced toany one of their components.

3. Coordinate compounds consist of two juxtaposed nouns which referto a unitary concept, e.g. Bengali chele-mee (boy-girl) ‘children’, San-skrit mata-pitarau (mother-father) ‘parents’, Russian hleb-solj (bread-salt) ‘Russian hospitality’; they can be considered a kind of exocen-tric compound since their meanings equal that of neither compo-nent. (Shopen 2007:30-31)

In Awyu-Dumut languages both endocentric and coordinate compounds occur.Drabbe refers to endocentric compounds as ‘compounds of the Germanic ‘tree trunk’type, as found in all known Papuan languages,’1 noting that the modifying nouncomes first and receives stress. Table 3.2 gives examples of endocentric nouns fromall Awyu-Dumut languages,2 where stress is indicated on the first noun of the com-pound by a grave accent ( `).

The modifying noun does not always come first in an Awyu-Dumut endocentriccompound noun; it may come second in Mandobo and Aghu, and then still receivesstress. For Mandobo, Drabbe notes that the modifier only comes second when thecompound means ‘a type of X’, where X is specified by the head noun and whattype it is by the modifying noun, as in in tomèt, in komütì, in ndambèt, which areall different types of trees (where in=tree). Similarly, in Aghu, a general noun suchas ‘bird’ can come first, and the type of bird is then specified by the second noun.Thus kuso is the general name for marsupials, rats and mice, while kuso-baxì means‘kangaroo’, kuso-maxikò is a ‘field mouse’, and kuso-yowò refers to a ‘rat’ in Aghu.

Coordinate compounds are not as frequent as endocentric compounds in Awyu-Dumut languages, and examples of coordinate compounds are only found in thegrammar descriptions of Yonggom Wambon, Mandobo and Kombai. For YonggomWambon and Mandobo, Drabbe clearly distinguishes coordinate nouns from en-docentric nouns, noting that in coordinate compounds, both nouns receive stress(Drabbe 1959:12, 117). The two nouns that make up the coordinate compound nounin Yonggom Wambon can be joined by the connective -o. Most coordinate com-pounds fall within the semantic domains of family or edibles, as becomes clear fromthe list of coordinate compound nouns given in Table 3.3.

1“samenstelling van het Germaanse type ‘boomstam’, die men vindt in alle bekende Papoea-talen”(Drabbe 1959:12)

2Yenimu is not included in Table 3.2, as the little data available on Yenimu does not containendocentric compound nouns.

3The anthropologist Stasch notes that, in Korowai, the dyad ‘cassowary-pig’ is metaphoricallyused to refer to the relationship between uncle (mother’s brother) and nephew (sister’s son). He


Table 3.2: Awyu-Dumut endocentric nouns

word meaning literal meaning

YWB Kawòn mogot mouth of Kao river Kao-river mouthyùr andui yur tree trunk yurtree-tree trunkitìt wagot cassowary egg casssowary-egg

DWB el-ap nest bird-housekelop-ok tear eye-water

MAN ndù-mirop place of sago preparation sago-placembümàn-mirap spine back-boneìn-mogüp tree top tree-toptaŋŋgòn-top armpit cavity armpit-hole

AXU woküè-õ cassowary feathers cassowary-hairnaŋŋgì-maga dogs teeth dog-teethwì-ba pigs kennel pig-kennel

PSA uì wobu pigs tail pig-tailkaruwè mugo cassowary egg cassowary-egg

SHI jì ro tree fruit tree-fruitKOM wòdei-bei riverbank river-bank

Sources: Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:117); Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:70-71); Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:12); Aghu (Drabbe1957:4); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:97); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:97); Kombai (de Vries 1993)

Table 3.3: Awyu-Dumut coordinate compound nouns

word meaning literal meaning

YWB yanoi yanati parents his mother-his fatheryasarip yakopari couple his wife-her husbanditir-o-kurup big game animals cassowary-forest pig3

tenor-o-kayok vegetables genumu plant-climbing plantndun-o-kom vegetarian food sago-?tir-o-yagip garden produce banana-gardenŋŋgin-o-kerop face head-eye

MAN tere-ŋŋgoromut insects grasshopper-spideritit-taon big wild animals cassowary-forest pigndu-yog-anen vegetarian food sago-garden.produce-eatraŋŋgen-mom family sisters son-mothers brother

KOM momo-laŋŋge family mothers brother-sisters son

Sources: Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:117); Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:12-13); Kombai (de Vries 1987)

notes that “part of what the statement says about the uncle-nephew relationship is that this bondstands out markedly against the broader run of human relations, in the strange and valuable mannerthat pig and cassowary stand out against the broader run of animals. Korowai do not recognize pigsas belonging to the taxonomic class “mammal” and they do not consider cassowaries “birds”. Theanimals are too much bigger than other members of those classes and too morphologically and be-haviorally different from them. They are each one of a kind. Instead, the two are paired together as“pig-cassowary,” based on their common taxonomic oddity, their anthropomorphization, and theirextraordinary value as game. The aphorism says in effect that uncle-nephew relations are the valu-

3.3. Possession 53

3.3 Possession

The default way to express possession in Awyu-Dumut languages is to juxtapose thepossessor and the possessee (with the possessor first), and to place prosodic stresson the possessee. In addition to juxtaposing possessor and possessee, all Awyu-Dumut languages can make use of possessive pronouns to encode possession. Thepossessive pronoun is placed between the possessor and the possessee, much asin Dutch ‘Ruth haar proefschrift’ (literally: Ruth her dissertation, so Ruth’s disser-tation). In Awyu-Dumut languages there need not be an explicit reference to thepossessor, although there can be. Possessive pronouns and their exact usage arediscussed in further detail in Section 4.2.

Pisa can use possessive pronouns to express possession, but it more frequentlymakes use of a possessive marker na, ‘of’. This na4 appears between the two nounsthat stand in a possessive relation to each other, for example nabo na xãy, literally‘father of house’, which means ‘father’s house’. The possessive marker na is alsofound in Mandobo.5 For example, in Mandobo, both u gatèt (juxtaposed, with stresson the possessee) and u na gatet mean ‘the pig’s leftover food’. Drabbe claims thatpossessive na also occurs in Aghu. However, as it only occurs in Aghu before avowel-initial possessee and is then shortened to n, it is better analyzed as a transi-tional nasal; both vowel-initial and consonant-initial possessees are juxtaposed totheir possessor in Aghu. There are no occurrences of a possessive marker na inYonggom Wambon, Digul Wambon or Kombai.

Example (5) from Mandobo contains the three possessive constructions found inAwyu-Dumut languages: juxtaposition (u gater), possessive pronoun (yeŋŋgine n’anemo)and possessive marker na (anemo na gatet).

(5) Upig

gaterfood.rests

eteCONN

komoput

ŋŋgun-owonburn.magically-1PL

gebe

na-ŋŋgaŋŋgo,say-CAUS

yengine3PL.POSS

n-anemotr.nasal-son.in.law

naPOSS

gatetfood.rests

komoput

ŋŋgun-on.burn.magically-NON1PL

‘Thinking/saying ‘let us burn the pig’s food rests’, they burn their son-in-law’s food rests (instead).’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:29)

3.4 Plurality

It is rare for the plurality of a noun to be overtly expressed in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages. Instead the listener must rely on context to determine whether a certainnoun is singular or plural. However, if the context does not contain enough clues,

able category of oddballs of kinship experience” (Stasch 2009:118).4It must be noted that the 1SG possessive pronoun is na in all Awyu-Dumut languages except

Mandobo. As possessive pronouns also occur in possessive contexts, 1SG.POSS na is a likely sourceof the possessive marker na.

5Mandobo has ne and n’ as allomorphs of na.


the speaker may reduplicate a noun to indicate its plurality. As Drabbe notes forMandobo, “as an indication of plurality the noun is sometimes reduplicated, butonly if otherwise the meaning is not clear. One at times hears küap-küap ‘men’,and tarap-tarap ‘houses’; however, most often one must determine from the con-text whether a singular or a plural meaning is meant.”6 Reduplication of nouns isattested in all Awyu-Dumut languages except Shiaxa, Yenimu and Kombai, whosegrammars contain no data on reduplication of nouns.

In Awyu languages, in addition to reduplication, the third person plural pro-noun yoxo can be used to indicate that the noun that it follows has a plural referent.The verb conjugation is then also plural (6).

(6) Wipig

yoxo3PL

temko-x-enãgo.away-REAL-NON1PL

‘The pigs ran away.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:5)

As in Aghu, yoxo can indicate plurality in Pisa and Shiaxa, for example Pisa éna fayoxo means ‘his friends’, while Shiaxa chopoxoy yoxo means ‘the commanders’. Theplural pronoun yoxo was only found to follow subject nouns, not object nouns.

In addition to reduplication and the use of the third person pronoun in Awyulanguages, the plurality of a noun can be expressed by reduplicating the adjectivethat modifies it (as described in Section 3.1) or by using an iterative verb stem (asdescribed in Section 8.2).

3.5 Kinship Terms

Kinship terms are frequent in Awyu-Dumut languages because the use of personalnames is avoided. Stasch explains for the Korowai:7

Although Korowai have proper names, speakers rarely call people byname in their presence [...] Instead, Korowai call each other by kinshipterms and kinship-based expressions emphasizing people’s locations insocial bonds. (Stasch 2009:77)

There are three interesting things to note about kinship terms in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages. First, some Awyu-Dumut languages have separate forms of address andreference, while others do not. Second, kinship terms in all Awyu-Dumut languageshave their own plural marker. And third, Awyu-Dumut kinship terms tend to co-occur with possessive pronouns, in certain cases merging with the possessive pro-noun. Table 3.4 contains all known Awyu-Dumut kinship terms.

6“als aanduiding van het meervoud worden sommige substantieven wel eens verdubbeld, maaralleen als de bedoeling anders niet duidelijk is; zo hoort men wel eens küap-küap ‘mensen’, en tarap-tarap ‘huizen’; meestal echter moet uit de samenhang worden opgemaakt of een enkelvoud of eenmeervoud wordt bedoelt” (Drabbe 1959:16).

7Although Korowai is only distantly related linguistically to Awyu-Dumut languages, as shownin Chapter 2, culturally they are quite similar.

3.5. Kinship Terms 55

Table 3.4: Awyu-Dumut kinship terms

DWB YWB(address)

YWB(reference)

MAN(address)

MAN(reference)

F mbap natiop nati nombap netiM ni, nayap enanop noi néyap nauwiEB (na)net anerop (a)net anérop (a)netYB nana(n) nan nanan nanEZ onop aniop (n)ani anéyap aniYZ yanaŋŋgot randui mbiat nanan nan, embiatMM/FM asek nomben ayèyop ayèMF/FF embayop mbaeop mbae ambayop ambaiWM konép konépMB mom mom momZS raŋŋgen raŋŋgen

AXU PSA SHI YEN KOM

F eto bo ayè ayè areM api ni wini wini yeniEB exo kapù yaxà yaxò naiYB küda kudè kudà kudà wabüEZ eni de ni néni naniYZ küda kudè kudà némé wabüMM/FM itime wi anè anè amaMF/FF anisi si nimu y’enéti ndareWM ası xuniMB omõ mõ momoZS agı laŋŋge

Sources: Digul Wambon (Hughes 2009), (de Vries & Wiersma 1992), (Jang 2008:84, 129); Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:117,120, 168); Mandobo (Boelaars 1970), (Drabbe 1959); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:7, 48); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:135); Shiaxa (Drabbe1950:135); Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:135); Kombai (de Vries 1987)

For Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo, separate address forms and reference formsof kinship terms were found in Drabbe (1959:120) and Boelaars (1970). The addressform is used when speaking to the family member directly, while the reference formis used when talking about a specific family member in conversation; an Englishequivalent would be the use of the two terms ‘dad’ and ‘(my) father’. For YonggomWambon, the element -op is added to the reference form to yield an address form.8

Most Mandobo address forms are also a combination of the reference form and -op or -ap. For Digul Wambon, it can be hypothesized that nayap ‘mother’ and em-bayop ‘grandfather’ are address forms, while all other Digul Wambon kinship termslisted in Table 3.5 are reference forms. Thus the three Dumut languages, YonggomWambon, Mandobo and Digul Wambon, each have kinship address forms endingin -op or -ap, as well as separate reference kinship terms. For Kombai, de Vries(1987:108) states that he did not find different forms for terms of address and of

8Except in the case of ‘younger sister’, where the reference form is mbiat but the addressee formis not mbialop, but randui. Randui literally means ‘little girl’ (Drabbe 1959:120).


reference. The same can be said of the Awyu languages described by Drabbe: thegrammars do not contain examples of an opposition between kinship reference andkinship address terms. Thus Dumut languages make a distinction between addressand reference kinship terms, while Awyu languages and Kombai do not.

In addition to having an elaborate system of reference and address kinship terms,most Awyu-Dumut languages have a separate plural marker used only with kin-ship terms. A specific kinship plural marker occurs in the three Dumut languagesas well as in Aghu and Pisa. Table 3.5 lists the plural suffixes used with kinshipterms in these languages, while (7) contains two plural kinship terms from Yong-gom Wambon.

(7) NgurŋŋgoronNgurŋŋgoron

ŋŋgaERG

raga-tsay-REAL[NON1SG]

te:CONN:

ŋŋgo2SG.POSS

nan-ŋŋguiyounger.brother-PL

e,TOP

ŋŋgo2SG.POSS

nen-ŋŋguielder.brother-PL

eTOP

MatiramMatiram

ŋŋgaERG

ŋŋgotondekill

e-noeat-NON.CLOSE

mirbones

eTOP

topditch

mecome

agumo...throw.in...

‘Ngurŋŋgoron said: your younger brothers, your older brothers, Matiramkilled them, ate them and put the bones in a ditch...’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe

1959:153-154)

The plural marking on Awyu-Dumut kinship terms, the only nouns with a plu-ral marker, might have originated in a cultural practice of taboo and avoidance.Stasch notes that Korowai mothers-in-law and their sons-in-law stand in a taboorelationship and out of politeness avoid speaking of each other in the singular, pre-ferring plural forms instead (Stasch 2009:86). The kinship plural marker can be re-constructed as *-gi for Proto Awyu, *-ŋŋgu(i) for Proto Dumut and *-ŋŋgV for ProtoAwyu-Dumut.

Table 3.5: Awyu-Dumut kinship plural markers

Yonggom Wambon -ŋŋguiDigul Wambon -ŋŋguyeMandobo -ŋŋguAghu -giPisa -gi

Concerning kinship terms and possession, Drabbe (1950:101) already notes that “insome Papuan languages, personal or possessive pronouns are tightly interwovenwith kinship terms.”9 Again, an anthropological explanation can be given: in Awyu-Dumut languages, kinship terms express a dyadic relationship. They do not referto one person, as such, but to the relationship in which that person stands to the

9“In sommige Papoea-talen worden persoonlijke of bezittelijke voornaamwoorden heel nauwverbonden met verwantschapsnamen” (Drabbe 1950:101).

3.6. Coordination of Nouns 57

speaker or another person (Stasch 2009:72). Awyu-Dumut kinship terms are notinherently possessed, but it is rare for a kinship term to occur without the ‘possessor’of that particular kin being named. Thus Drabbe notes that Aghu eto ‘father’ isrealized as neto when it concerns the speaker’s own father (neto means ‘my father’),while geto means ‘your father’. In neto, eto has combined with the 1SG possessivepronoun na, while geto is ga (2SG.POSS) plus eto. Aghu neto has the same form asYonggom Wambon and Mandobo nati/neti. The initial /n/ or /nV/ in Mandobo andYonggom Wambon neti/nati, as well as in many other instances, should be analyzedas expressing possessiveness rather than as being part of the kinship term. Thisreanalysis of n(V) would explain why Drabbe talks about ‘elder sister’ as ani in histexts but lists nani for the same lexical item in his wordlist. The difference betweenDigul Wambon mbap and Mandobo nombap is then also easily explained, as well asthe difference between nanan and nan for ‘younger brother’ in Dumut languages.

The initial /n/ could have the 1SG possessive pronoun as its source, but Drabbenotes that, in Pisa, na is a general possessive marker, as discussed in Section 3.3 onpossession. Drabbe also notes that kinship terms which begin with /n/ or /na/are not always possessed by the person speaking. They rather express an absolute,definite form of the kinship term, for example nabo and namun ‘the Father’ and ‘theSon’ cited by Drabbe as terms for God the Father and God the Son of the ChristianTrinity.10 Another indication that the initial /n/ does not express (or no longerexpresses) 1SG meaning is that, in Yonggom Wambon, na nati is used to say ‘myfather’, while ŋŋgo nati means ‘your father’; nati is also used when the possessor isnot the speaker himself. What is clear is that the initial /n/ found in many Awyu-Dumut kinship terms expresses possession, and that it probably has its origin inanother possessive marking strategy.

3.6 Coordination of Nouns

According to a typological study of noun coordination done by Stassen (2000), thereare two strategies that languages can employ to coordinate nouns, either by usingan element meaning ‘and’ or an element meaning ‘with’. Stassen notes that, typo-logically, pure WITH languages are rare; rather, elements meaning ‘with’ tend to de-velop into coordinators with meaning ‘and’ in the world’s languages. Awyu-Dumutlanguages all have a reflex of a comitative marker kup that functions as a nominalcoordinator, and thus can be classified as WITH languages, albeit with a grammati-calized ‘with’ element. Dumut languages, in addition to having a grammaticalizedcomitative marker, also have a grammaticalized focus marker te that functions as anominal coordinator.

What distinguishes the coordinating function of the comitative marker and focusmarker from their original functions is that they are repeated after each elementof the enumeration when they have a coordinating function. Thus ‘X kup Y kup’

10Note, however, that it must have been Drabbe who, as a Catholic missionary, introduced theseterms into Awyu-Dumut languages; they can hardly have been indigenous.


means ‘X and Y’, while ‘X kup Y’ means ‘X with Y’ in Awyu-Dumut languages. Thedoubling of a coordinator is common in verb-final languages (Shopen 2007:46).

In Section 3.6.1, the comitative marker kup is discussed, whereas focus markerte and its development into a nominal coordinator are discussed in Section 3.6.2.Section 3.6.3 describes a third nominal coordinator found in Digul Wambon andKombai, namely =o. It will be shown that, for Proto Awyu-Dumut, a nominal coor-dinator *kup can be reconstructed, which has the reflex *ku in Proto Awyu and *kupin Proto Dumut. The focus marker te is also hypothesized to have already developedinto a nominal coordinator in Proto Dumut.

3.6.1 Comitative kup as nominal coordinator

In Awyu-Dumut languages, the element *-kup11 functions as a coordinator of nouns,occurring after all members of a coordination. In Mandobo, köp does not occur as acoordinator, but only as a comitative marker (16). Neither does Drabbe give an ex-ample of Yenimu ka functioning as a coordinator. Examples (8-13) illustrate the co-ordinating role of kup (or its cognate) in Yonggom Wambon, Digul Wambon, Aghu,Pisa, Shiaxa and Kombai, respectively.

(8) Ranwoman

kup,COORD

kagupman

kupCOORD

kimbarukmoswim.IT

WambonWambon.area

mendi-r-in-an.come-REAL-NON1PL-PST

‘Women and men came to the Wambon area swimming.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe

1959:146)

(9) Belanda-n=oDutch-tr.nasal=CONN

kav=eman=TOP

loti-ŋŋgupbread-COORD

susu-ŋŋgupmilk-COORD

ene-mo-knd-eeat.IT-do-REAL-NON1PL

‘Dutch men eat bread and milk.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:71)

(10) Ãwoman

goCOORD

xobasımen

goCOORD

sufeast

ba-x-enã.prepare-REAL-NON1PL

‘Women and men prepare the feast.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:80)

11ku in Pisa (Drabbe 1950:107), xu in Kombai (de Vries 1993:46-48), ko in Aghu (Drabbe 1957:6) andShiaxa (Drabbe 1950:107), ka in Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:107) and köp in Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:55).Shiaxa ko and Mandobo köp can be established as cognate to -kup (found in Digul Wambon andYonggom Wambon) on the basis of regular sound correspondences, namely

1. PA *u >Shiaxa /o/2. PD *u >Mandobo /ö/

Aghu ko and Yenimu ka cannot be traced to kup on the basis of regular sound correspondences butare considered cognates based on their form (kV) and function (as nominal coordinators).


(11) nu-kuI-COORD

gu-kuyou-COORD

‘I and you’ Pisa (Drabbe 1950:107)

(12) wayehis.father

koCOORD

wawinihis.mother

koCOORD

‘his father and his mother’ Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:107)

(13) Ola-xuOla-COORD

xe-wabü3SG.POSS-younger.brother

Fiabo-xuFiabo-COORD

xuroxuroeach.other

unafa-nohit-[REAL].NON1PL

‘Ola and his younger brother Fiabo hit each other.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:48)

The element *kup, when it does not occur in a coordination environment, can bedescribed as a comitative marker that has the interpretation ‘with’ (14-17) or ‘also’.

(14) Wanofellow

nde-ma-l=ecome-do-REAL[NON1SG]=TOP

nexep-kuphe-COMIT

ka-wago-1PL

ma-l-ewa-ta.do-REAL-1PL-AFFIRM

‘When that fellow comes, we will go with him.’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:82)

(15) No1SG

kupCOMIT

pa-gensit-REAL[NON1SG]

‘He was with me.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:120)

(16) Ene3SG

tagetshell.money

köp.COMIT

‘He is with shell money (he has money).’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:55)

(17) Nani-xumy.mother-COMIT

bo-xu-g-i.DUR-ill.be-REAL-NON1SG

‘My mother is also ill.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:46)

Stassen notes that a comitative marker can develop into a coordinator in verb-finallanguages by doubling:

The creation of a coordinate NP structure involves the ‘doubling’ of thecomitative marker, so that this marker becomes associated with both NP’sinstead of just the second NP [...] The double occurrence of the comitativemarker signals the equality in rank, and hence essentially coordinate sta-tus, of the syntactic relation between the two NP’s. (Stassen 2000:31-32)

This is clearly what happens in Awyu-Dumut languages as well: the coordinatorkup originated as a comitative marker, and this comitative marker then doubled after


each NP. Schachter & Shopen (2007) also find that ‘and’ and ‘with’ are expressed bythe same word in many languages and that, historically, ‘and’ develops from ‘with’(Schachter & Shopen 2007:46-47). The same is found by Mithun (1988:339-343) inan interesting chapter on the grammaticalization of coordination. She notes thatan adverbial with the meaning ‘also’ or ‘with’ that develops into a coordinator willonly coordinate nominals, not appearing with conjoined verbs or clauses (Mithun1988:342). This seems to hold for Awyu-Dumut languages; kup does not occur as acoordinator after verbs or clauses.

3.6.2 Focus marker te as nominal coordinator

In addition to *-kup, Dumut languages have a focus element *te,12 which functionsas a coordinator when it is repeated after each noun in a coordination. The definitionof ‘focus marker’ used in this book is as follows:

Focus: the part of a proposition that makes the proposition into an asser-tion and that is emphasized by the speaker so the hearer may know it isinformative.

This definition is based on Lambrecht’s and Halliday’s definitions of focus, whichreads as follows: “Focus is the element of information whereby the presuppositionand the assertion differ from each other. The focus is that portion of a propositionwhich cannot be taken for granted at the time of speech. It is the unpredictable orpragmatically non-recoverable element in an utterance. The focus is what makesan utterance into an assertion” (Lambrecht 1994:207) and “[i]nformation focus isone kind of emphasis, whereby the speaker marks out a part (which may be thewhole) of a message block as that which he wishes to be interpreted as informative”(Halliday 1967:204f). The element te in Dumut languages, analyzed byde Vries &Wiersma (1992) as a focus marker and by Drabbe (1959) as an emphatic marker,is here analyzed as a focus marker that places emphasis on what precedes it, asillustrated by (18, 19) and (20).

The background to this Mandobo example is that Ngou (the ‘he’ in the sentence)had seen that someone or something was eating nibung fruits; he had even seentracks. In the last clause, it is revealed that it is a pig who was eating the fruit.

(18) WeminNight

ge-genbe-REAL[NON1SG]

do,CONN

kinumsleep

reŋŋgi-rolie-NON.CLOSE

ödream

itigio-gen:see-REAL[NON1SG]

yomoropnibung.fruit

upig

teFOC

mbeDUR

ŋŋ-gen.eat-REAL.[NON1SG]

‘When it is night he sleeps and in a dream he sees: a pig is eating the nibungfruit.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:15)

12Allomorphs nde, ndi in Digul Wambon, de, do in Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon.


In the Yonggom Wambon clause chain presented in (19), Kori first thinks he sees hiscuscus and shoots it. However, his arrow goes straight through what he thoughtwas the cuscus. He climbs the tree and finds out that his son Naerom had put bowscrapings there that looked like a cuscus. The bow scrapings provide us (and Kori)with the reason why his arrow flew straight through the ‘cuscus.’13

(19) KoriKori

mecome

etaga-tsee-REAL[NON1SG]

teCONN14

yanhis

amuncuscus

eTOP

mbonbe

dok,CAUS

taemba-tshoot-REAL[NON1SG]

teCONN

kerokego.through

teCONN

turugo.up

etaga-tsee-REAL[NON1SG]

teCONN

NaeromNaerom

ŋŋgaERG

sinambow

monscrapings

deFOC

uru-r-an.put-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘Kori came and saw that his cuscus was (there), therefore he shot it (but)when it (the arrow) went through he went up (into the tree) and saw thatNearom put bow scrapings.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:147)

Besides marking the noun phrase that provides the ‘clue’, te can function as a cor-rective focus marker as well, as shown by Digul Wambon example (20).

(20) Ndu-n=esago-tr.nasal=TOP

taxi-mo-knd-e.buy-do-REAL-NON1PL

Woyo,no

laxai-ndefish-FOC

taxi-mo-knd-e.buy-do-REAL-NON1PL

‘They buy sago. No, they buy fish.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:67)

When Dumut focus marker te is repeated after two or more subsequent nouns, itfunctions as a nominal coordinator, as is illustrated by (21, 22) and (23) from Man-dobo, Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon, respectively.

(21) Rumotwo

te,COORD

roŋŋgufemale

teCOORD

mbetinmale

deCOORD

öhe

göphimself

tima-genkeep-REAL[NON1SG]

‘There are two, a female and a male, he keeps himself.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:21)

(22) Kagupman

te,COORD

rarumunwoman

de,COORD

munotitchildren

teCOORD

i-ŋŋgin-ineat-REAL-NON1PL

mbon.DUR

‘Men and women and children are eating.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:145)

(23) oi=ndepig=COORD

aŋŋgai=ndedog=COORD

‘a pig and a dog’ Digul Wambon (de Vries 1986:16)

13The further background is that Naerom had come earlier and shot and eaten his father’s cuscus.Later in the story, Kori has Naerom shot and eaten.

14The focus marker te also occurs after verbal clauses and then functions as a connective, as isfurther explained in Chapter 11 on Clause Linkage.


The development of Dumut focus marker te into a coordinator can be explained bythe fact that coordinated nouns, like focus markers, are salient in Digul Wambondiscourse, as well as in other Papuan languages. Reesink (1987:177) notes for Usanthat “coordination of terms is unusual.15 In those instances where coordination doesoccur, it concerns terms that are more salient than others.” Thus coordinators andfocus markers only occur when salient information is given, and this similarity al-lowed Dumut focus marker te to start functioning as a nominal coordinator. How-ever, there are two issues that make the analysis of te as a nominal coordinator pro-blematic. First, the data supporting the analysis of te as a coordinating conjunctionis very slim; there is only one example of te functioning as a nominal coordinatorfrom each Dumut language, and these examples were given in (21-23). Secondly, itis unclear how a nominal coordinator te would differ from the nominal coordinatorkup. In other words, Awyu-Dumut languages did not have a need to develop te intoa nominal coordinator, because they already had one, which they used frequently.Hence the analysis of te as a nominal coordinator should be considered hypothetical,not proven.

Both Drabbe and de Vries ascribe a third function (besides focus marker and(coordinating) connective) to Dumut te, namely that of a copula or a predicator.However, this ‘copular function’ can be seen as an extension of the focus meaningof te; the focus marker te can have a copular reading but should not be analyzedor glossed as a copula. In expressions of the type ‘X is Y’, focus marker te occursoptionally, as illustrated by Jang (2008) for Digul Wambon (24).

(24) EwoThat

enow-etree-TOP

hiwin=ndi).big(=FOC)

‘That tree is big.’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:64)

This ends the discussion of focus marker te occurring after nouns. In Chapter 11,the occurrence of focus marker te after verbal clauses will be discussed; it will beshown that te functions as a subordinating conjunction after verbal clauses.

3.6.3 Connective =o as nominal coordinator

In Digul Wambon, Yonggom Wambon and Kombai, a connective =o is found thatfunctions as a coordinator if repeated after each element of the coordination. ForDigul Wambon, de Vries & Wiersma (1992) note that =o is a non-exhaustive enumer-ator that may mean either ‘and’ or ‘or’ (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:72). However, onlyexamples where =o has the meaning ‘and’ are found in Digul Wambon (25-27).

(25) aŋŋgay=odog=COORD

kav=oman=COORD

‘the dog and the man’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:72)

15The term ‘term’ is here used in the Functional Grammar sense, as an element that is used to referto things, rather than to predicate.


(26) Koma-t-podie-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

sanip=ocassowary=COORD

oi=opig=COORD

ande-l-e-mbo.eat-REAL-NON1PL-PST

‘She died and cassowaries and pigs ate (her).’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:131)

(27) Na-mbap=o1SG.POSS-father=COORD

na-yop=omy-mother=COORD

nuk=o1SG=COORD

noxop1PL

ilumtaxemothree

ka-t-ewa-mbo.go-REAL-1PL-PST

‘My father, my mother and I, we three went.’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:108)

The Yonggom Wambon nominal coordinator o can have a conjunctive ‘and’ (28) ora disjunctive ‘or’ reading (29) and is repeated after each noun in the enumeration(Drabbe 1959:145).16

(28) Taemba-r-inShoot-REAL-NON1PL

deCONN

nan1SG.POSS

ipname

tamburumjust

rogo-na-tirsay-IMP-PROH

oCONN

nde-t;say-REAL[NON1SG]

munchild

mberonlittle

o,COORD

ranwomen

mbarigrown

o,COORD

kagupmen

parigrown

oCOORD

mimirback

atikbite

kaendi-y-iw-ebreak-LIG-1SG[FUT]

oCONN

nde-t.say-REAL[NON1SG]

‘They shoot him and he says: “you may not just speak my name, (becausethen) I will break with my teeth the back of small children, grown womenand grown men” he says.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:149)

(29) Uipig

oCOORD

itircassowary

oCOORD

ragaefish

oCOORD

ratake

mando-nan-in=ecome-NON1PL-FUT=TOP

tagimo-y-ip.buy-LIG-1SG[FUT]‘If they bring pig or cassowary or fish, I shall buy it.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe

1959:145)

The Kombai nominal coordinator -o can mean either ‘and’ or ‘or’ (de Vries 1993:50).Kombai -o optionally harmonizes with the first vowel of the noun that follows -o.De Vries (1993:12) notes that when the noun has a front vowel, -o may appear as/e/, when the noun has a back vowel in the first syllable, -o does not change, andwhen the noun has a central vowel in the first syllable, -o may harmonize to /a/.

16In Yonggom Wambon, o also occurs as a connective between a verb of speaking and that whichwas said, as happens twice in (28). In Digul Wambon, =o is a coordinating connective that occurs onnearly all medial verbs.


(30) Ay-opig-COORD

duwoy-ofish-COORD

rül-obanana-COORD

el-obird-COORD

nageyou

forobring

ma-non-acome[REAL]-NON1PL-CONN

nu1SG

ade.eat[IRR.1SG]

‘You have to bring pig, fish, bananas and/or birds in order that I (may) eat.’Kombai (de Vries 1993:50)

3.7 Summary

Although Awyu-Dumut languages have little nominal morphology, some proto mor-phology can be reconstructed. In Section 3.1, it was pointed out that all Awyu-Dumut languages have adjectives that follow the noun, while some Awyu-Dumutlanguages make use of intensifiers or adjectival markers. Three ways of formingcompound nouns that Awyu-Dumut languages share were described in Section 3.2.Section 3.3 pointed out that juxtaposition is the most common way to mark pos-session in Awyu-Dumut languages, although all Awyu-Dumut languages also usepossessive pronouns, which will be reconstructed in Chapter 4. The plurality ofnouns was then discussed in Section 3.4, where it was found that reduplication isa pluralization strategy shared by all Awyu-Dumut languages. Kinship terms inAwyu-Dumut languages have a separate plural marker, which was reconstructedas *-gi for Proto Awyu, *-ŋŋgu(i) for Proto Dumut and *-ŋŋgV for Proto Awyu-Dumut.Concerning kinship terms, it was also noted in Section 3.5 that they tend to occurwith a possessive element n-, and that several Awyu-Dumut languages have ad-dress kinship terms as well as reference kinship terms. This chapter concluded witha discussion of the coordination of nouns, and two nominal coordinators were re-constructed: *kup for Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut (*ku for Proto Awyu),and *te for Proto Dumut. The nominal coordinator kup originates as a comitativemarker, while nominal coordinator te is a grammaticalized focus marker. Awyu-Dumut languages have polysyndetic nominal coordination; the coordinating con-junction is repeated after each element of the coordination.

4

Awyu-Dumut Pronouns

Pronouns have fulfilled a central role in historical Papuan linguistics as conductedsince the 1960’s. Wurm (1975:191-217) noted the existence of a certain set of pro-nouns as a characteristic of Trans New Guinea (TNG) languages. However, the clas-sification methods employed by Wurm and his colleagues, as well as their proposalof a Trans New Guinea family, has received much critique, which can be summa-rized in a quote from Foley (1986:13): “At this stage, these [groups proposed byWurm] remain hypotheses and conjectures, because detailed comparative work ac-cording to the rigorous methods of comparative linguistics ... has yet to prove theselinks.” Ross’ publication of a careful reconstructive study of Papuan pronouns in2005 gave a new impetus to Papuan historical linguistics (Ross 2005). Ross was ableto use pronouns as a primary, albeit preliminary, diagnostic in classifying Papuanlanguages, resulting in a revitalization of the Trans New Guinea hypothesis.

The detailed, bottom-up reconstructions of Awyu-Dumut personal pronounspresented in this chapter meet all criteria for ‘a rigorous application of the com-parative method’ and confirm that Awyu-Dumut languages belong to the largerTrans New Guinea family, based on the TNG pronouns reconstructed by Ross (2005).Section 4.1 presents Awyu-Dumut personal pronouns and their reconstructions, ta-king into consideration all Awyu-Dumut and Greater Awyu languages for whichpronominal data are available. The possessive pronouns discussed in Section 4.2shed further light on the diachronic development of Awyu-Dumut pronouns. Thechapter ends with a short discussion on the use of pronouns in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages, introducing frequently used Awyu-Dumut emphatic pronouns.

4.1 Reconstruction of Awyu-Dumut PersonalPronouns

Awyu, Dumut, Ndeiram and Becking-Dawi languages all have six personal pro-nouns, making a three-way distinction in person and a two-way distinction in num-

66 4. Awyu-Dumut Pronouns

ber.1 The pronouns found in each language, as well as the proto forms of all sixpersonal pronouns for Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut recon-structed in the rest of this chapter are given in Table 4.1. A first glance at Table 4.1reveals many similarities between the pronouns of different branches of the GreaterAwyu language family which, to refresh the reader’s memory, can be schematicallyrepresented as in Figure 4.1.

Table 4.1: Greater Awyu and Awyu-Dumut pronouns

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

DumutMAN nöp ŋŋgöp ege noŋŋgüp neŋŋgip yeŋŋgipYWB nup ŋŋgup yup naŋŋgup gaŋŋgup yaŋŋgupDWB nuk ŋŋgup nexep noxop ŋŋgoxop yaxop

AwyuSHI no go ewe/ege noxo goxo yoxoYEN nu gu ewi/egi nugu gugu yoxoPSA nu gu eki nugu gugu yoxoAXU nu gu efe/eke nügu gügu yoxo

NdeiramKOM nu(f) gu(f) xe nagu nage yaWNG nuP ŋŋguP - naŋŋgu naŋŋgiP -

Becking-DawiKOR nup gup yup noxup gexenép yexenépTSA nu gu yu nau/nahu gau yauKYD nonu gonu ye nau gagu -

PD *nup *ŋŋgup *yup, *eke *nakup *ŋŋgakup,*nakip

*yakup

PA *nu *gu *eke *nüku *güku *yakuPAD *nup *ŋŋgup *yup, *eke *nakup *ŋŋgakup,

*nakip*yakup

Sources: Mandobo, Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992); Shiaxa, Pisa, Yenimu(Drabbe 1950); Aghu (Drabbe 1957); Kombai (de Vries 1993); Wanggom (Hughes 2009); Korowai (van Enk & de Vries 1997);Tsaukwambo (Baas 1981); Komyandaret (Hughes 2009)

1Awyu-Dumut pronouns have a wide range of functions, appearing both in subject, object andindirect object positions. Genitive meaning is expressed using possessive pronouns, discussed inSection 4.2.

4.1. Reconstruction of Awyu-Dumut Personal Pronouns 67

Greater Awyu

Becking-Dawi

KOR TSA KYD

Awyu-Dumut

Dumut

MAN YWB DWB

Awyu

SHI YEN PSA AXU

Ndeiram

KOM WNG TYN

Figure 4.1: Greater Awyu language family

The following sound changes, as described in Chapter 2 on Awyu-Dumut ProtoPhonology, are relevant when reconstructing pronouns. They correctly predict, amongother things, that Proto Awyu pronouns do not have prenasalized stops or final con-sonants, while Proto Dumut pronouns do.

1. PAD final *p dropped in PA, underlying /f/ in KOM2

2. PAD medial *k before low vowels >/x/ in PA and KOM

3. PD medial *k >/x/ in DWB

4. PD medial *k >/g/ in MAN and YWB

5. PAD *mb, *nd and *ŋŋg denasalized in PA

6. PD *u >Mandobo /ö/

7. PD *a >Mandobo /e/ before /i/ or /e/

8. PD *a >Mandobo /o/ before /a/, /o/ or /u/

9. PA */ü/ >/u/ in all Awyu languages except Aghu

10. PA *u >Shiaxa /o/

11. PA *e >/i/ in SHI, YEN, PSA (not always)

In the rest of this chapter, each personal pronoun will be reconstructed for ProtoAwyu, Proto Dumut, and Proto Awyu-Dumut. The pronouns from the Becking-Dawi languages, although not descended from Proto Awyu-Dumut, will prove to beuseful in determining which form to reconstruct for Proto Awyu-Dumut. Pronounswill not be reconstructed for Greater Awyu because no proto phonology and regularsound correspondences have yet been established for Greater Awyu.

2Kombai is here treated as a direct descendent of Proto Awyu-Dumut, whereas Proto Ndeiram isa node between Kombai and Proto Awyu-Dumut. However, Proto Ndeiram cannot be reconstructeddue to paucity of data, and hence Kombai is for the time being used as a proxy for Proto Ndeiram.


4.1.1 First person singular

MAN YWB DWB AXU PSA SHI YEN KOM WNG KOR TSA KYD

1SG nöp nup nuk nu nu no nu nu(f) nuP nup nu nonu

The 1SG pronoun is reconstructed as *nu in Proto Awyu and *nup in Proto Dumutand Proto Awyu-Dumut. In Proto Awyu, the Proto Aywu-Dumut final consonant/p/ was dropped. The final /p/ has also disappeared in the Becking-Dawi lan-guages of Tsaukwambo and Komyandaret. The final consonant /p/ is underly-ing in Kombai (sound rule 1), where it is realized as /f/ whenever the pronoun isfollowed by a vowel-initial morpheme, for example the focus marker -a: nuf-a ‘I-FOC’ (de Vries 1993). The Digul Wambon first person pronoun does not end in /p/but in /k/. Drabbe does note that final /p/ is often not realized in Dumut speech(Drabbe 1959:6); Digul Wambon could have dropped the /p/ and replaced it with/k/, though it is unclear where the /k/ would have come from. The reconstructedvowel /u/ is straightforward; /u/ occurs in all languages except Shiaxa and Man-dobo. The different vowels in Shiaxa and Mandobo can be explained by regularsound changes (6) and (10) as found in Section 4.1; Proto Dumut *u always changesto /ö/ in Mandobo, while Proto Awyu *u always changes to /o/ in Shiaxa.

4.1.2 Second person singular


2SG ŋŋgöp ŋŋgup ŋŋgup gu gu go gu gu(f) ŋŋguP gup gu gonu

The Proto Awyu-Dumut 2SG form is *ŋŋgup, as it is in Proto Dumut, while in ProtoAwyu the 2SG pronoun is *gu. In Shiaxa and Mandobo, we find the same vowelchange as in the 1SG pronouns, namely *u to /o/ and /ö/ respectively. The ProtoAwyu-Dumut and Proto Dumut 2SG forms have an initial prenasalized stop /ŋŋg/while Proto Awyu has /g/, due to prenasalized stops having become regular stopsin Proto Awyu (sound change 5). Regarding the 2SG form, it is interesting to noteDrabbe’s statement that in Mandobo, ŋŋgöp is also sometimes found as a 3SG pro-noun, though it clearly is the 2SG pronoun. Drabbe ascribes this to contaminationfrom verbal person-number marking, where no distinction is made between secondand third person (Drabbe 1959:10).

4.1.3 Third person singular


3SG ege yup nexep efe/eke eki ewe/ege ewi/egi xe - yup yu ye


The 3SG pronoun is the most diverse of all Awyu-Dumut pronouns across multi-ple languages and hence complicated to reconstruct. The first thing to note is thatthe Becking-Dawi languages and Yonggom Wambon share the form yup, reflectinga shared retention from a proto-form *yup, which can be reconstructed for ProtoAwyu-Dumut and which can be related to Proto Trans New Guinea *[y]a/*ua. Theother Awyu-Dumut 3SG pronouns all reflect a common form eke or ege, while threeof the four Awyu languages also have a form ewe or efe in common. These formscould well have originated in an Awyu-Dumut deictic element ep or e ‘there’.

When discussing Papuan third person pronouns, Ross notes that “it is commonto find that third person forms are actually members of demonstrative sets, andthis often means that they are not comparable and that third person reconstructionscannot be made” (Ross forthcoming:5) and also that “the reconstruction of thirdperson forms is less easy because they are readily replaced by demonstratives” (Rossforthcoming:3).

The 3SG pronoun forms with /k/, /g/ or /x/ are a combination of the deicticelement e(p) or ewe (‘there’), found in all Awyu-Dumut languages, and an elementke, a topic marker found in Awyu languages. For Aghu pronouns, Drabbe notesthat the 3SG eke consists of the 3SG efe plus ke. The Aghu form efe never occurs byitself but can occur with ke or with te, which is an emphatic or focus marker foundin both Awyu and Dumut languages (Drabbe 1957:6). Similarly, Shiaxa ewe only co-occurs with a focus marker te, while Shiaxa ege never combines with te but is betteranalyzed as ke fused with ewe. In the Pisa 3SG form eki, -ki is discernable, whichis cognate to the topic marker ke found in Shiaxa and Aghu. Thus the Awyu 3SG

pronouns that contain a /k/, /g/ or /x/ are a combination of e(p) and ke, while theforms with a /w/ or /f/ only co-occur with a focus marker te.

As was noted by Ross, demonstrative-based 3SG pronouns are difficult to re-construct. For Proto Awyu, it is clear that the 3SG pronoun was based on a deicticbecause only reflexes of such a pronoun are found in Awyu languages. Therefore forProto Awyu, **eke3 is reconstructed; the alternative form is *ewe, but as it only occursas a subject pronoun together with focus marker te and does not occur at all in Pisa,*eke is chosen as the more likely proto-form. The second vowel is reconstructed asan *e, since /i/ in Pisa, Shiaxa and Yenimu is a reflex of *e (sound change 11).

What is clear is that Digul Wambon, Mandobo and Kombai did not indepen-dently and individually develop their 3SG forms nexep4, ege and xe after they splitoff from Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto Dumut because no topic marker ke cog-nate to Awyu ke is found in these languages. It is unclear where the Mandobo,Digul Wambon and Kombai 3SG pronouns came from; one possibility is that DigulWambon, Mandobo and Kombai copied the eke form from Awyu languages, but itis just as likely that in Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut, yup was already being

3A double asterisk reflects the fact that there were multiple reconstructions to choose from butthat one of them was chosen as more likely than the other(s).

4The initial /n/ and final /p/ in the Digul Wambon 3SG form are thought to have been added toreach uniformity with the rest of the Digul Wambon pronoun paradigm.


replaced by a deictic-based pronoun. Therefore both *yup and *eke are reconstructedas competing 3SG pronouns in both Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto Dumut.

4.1.4 First person plural


1PLnoŋŋgüp naŋŋgup noxop nügu nugu noxo nugu nagu naŋŋgu noxup na(h)u nau

The first person plural pronoun is reconstructed as *nüku in Proto Awyu and *nakupin Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut. The middle consonant is reconstructed as*k. For Dumut languages, regular sound changes (3) and (4) state that Proto Dumutmedial *k turns into /(ŋŋ)g/ in Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon and into /x/ inDigul Wambon. For Awyu languages, it cannot be established with certainty thatProto Awyu medial *k changes to /g/ before high vowels, but nonetheless it is notunlikely that the medial /g/ in Awyu pronouns reflects an original *k that becamevoiced intervocalically, and hence the Proto Awyu form is reconstructed with a *k.In the case of Shiaxa, which has goxo as its 2PL form, the regular sound changeProto Awyu *k >/x/ before low vowels applies (sound change 2). The /h/ in Tsau-kwambo is also a reflex of /x/ and ultimately of *k. De Vries (2012a:18) notes thatwhere Korowai has a velar fricative /x/, Tsaukwambo has either a corresponding‘h with friction’ or complete deletion.

The first vowel of the Dumut 1PL pronoun is *a, while in Proto Awyu it is *ü.In Proto Dumut, *a is reconstructed because Mandobo /o/ reflects PD *a (soundchange 8), which means that two Dumut languages have a reflex of Proto Dumut *ain the 1PL form. Although Digul Wambon often has an /o/ where Mandobo andYonggom Wambon have /a/, this correspondence is not regular. In Proto Awyu, thevowel is *ü as this is the vowel found in Aghu; in all other Awyu languages, ProtoAwyu *ü always changes to /u/ (sound change 9). In Kombai and Wanggom, thevowel in the 1PL pronominal form is /a/, and as Proto Dumut also has *a, the ProtoAwyu-Dumut 1PL pronoun is reconstructed with *a rather than with *ü. The secondvowel in the 1PL pronoun is *u in all three proto languages.

4.1.5 Second person plural


2PLneŋŋgip gaŋŋgup ŋŋgoxop gügu gugu goxo gugu nage naŋŋgiP gexenép gau gagu

The Proto Awyu 2PL pronoun is güku, while for both Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut, two forms are reconstructed, namely *nakip and *ŋŋgakup. The form withinitial /n/, *nakip, is reconstructed to account for the 2PL pronouns found in Kom-bai, Wanggom and Mandobo, which all start with /n/. This initial /n/ is seen as a


shared retention, rather than a shared innovation, between Mandobo and the twoNdeiram languages. At the same time, *ŋŋgakup is reconstructed in Proto Dumut toaccount for the Digul Wambon and Yonggom Wambon 2PL pronouns. A *ŋŋg-initialproto-form is also reconstructed for Proto Awyu-Dumut because a reflex of *ŋŋg isfound in Proto Awyu *g as well as in the Proto Dumut *ŋŋgakup form. Furthermore,the three Becking-Dawi languages also have initial /g/. Note that Proto Trans NewGuinea (see Table 4.2 below) also has two alternatives for 2PL: ŋŋgi and nja, which re-flects a similar situation as the one found in Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto Dumut.

4.1.6 Third person plural


3PL yeŋŋgip yaŋŋgup yaxop yoxo yoxo yoxo yoxo ya - yexenép yau -

The third person plural pronoun is *yaku in Proto Awyu and *yakup in Proto Dumutand Proto Awyu-Dumut. Although PA *u to /o/ is only established as a regularsound change between Proto Awyu and Shiaxa, it is hypothesized to have takenplace in all Awyu languages in the second syllable of the third person plural pro-noun. This vowel change then led to the fricativization of the medial *k before an/o/ (sound change 2). Note that although the Kombai 3PL pronoun consists of asingle syllable ya, the Proto Awyu-Dumut form is reconstructed as *yakup; Kombaiis thought to have dropped the second syllable -kup, a reflex of which is found in allother Awyu-Dumut languages as well as in the Becking-Dawi languages.

4.1.7 Reconstructed Awyu-Dumut pronouns

Table 4.2 contains all pronouns reconstructed in the above paragraphs and contraststhem with the Proto Trans New Guinea (PTNG) pronouns as reconstructed by Ross(2005:29).

Table 4.2: Awyu-Dumut and Trans New Guinea proto pronouns


PA *nu *gu **eke *nüku *güku *yakuPD *nup *ŋŋgup *yup, *eke *nakup *ŋŋgakup,

*nakip*yakup

PAD *nup *ŋŋgup *yup, *eke *nakup *ŋŋgakup,*nakip

*yakup

PTNG *na *ŋŋga *[y]a/*ua *ni/*nu *ŋŋgi/*nja *i

The first difference between PTNG and Proto Awyu-Dumut pronouns is that thesingular forms in Proto Awyu-Dumut all have /u/, while in PTNG /a/ occurs.There are two further differences between the Awyu-Dumut forms and the Trans


New Guinea forms: all Proto Awyu-Dumut forms end in /p/ (Proto Awyu formsdropped this final consonant again) and the plural forms are bisyllabic. The /p/was clearly added; Drabbe notes that it is often not pronounced in Mandobo andYonggom Wambon, indicating that /p/ is not always added to pronominal forms.A possible origin of this /p/ is the deictic element ep ‘there,’ also found as the ba-sis for the Proto Awyu 3SG pronoun. The second syllable in Awyu-Dumut pluralforms can be analyzed as a plural marker -ku added to the PTNG singular formsna, ŋŋga and ya. Lastly, a similarity between Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto TransNew Guinea is that both proto languages have two forms for 2PL, one starting with/ŋŋg/, the other with /n/. This comparison shows on the basis of its pronouns thatthe Awyu-Dumut language family is part of the larger Trans New Guinea family;Awyu-Dumut pronouns can be traced to Proto Trans New Guinea pronouns.

4.2 Awyu-Dumut Possessive Pronouns

Besides personal pronouns, Awyu-Dumut languages also have possessive pronouns.The possessive pronouns occur before the possessed noun and are often found withkinship terms, which are inherently possessed. For Digul Wambon and Kombai(de Vries & Wiersma 1992; de Vries 1993) as well as for Korowai (van Enk & de Vries1997), de Vries describes the possessive pronouns as prefixes, while Drabbe treatsthem as separate words. As possessive pronouns are often bound forms in Papuanlanguages, a reanalysis of Drabbe’s possessive pronouns as bound and not freeis a more likely reanalysis than a reanalysis of de Vries’ possessive pronouns asfree. Hence, all Awyu-Dumut possessive pronouns are analyzed as bound. Boundpronominal forms often represent an older diachronic stratum than free forms (Rossforthcoming:4), and thus Awyu-Dumut possessive pronouns might reflect histori-cally older forms than Awyu-Dumut personal pronouns.

The Awyu-Dumut possessive pronouns are presented in Table 4.3. Aghu andKombai each have only two possessive pronouns, while all other languages have sixpossessive pronouns. Aghu and Kombai employ personal pronouns as possessiveswhere they have no specific possessive pronouns.

For Pisa, Shiaxa, Yenimu, Aghu and Mandobo, Drabbe notes that the possessivepronoun is followed by the possessive postposition na or ne. In Pisa and Mandobo,this na has become part of the possessive pronoun. For Shiaxa, Yenimu and Aghu,Drabbe notes that ne, shortened to n’, only occurs when the possessed noun beginswith a vowel. It therefore makes more sense in these languages to analyze this n’ asa transitional nasal between vowels rather than as a possessive marker. Thus onlyin Pisa and Mandobo is the possessive marker ne or na found, as was also illustratedin Section 3.3 on possession.5 All other languages employ only possessive pronounsto mark possession.

5Note, however, that the -no in Kombai 3PL.POSS pronoun might also be a reflex of a possessivepostposition na.

4.2. Awyu-Dumut Possessive Pronouns 73

Table 4.3: Awyu-Dumut possessive pronouns


DumutMAN ne-ne- ŋŋgo-ne- e-ne- noŋŋgü-ne- neŋŋgi-ne- yeŋŋgi-ne-YWB na- ŋŋgo- ya- naŋŋgo- ŋŋgaŋŋgo- yaŋŋgo-DWB na- ŋŋga- nexo- noxo- ŋŋgoxo- yaxo-

AwyuSHI na- ga- wa- naxa- gaxa- yaxa-YEN na- ga- wa- niga- giga- yaxa-PSA na- ga- ena-, ewa- nuna- guna- yoxona-AXU na- ga- - - - -

NdeiramKOM na- - - - - yano-

Becking-DawiKOR nV- gV- yV- noxu- gexené- yexené-

PA *na- *ga- *wa- *nVka- *gVka- *yaxa-PD *na- *ŋŋga- *ya-, *e- *nakV- *ŋŋgakV- *yakV-PAD *na- *ŋŋga- *ya-, *wa- *nVkV- *ŋŋgVkV- *yaka-

Sources: Mandobo, Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992); Shiaxa, Pisa, Yenimu(Drabbe 1950); Aghu (Drabbe 1957); Kombai (de Vries 1993); Korowai (van Enk & de Vries 1997)

The reconstruction of Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut pos-sessive pronouns is straightforward, although the vowels are uncertain, and yieldsreconstructions that can be compared with Proto Awyu-Dumut personal pronounsas well as with PTNG pronouns. The addition of the possessive marker ne/na inMandobo and Pisa is hypothesized to have occurred after these languages split offfrom their mother languages and hence ne/na is not reconstructed in Proto Awyu,Proto Dumut or Proto Awyu-Dumut as part of the possessive pronoun. The recon-struction of the 3SG possessive pronoun is much like the reconstruction of the 3SG

personal pronoun described in Section 4.1.3; Korowai and Yonggom Wambon reflectthe older form *ya-, while Mandobo, Digul Wambon and Awyu languages reflect thedemonstrative-based form *wa-.

When the reconstructed Awyu-Dumut possessive pronouns are compared toProto Trans New Guinea and Proto Awyu-Dumut personal pronouns, given inTable 4.4, they are clearly more similar to Proto Trans New Guinea personal pro-nouns than to Proto Awyu-Dumut personal pronouns.The Proto Awyu-Dumut singular possessive pronouns have a vowel /a/ also foundin PTNG pronouns, while Proto Awyu-Dumut personal pronouns have /u/. TheProto Awyu-Dumut personal pronouns also have a final /p/ not present in the ProtoAwyu-Dumut possessive pronouns or in PTNG pronouns. In other words, the per-sonal pronouns underwent a sound change from /a/ to /u/ and added a /p/ tothe end of the forms. Hence, possessive pronouns reflect older pronominal forms,


Table 4.4: PAD possessive pronouns compared to PAD and PTNG personal pronouns


PAD POSS *na *ŋŋga *ya, *wa *nVkV *ŋŋgVkV *yakaPAD *nup *ŋŋgup **yup *nakup *ŋŋgakup,

*nakip*yakup

PTNG *na *ŋŋga *[y]a/*ua *ni/*nu *ŋŋgi/*nja *i

and as such they form a clear link between PTNG and Proto Awyu-Dumut personalpronouns. This conclusion is in line with Ross’ observation that “in the majority ofmicro groups, bound and free forms are obviously cognate with each other, and onecan infer that bound forms are the outcome of the clitization and affixation of ear-lier free forms. Often, free forms have additional material suffixed to them” (Ross2005:26).

4.3 Awyu-Dumut Emphatic Pronouns

In many Papuan languages, the verb is the head of the clause and the only obligatoryconstituent, making the realization of other types of words infrequent. Nominals inthe clause are optional modifiers of the verbal head. Often, there is no nominal at allin the clause, or at most one nominal, as speakers tend to distribute nominals acrossmultiple clauses. Due to this pragmatic discourse preference for verb-only clauses,“it is not surprising that there is little room for nouns and anaphoric pronouns totrack given, active referents. Most speakers of Papuan languages avoid nouns andanaphoric use of independent pronouns to an extreme extent in referent tracking,especially in the tracking of active or given subject and object referents” (de Vries2006:813). Rather, referents are tracked through subject person number markers onthe verb and by switch reference strategies. In the rare case that a pronoun is usedto refer to the agent of an action, the pronoun is marked with pragmatic marker(s)te and/or ke. The pragmatic marker singles the pronoun out as being unusual andtherefore worthy of the hearer’s attention.

Another strategy besides using pragmatic markers to emphasize pronouns isfound in Dumut languages, which can all add some form of -ot to the possessivepronouns to yield emphatic pronouns. Mandobo adds -anot to its possessive pro-nouns, resulting in emphatic pronouns nanot, ŋŋgoanot, eanot, noŋŋgünot, neŋŋginot andyeŋŋginot. In Yonggom Wambon, wot combines with possessive pronouns, yieldingemphatic pronouns nawot, ŋŋgowot, yawot, naŋŋgowot, ŋŋgaŋŋgowot and yaŋŋgowot. In DigulWambon, possessive pronouns function as emphatic pronouns when followed by-votke: novotke, ŋŋgovotke, nexovotke, noxovotke, ŋŋgoxovotke and yaxovotke. When the ini-tial w, v and an are considered ligatures, as they are by Drabbe, and Digul Wambon keis analyzed as the verb ke ‘to be’, a morpheme ot is left over. For Digul Wambon, Jangnotes that “probably this [-otke] has been derived from ot ‘stomach/wish’, suffixedby -ke. Often representing the very heart of someone in many Papuan languages,

4.4. Summary 75

‘stomach’ in Wambon may also signify the very self of the corresponding pronoun.”In Digul Wambon, Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon, as well as in Awyu languages,ot, or or o is indeed the word for ‘insides’, ‘intestines’ and ‘faeces’. Drabbe gives analternative explanation of the origin of emphatic -ot in Mandobo: he states that itis the subject marker -o followed by the focus marker te, which has shortened tot (Drabbe 1959:10). Drabbe’s explanation seems the more likely one, as adding thepragmatic marker te is the most common way to form emphatic pronouns in Dumutlanguages. Also, if the word for ‘intestine’ was the source of -ot in emphatic pro-nouns, a similar form would be expected in Awyu languages. The subject marker -oonly occurs in Dumut languages.

4.4 Summary

This chapter presented a bottom-up reconstruction of Awyu-Dumut personal andpossessive pronouns. The bound possessive pronouns are older than the personalpronouns and provide the evidence that, in Awyu-Dumut personal pronouns, a fi-nal /p/ was added. Furthermore, it was shown that the 3SG personal pronoun inthe majority of Awyu-Dumut languages is derived from the demonstrative elementep ‘there’, while a more archaic form yup in Korowai and Yonggom Wambon reflects*ya, the 3SG form reconstructed for PTNG. Lastly, it was shown that personal pro-nouns are not frequently used in Awyu-Dumut languages and that, when they areused, they appear in their emphatic form.

5

Subject Person-Number Marking

In Awyu-Dumut languages, both the person and the number of the subject aremarked by a suffix on the verb. The subject is often not expressed explicitly inAwyu-Dumut languages; one knows from the context and the person-number mar-king on the verb who or what the subject of a clause is.

It is then all the more surprising that Awyu-Dumut languages make no distinc-tion between second and third person but only a distinction between first personand non-first person. This way, the Mandobo clause

(31) ande-n-eneat[IRR.]-tr.nasal-FUT[non1.SG]

could mean either ‘you (SG) will eat’, ‘she will eat’, ‘he will eat’ or ‘it will eat’. Thecorrect meaning can only be determined from the context in which the clause ap-pears.

According to Foley, the conflation of second and third person in the non-singularis common in (highland) Papuan languages (Foley 1986:72). However, Cysouw(2003) has found that in many Papuan languages that were described as having 2/3person homophony (a conflation of second and third person), a dual form also ex-ists. The only Papuan languages where he found a complete 2/3 homophony and nodual form are Kombai, Digul Wambon and ‘Awyu’ (an old term for Awyu-Dumutlanguages excluding Digul Wambon), which are all Awyu-Dumut languages, andMoroari, a Trans-Fly language (Cysouw 2003:131-132). Cysouw found a complete2/3 homophony only in two other languages worldwide besides these Papuan lan-guages. Thus the conflation of second and third person in both the singular and thenon-singular found in Awyu-Dumut languages is typologically rare.

There are four different subject person-number markers in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages, which make a two-way distinction in both person (first person versus non-first person) and number (singular versus plural). The four different person-numbermarkers are: (a) first person singular, (b) non-first person singular, (c) first personplural and (d) non-first person plural. Subject markers occur in Awyu-Dumut semi-finite and finite verbs; semi-finite verbs consist of a verb stem, a mood marker and

78 5. Subject Person-Number Marking

a subject marker, while finite verbs consist of a verb stem, a mood marker, a subjectmarker and a tense marker. In Dumut languages, subject person-number markersalways appear at the end of the verb, after the mood and tense morphemes. InAwyu languages, the subject markers most often occur right after the mood markerbut they occur before the tense marker if there is one. Furthermore, in differenttenses and moods, Awyu-Dumut subject person-number markers vary slightly inform. The subject person-number markers found in each mood and tense will bepresented for each language in this chapter, although only one subject marker willbe reconstructed for multiple moods and tenses for Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut andProto Awyu-Dumut.

This chapter will present descriptions and reconstructions of 1SG (Section 5.1),NON1SG (Section 5.2), 1PL (Section 5.3) and NON1PL (Section 5.4) subject markers.

5.1 First Person Singular Subject Marker

The first person singular subject person-number marker is -ep, or a variant thereof,in all Awyu-Dumut languages. It occurs in all verbal tense and mood forms, asillustrated in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1: Awyu-Dumut first person singular subject markers

Irrealis Future Realis Dumutpast

Awyuhodier-nal

Awyuhester-nal

Awyudistant

Awyuhistori-cal

MAN -p -p -ep -opYWB -p -p -ep -epDWB -p -ep -ep -ep

SHI -Ewe -we - -owe -ewe -ewe -weYEN - -fi -i -iki -fi -fi -efiPSA -∅ -∅ -i -i -riAXU -∅ -∅ -e -e -e

KOM -f -f -e(f)

Sources: Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:10); Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:127-129); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:23,31); Shiaxa, Pisa, Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:111-116; 123); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:10-14); Kombai (de Vries 1993:22-25)

The initial /e/ of -ep is dropped when it occurs after another vowel; the elision of/e/ is a common morphophonemic change in Awyu-Dumut languages. In verbsrealized in realis mood or in past tense, the subject person-number marker followsa realis marker or a past tense marker that consists of or ends in a consonant, and/e/ is not dropped. In most Awyu-Dumut languages, irrealis and future verb stemsend in a vowel, the subject person-number marker directly follows the verb stemin irrealis, and future forms and hence the initial /e/ of ep is not found in theseverb realizations. Digul Wambon (32) and Shiaxa (33) form an exception to this rule:in Digul Wambon -ep follows the future marker -mat, while in Shiaxa, verb stems

5.1. First Person Singular Subject Marker 79

that end in a consonant prevent the initial /e/ of the 1SG subject marker from beingdropped.

(32) ande-p-mal-epeat-1SG-FUT-1SG

‘I will eat’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:27)

(33) ader-Ewehear.II-[IRR]1SG

‘I want to/let me hear’ Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:123)

What is perhaps more remarkable about the Shiaxa first person marker is its finalvowel, rather than its initial vowel. All Shiaxa and most Yenimu realizations of the1SG subject marker end in a vowel /e/ or /i/. It is not uncommon for Shiaxa tohave an extra vowel that the other Awyu languages do not have; some examplesare given in Table 5.2. The Shiaxa epenthetic vowel is hypothesized to be added toa word or morpheme in order to reach a CV.CV syllable structure; a CV.CV syllablestructure is found in all Awyu languages. As noted in Chapter 2 on phonology,Proto Awyu had underlying consonants, like Kombai, which only surfaced whenfollowed by a vowel. Some Shiaxa reflexes of Proto Awyu words retained theseunderlying consonants, allowing them to resurface in certain instances when anepenthetic vowel is added to them. Aghu, Pisa and Yenimu deleted the underlyingProto Awyu consonants. When Shiaxa has added an epenthetic vowel, the ProtoAwyu form is reconstructed with an underlying consonant, indicated by placingparentheses around it, as in Table 5.2.

Table 5.2: Shiaxa epenthetic vowel examples

breadfruit flower hair

SHI yuwato kete moxoYEN yowo ki moPSA yawo ki rõAXU xã ki muPA *yowo(t) *ke(t) *mu(x)/*rõ

MAN rawot ket ronYWB rawot ket ronDWB - mutmut lon, mukPD *rawot *ket *ron/*muk

KOM aluwo xe lo

PAD *rawot/*yawot *ket *ron/*muk

The Proto Awyu 1SG form is reconstructed as *-e(fe),1 where the regular sound1The 1SG subject marker in Shiaxa and Yenimu is much like the 3SG pronoun in these languages,

which, as was shown in Chapter 4 on pronouns, consist of the deictic element ep ‘there’ plus a vowel/e/. This similarity is striking enough to be noteworthy, although probably coincidental.


change *e to /i/ occurred in Yenimu and Pisa. The consonant is reconstructed as *f.2

Yenimu has a 1SG form -iki in the hodiernal past, which is not a reflex of Proto Awyu*-e(fe) but whose origin is unknown.

The Kombai language gives further evidence which supports the reconstructionof the Proto Awyu-Dumut 1SG subject marker as *-ep. Kombai has no past tense,only a realis mood. In the realis mood, the final /f/ (a fricativized reflex of /p/)of the 1SG subject marker is only realized when the verb is followed by a wordor morpheme starting with a vowel. The following example from a Kombai storycontains three occurrences of a 1SG subject marker in a semi-finite realis form, twicerealized as -e at the end of the verb, and once realized as -ef in badefa when followedby the connective -a:

(34) DeyaluRecover

nu1SG

hutanjungle

fa-d-e.go-REAL-1SG

Xogo

ba-d-ef-astay-REAL-1SG-CONN

hariday

JumatFriday

x-en-abe-NON1SG-CONN

nu1SG

sakit-ma-d-e.ill-do-REAL-1SG

‘I recovered and went to the jungle. I stayed there and when it was Friday,I became ill.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:105)

In irrealis mood and future tense, the Kombai 1SG subject marker consists only of/f/ because the initial /e/ is elided after stem-final vowels. There are no attestedoccurrences of 1SG -f in semi-finite irrealis verb forms, but there are examples of 1SG

-f in future tense forms. In future tense forms, the person-number marker is alwaysfollowed by the vowel-initial future tense marker -e, as illustrated by emonemalefein (35).

(35) Mo-rothus.do-CONN

umo-ma-notell-HAB-3PL

lüword

menanathis

maroraand

menethis

umo-n-e-male-f-e.tell-tr.nasal-FUT-DUR-1SG-FUT

‘Thus they used to tell and this is what I shall be telling about.’ Kombai (de Vries

1993:114)

To conclude, the Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto Dumut 1SG subject person-numbermarker is reconstructed as *-ep, which was often realized as *-p if it occurred after avowel. In Proto Awyu, the final *p had fricativized to *f when an epenthetic vowelfollowed to retain a CV.CV pattern. The reconstructed Proto Awyu form isthus *-e(fe).

5.2 Non-first Person Singular Subject Marker

The non-first person singular subject marker is often not realized overtly in Awyu-Dumut languages, as expressed by -∅ in Table 5.3. However, sometimes it is ex-pressed as either -e or -n.

5.2. Non-first Person Singular Subject Marker 81

Table 5.3: Awyu-Dumut non-first person singular subject markers


Awyuhodier-nal

Awyuhester-nal

Awyudistant

Awyuhistori-cal

MAN -n -n -∅ -∅YWB -n -n -∅ -∅DWB -∅ -∅ -∅

SHI -en -ne -∅ -rea -ere -ere -reYEN -ni -∅ -i -∅ -i -aPSA nas. stem nas.stem -i -i -iAXU nas. stem -n -e -e -i -∅

KOM -n -n -∅, -n,-e

(a) The Shiaxa past forms of the NON1SG subject marker are different from those found in any other Awyu-Dumut language.They appear to consist of -e plus re, a demonstrative marker. This addition of -re is a Shiaxa innovation.Sources: Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:10); Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:127-129); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:23,

31); Shiaxa, Pisa, Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:111-116; 123); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:10-14); Kombai (de Vries 1993:22-25)

The reconstructed Proto Awyu-Dumut form *-en best explains both occurrences of -eand -n as NON1SG subject markers in Awyu-Dumut languages. Shiaxa irrealis verbsare the only verb forms in Awyu-Dumut languages that have an exact reflex of *-en;reflexes consisting of just -n can be explained by the phonological rule stating thatthe vowel /e/ elides when it follows another vowel, while reflexes of *-en consistingof just -e can be explained by the regular sound change stating that Aghu, Pisa andYenimu may not have syllables that end in a consonant.

Thus a reflex -n is often found in irrealis and future forms where the subjectmarker follows vowel-final verb stems that cause the elision of /e/, while -e3 or -enoccurs in realis and past forms where the subject marker is preceded by a consonant-final mood or tense marker.4 In Dumut realis and past forms, as well as in someKombai forms, the NON1SG subject marker is left off altogether. In Kombai realisforms, this happens when there is no mood marker5 and the verb is clause-finalor is followed by a consonant-initial word or morpheme. In Kombai realis forms,-n occurs as the NON1SG subject marker when no realis mood marker -g occurs andwhen it is followed by a vowel-initial word or morpheme, as illustrated by xumoleinain (36).

(36) Xumolei-n-adie-NON1SG-CONN

ifama-no.bury-NON1PL

‘He died and they buried him.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:108)

De Vries (1993) analyzes the /n/ in xumoleina as a transitional nasal, but a compari-

3/e/ changes to /i/ in Yenimu and Pisa due to a regular sound change.4As discussed above, Shiaxa has irrealis verb stems that do end in consonants, and hence -en,

rather than -n, is found in Shiaxa irrealis forms.5In Kombai, the realis mood marker -g only occurs after verb stems that end in a nasal vowel.


son with other Awyu-Dumut languages makes it clear that it is a realization of theNON1SG marker. In Kombai realis forms where the realis mood marker -g occurs,the NON1SG subject person-number marker is realized as -e (37).

(37) u-g-e.kill-REAL-NON1SG

‘He killed’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:23)

In Dumut, Awyu and Kombai irrealis and future forms, -n is the most commonrealization of the NON1SG subject marker. In finite future forms, the subject markeris followed by a future tense marker -en, -in, -e or -i in Mandobo, Yonggom Wambon,Aghu and Kombai, respectively, as illustrated in Table 5.4.

Table 5.4: Future NON1SG Forms

NON1SG future form Gloss Meaning

MAN ande-n-en eat-NON1SG-FUT he/she/it will eatYWB mayo-n-in come.down-NON1SG-FUT he/she/it will come downAXU atü-n-e go.up-NON1SG-FUT he/she/it will go upKOM ai-n-i go-NON1SG-FUT he/she/it will go

The Pisa future tense form ends in a nasal vowel (thus mariõ means ‘he/she/it willcome down’); the -n of the subject marker merges with the verb stem because thereis no future tense marker in Pisa. This results in a final nasal vowel. In Shiaxa andYenimu, -e (in Yenimu -i) is added to the subject person-number marker. However,this -e is not a future tense marker because it does not occur in other person-numberforms. The origin of this -e (or -i) is unclear.

Essential to the analysis of Awyu NON1SG subject markers is the analysis of -k,rather than -ke, as the Awyu realis marker used in non-first person verb forms. Fora detailed account of this mood marker, see Chapter 5 on Mood. Here, however,it must be explained why the Awyu realis mood marker is -k and not -ke, in otherwords, why -e is analyzed as belonging to the subject marker (Analysis II in Table5.5) rather than to the mood marker (Analysis I in Table 5.5).

Table 5.5: Two analyses of realis mood in Awyu languages

Analysis I Analysis II

KOM u-ge u-g-ekill-REAL.NON1[SG] kill-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

AXU da-xe da-x-ehear-REAL.NON1[SG] hear-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

PSA ada-ki ada-k-ibind-REAL.NON1[SG] bind-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

There are two reasons why the realis mood marker is analyzed as not containing an/e/. First, /e/ also occurs as a part of the NON1SG subject marker in irrealis forms,

5.3. First Person Plural Subject Marker 83

that is, in Shiaxa irrealis forms, such as ader-en ‘he/she/it wants to hear’. Therefore,it must be posited that -e (or reflex -i) is always part of the subject person-numbermarker, rather than of a realis mood marker. Secondly, in some Awyu past tenses, -e(or reflex -i) occurs as (part of) the subject person-number marker following a tensemarker rather than the mood marker -k, for example in the Yenimu hesternal past,given in (38).6

(38) oto-d-irise-HEST-NON1SG

‘he/she/it rose yesterday’ Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:114)

Thus /e/ belongs to the NON1SG subject marker, rather than to the realis moodmarker -k, although it must be noted that synchronically these two morphemes arebest analyzed as fused morphemes.

Hence, *-en is reconstructed as the Proto Awyu-Dumut, Proto Awyu and ProtoDumut NON1SG subject person-number marker, which due to morphophonemicrules of vowel elision and final consonant deletion is thought to at times have beenrealized as *-e or *-n in the proto languages, just as in their daughter languages.

5.3 First Person Plural Subject Marker

The first person plural marker in Awyu-Dumut languages consists of the 1SG form-ep combined with a plural marker -an, leading to the form -ewan or a reflex thereofin all Awyu-Dumut languages. The 1PL subject markers as found in various tensesand moods are given in Table 5.6.

Table 5.6: Awyu-Dumut first person plural subject markers


Awyuhodier-nal

Awyuhester-nal

Awyudistant

Awyuhistori-cal

MAN -won -won -ewon -unYWB -wan -wan -ewan -ewanDWB -va -eva -eva -eva

SHI -ewan -wa -a -owa -owa -owa -waYEN - -fa -a -a -fa -fa -efaPSA -a -a -a -a -yaAXU -oã -oã -oã -oã -oã -oã

KOM -fo -fo -efo


For Proto Dumut, *-ewan is reconstructed. In the irrealis and future forms, the initial/e/ is elided, except in Digul Wambon future forms because there the 1PL subject

6A full Yenimu hesternal past paradigm can be found in Table 7.4 in chapter 7 on tense.


person-number marker follows the Digul Wambon future tense marker -mat. InDigul Wambon, furthermore, the final /n/ is dropped. The Mandobo past tense1PL form -un, not relatable to *-ewan, will be discussed below. The /w/ in *-ewanis the /p/ of 1SG -ep, which fricativizes between vowels and is written by de Vriesin Digul Wambon as /v/. Furthermore, in Mandobo, due to regular sound changerules, PD *a has changed to /o/.

The Proto Awyu 1PL form is reconstructed as *-efan. The final /n/ is dropped orrealized as nasalization of the final vowel. The /f/ is written by Drabbe as /w/ insome daughter languages of Proto Awyu; in Aghu it has been dropped altogether.In Shiaxa and Aghu, the initial /e/ has changed to /o/; for Aghu, Drabbe notes thatthis vowel is short and that oã sounds like a diphthong. In Pisa, little is left of PA

*-efan except the /a/ of the plural *-an; realizations consisting only of /a/ are alsofound in Shiaxa and Yenimu.

The Mandobo 1PL marker -un, found only in Mandobo past tense verbs, cannotbe related to *-ewan. However, it is not a Mandobo idiosyncracy, because -un isalso found as a 1PL subject person-number marker in Korowai (van Enk & de Vries1997:98). More specifically, -un only appears in the hodiernal past in Korowai, whilein other Korowai verbs, -le and -te are the 1PL subject markers used. The fact that -unis found in remote branches of the Greater Awyu family means that it is most likelyan older, archaic form.7 In Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto Dumut, -un must havebeen a past tense marker existing alongside *-epan/*-ewan in order to still be realizedin Mandobo past tense. Thus, *-un is reconstructed in both Proto Dumut and ProtoAwyu-Dumut as the 1PL subject marker in past tense. In all Awyu-Dumut languagesexcept Mandobo, *-epan, the newer 1PL subject person-number marker, has spreadthrough the entire language system.

5.4 Non-first Person Plural Subject Marker

Table 5.7 contains realizations of NON1PL subject person-number markers from allAwyu-Dumut languages in different tenses and moods.The Proto Awyu-Dumut NON1PL subject marker is reconstructed as *-enan and isa combination of the NON1SG subject marker *-en plus a plural marker -an, muchlike the 1PL subject marker reconstructed above is a combination of 1SG *-ep andthe plural marker -an. It is clear that the Awyu languages have NON1PL reflexes of*-enan; the final /n/ is dropped or realized as a nasal vowel, while the initial /e/often elides. In Pisa, the initial /e/ has changed to /i/, as it has in the Pisa NON1SG

subject form; in Yenimu, both /e/ and /i/ occur. In the realis forms of Shiaxa andYenimu, the initial /e/ has been replaced by /o/, as also occurs in Shiaxa and Aghu1PL subject markers. For Proto Awyu the NON1PL subject person-number marker istherefore reconstructed as *-enan.

7Note the similarity to the situation of the 3SG personal pronoun: yup was the older form found inYonggom Wambon and Korowai, while in all other Awyu-Dumut languages, demonstrative-derivedewe or ege had replaced yup.

5.5. Summary 85

Table 5.7: Awyu-Dumut non-first person plural subject markers


Awyuhodier-nal

Awyuhester-nal

Awyudistant

Awyuhistori-cal

MAN -non -non -on -inYWB -nan -nan -in -inDWB -na -e -e

SHI -enan -na -ona -ena -ena -ena -naYEN -na -ona -ina -na -ena -enaPSA -nã -nã -inã -ina -inaAXU -enã -enã -enã -enã -ena -nã

KOM -no -no -eno


Kombai also has reflexes of *-enan; the final nasal has been dropped and thefinal /a/ has changed to /o/, a common sound change in Kombai. The samesound change occurs between PD and Mandobo, where the irrealis, future and realisNON1PL subject markers have /o/ rather than /a/.

The Dumut languages have reflexes of *-enan in the irrealis and future verbforms, where the initial /e/ has elided. However, the Mandobo, Yonggom Wambonand Digul Wambon realis and past tense NON1PL markers are not clear reflexes of*-enan; at best they could be seen as shortened forms. Nonetheless, *-enan is re-constructed as the Proto Dumut NON1PL form, as reflexes are found in the Dumutlanguages, and *-enan is reconstructed for Proto Awyu and Proto Awyu-Dumut.

5.5 Summary

The four subject person number-markers reconstructed for Proto Awyu-Dumut are*-ep (1SG), *-en (NON1SG), *-epan (1PL) and *-enan. For Proto Awyu the same formsare reconstructed as *-e(fe), *-en, *-efan and *-enan, while the corresponding ProtoDumut forms are *-ep, *-n, *-ewan and *-enan.

The four reconstructed subject markers occurred in all moods and tenses in thethree proto languages, although Proto Dumut, like its daughter languages, did notovertly mark NON1SG subject. There is quite some variation in the surface formsof the subject markers due to morphophonemic changes, which are thought to havealso occurred in the proto languages. The initial /e/ found in all four subject person-number forms elides when it follows a vowel, while in PA, the final /n/ was oftendropped or realized as nasalization on the vowel preceding it.

Some forms found in the daughter languages of PA and PD did not express thereconstructed forms exactly. The most noteworthy of these is the Mandobo pasttense 1PL subject marker *-un, which could not be related to Proto Dumut *-ewan.


This form -un was also found as a 1PL marker in Korowai’s past tense. Hence*-un was reconstructed as a 1PL form used in past tense in Proto Dumut and ProtoAwyu-Dumut, and *-epan is thought to be a newer form that replaced *-un.

Often subject person-number markers are derived from personal pronouns; theyare personal pronouns that have cliticized to the verb. This is not the case in Awyu-Dumut subject person-number markers, which are quite distinct from the personalpronouns. One parallel that can be drawn is between the 1SG subject marker *-epand the 3SG personal pronoun ewe found in multiple Awyu-Dumut languages. Itcould be said that both of these forms are newer forms based on the deictic elementep ‘there’. For the 3SG pronoun, an older form yup occurs and is reconstructed, andfor the 1PL subject marker, an older form -un is found and reconstructed. A com-parison with more Papuan languages might reveal whether indeed the 1SG subjectperson-number marker *-ep is a newer form only found in Awyu-Dumut languages.

Awyu-Dumut subject person-number markers in most cases follow the moodmarker and interact with it, as became apparent in the discussion in Section 5.2 onwhether the mood marker found in Awyu languages should be analyzed as -k or-ke. The next chapter focuses on this and other mood markers.

6

Mood

Mood describes a speaker’s attitude towards a situation, while tense locates a par-ticular situation in time. A main modal distinction is between realis and irrealismood, which can be defined as follows:

The realis portrays situations as actualized, as having occurred or actu-ally happening, knowable through direct perception. The irrealis por-trays situations as purely within the realm of thought, only knowablethrough imagination. (Mithun 1999:173)

The opposition between realis and irrealis mood1 is at the heart of the Awyu-Dumutverb system, which is mood-driven. With regard to mood-driven languages, Foley& Van Valin (1984) note that in these languages mood is a more basic category thantense and that

The likelihood of the proposition along the realis-irrealis dimension isfirst established, and then the temporal orientation of this modified propo-sition is established with respect to the time of the speech act. (Foley &Van Valin 1984:216)

Thus, in mood-driven languages, a verb form is first specified for what mood it is in,and then for tense. This is certainly true in Awyu-Dumut languages, where mood isalways expressed, while tense is optionally expressed.

Mood and tense interact with each other; events that occur in the past will largelybe categorized as realis, whereas events that occur in the future are typically in ir-realis mood. Hence mood and tense are sometimes realized as one morphologicalcategory, though they can also be represented separately (Foley 1986:159). In Awyu-Dumut languages, mood and tense are expressed as two separate morphological ca-tegories. Awyu-Dumut finite verb forms contain a mood marker and a tense marker,

1The terms ‘mood’ (Palmer 2001), ‘mode’ (Payne 1998), ‘status’ (Foley & Van Valin 1984) and‘modality’ are all used when the distinction between realis and irrealis is discussed. FollowingPalmer (2001), I will use the term ‘mood’ to refer to realis and irrealis, and the term ‘modality’ torefer to constructions such as the adhortative, the conditional and the imperative.

88 6. Mood

while semi-finite verb forms only contain a mood marker. In Awyu languages andKombai, a distinction in mood is also made in the verb stems of non-finite, semi-finite and finite verb forms, while Dumut languages do not have specific realis andirrealis verb stems.

After discussing the role of mood in non-finite verb forms (Section 6.1), this chap-ter explores Awyu-Dumut irrealis mood (Section 6.2) before turning to realis mood(Section 6.3). Mood realizations in each Awyu-Dumut language will be discussedbefore mood morphemes for Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumutare reconstructed (Section 6.4).

6.1 Verb Stems and Mood

Realis and irrealis mood are distinguished on verb stems in Awyu languages andKombai but not in Dumut languages. All Awyu-Dumut languages have primaryand secondary verb stems. The secondary stems are derived from the primarystems, sometimes regularly, at other times irregularly. Some Awyu-Dumut verbshave just one stem. In glosses, primary stems will be marked with I, while secon-dary stems will be glossed with II.

In Awyu languages, primary verb stems are only used in realis conditions, whileAwyu secondary stems are restricted to appearing in irrealis forms. Thus Awyuprimary and secondary stems express a distinction in mood; mood is marked onthe verb stem. Kombai primary and secondary stems express the same difference inmeaning: primary stems occur in realis forms, while Kombai secondary stems occuronly in irrealis or future verb forms.

There are some regular ways in which Awyu secondary stems are derived fromprimary stems. In Aghu, Pisa and Shiaxa, secondary stems can be formed by addinga prefix a-, a suffix -me (if the primary stem ends in a nasal vowel) or a suffix -fV tothe primary verb stem. Table 6.1 contains examples of Awyu verbs that employone of these three derivational strategies.2 Shiaxa and Pisa share further ways ofderiving secondary stems, by adding the suffix -rV or -xo(y), as illustrated by theexamples in Table 6.2.

Besides these verbs where the derivation of secondary stems from primary stemsis transparent and straightforward, many Awyu secondary stems are derived irre-gularly and can only be recognized as secondary stems by the context in which theyappear.

Many Dumut verbs have primary verb stems and derived secondary verb stems.For Mandobo, Drabbe notes that there are many verbs with only a primary stem, aswell as quite a few verbs with a primary and a secondary stem (Drabbe 1959:12).

2Drabbe represents all Aghu secondary stems as ending in a nasal vowel and then claims that thestem is denasalized when these secondary stems are used in future and adhortative/optative verbforms, except in non-first person singular verb forms. I reanalyze the secondary verbs as ending ina normal vowel, just like the secondary stems in the other Awyu languages. The nasalization thatoccurs in NON1SG verb forms reflects the realization of the NON1SG subject person-number marker-n.

6.1. Verb Stems and Mood 89

Table 6.1: Awyu primary and secondary stems

primary stem secondary stem meaning

prefix a-AXU i- ai- to mention

mi- ami- to drinksi- asi- to digü- agü- to fellku- akume- to dieoxo ki- oxo akime- to batheda- ade- to hearxo- axi- to go

PSA do- ado- to bakefo- afo- to marrysu- atu- to rise

SHI na- ade- to eatri- ari- to callroxo- aroxo- to say

suffix -meAXU ku- kume- to put in

ifi- ifime- to bindPSA tu- atumo- to beat sagoSHI tigi- tigimo- to buildsuffix -fVAXU ada- adfe- to bind

agu- agufe- to seekda- dafi- to come

PSA de- defi- to comera- rafi- to takeagu- agufo- to search

SHI re- refe- to take

Sources: Aghu (Drabbe 1957:12-14); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:116-117); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:119-121)

If a Mandobo verb has a secondary stem, the primary stem is only used in semi-finite realis -ken forms, while the secondary stem is used in all other verb forms. InYonggom Wambon, as in Mandobo, not every verb has a secondary stem; Drabbenotes that only verbs whose primary stem ends in a consonant tend to have a se-condary stem. Yonggom Wambon secondary stems can be used in finite past tenseforms, semi-finite realis -t forms, semi-finite irrealis forms, finite future forms andnon-finite SS forms. As in Mandobo, the Yonggom Wambon primary stem is thenlargely used with semi-finite realis -ken forms (Drabbe 1959:124-131).

Whereas Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon verbs have a primary stem and some-times one secondary stem, most Digul Wambon verbs have past and future secon-dary stems in addition to a primary stem. The past secondary stem is often formedby adding -a to the primary stem and is used for finite past tense forms and semi-finite realis -t forms. Future secondary stems are often formed by adding -o to the

90 6. Mood

Table 6.2: Additional Pisa and Shiaxa verb stems

primary stem secondary stem meaning

suffix -xoPSA doto- adotoxoy- to get up

edo- edoxo- to giveogo- ogoxoy- to go awayko- koxoy- to go towards riverro- roxo- to sayefeto- efetoxo- to see, to know

SHI ku- akoxo- to digdato- datoxo- to get upede- edoxo- to giveaxo- axoxo- to go awayoku- okoxo- to go towards riverfete- fetoxo- to seebo- baxa- to sit

suffix -rVPSA gi- giro- to become

xaxa- xaxaro- to swellni- diro- to sayri- masero- to stand

SHI da- adere- to hearfe- fero- to placewiE- wuru- to hit

Sources: Pisa (Drabbe 1950:117), Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:119-121)

primary stem and are used in finite future forms and semi-finite irrealis forms. Theprimary stem is then used with semi-finite realis -ke(nd) forms, as in Mandobo andYonggom Wambon. Digul Wambon verbs do not always have two secondary stems;some verbs have one secondary stem that is then used for all verb forms exceptsemi-finite realis -ke(nd) forms. For example, the verb en- ‘to eat’ has a secondarystem ande- that can be used in both finite past tense forms and finite future tenseforms.

Thus in Dumut languages a distinction in mood is not marked by different verbstems, although it is likely that, at one point in time, Dumut verb stems did markthis distinction: Dumut primary stems are still never used with irrealis verb formsand hence could be analyzed as realis verb stems. However, the secondary verbstem occurs with either realis or irrealis meaning, so no specific irrealis verb stemexists.

Proto Awyu-Dumut did mark a distinction in mood on its verb stems, a distinc-tion that was carried on in Proto Awyu and Kombai but became blurred in Proto Du-mut. As not all Dumut verbs have secondary stems, and because they do not mark adistinction in mood, Dumut verb stems will not be glossed with I or II. Awyu verbsstems, where the distinction between primary and secondary verbs carries meaning,

6.2. Irrealis Mood 91

will be glossed with I or II.

6.2 Irrealis Mood

Irrealis verb forms express wishes, doubts, questions and events that might hap-pen in the future. Awyu-Dumut languages have two types of irrealis verb forms:(1) semi-finite irrealis forms consisting of a (secondary) stem and a person-numbermarker that express adhortative, optative or intentional meaning, and (2) finite fu-ture tense forms encoding actions that will occur in the future. This section focuseson the semi-finite irrealis forms, while the finite future forms will be discussed inChapter 7 on Tense.

All Awyu-Dumut languages have a semi-finite irrealis paradigm, called the ‘zeroform paradigm’ by Drabbe (1950, 1957, 1959) because they consist of only a verbstem, a subject person-number marker and no further morphological markers. Ir-realis mood is not expressed overtly by a separate morpheme in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages. Thus a typical semi-finite irrealis form is wagaemo-p ‘do.good-1SG’ (Drabbe1959:128, Yonggom Wambon) which can mean ‘I want to do good’ (intentional), ‘letme do good’ (adhortative), or ‘that I may do good’ (optative). Table 6.3 contains asemi-finite irrealis paradigm for all Awyu-Dumut languages except Yenimu.3

Digul Wambon and Kombai only have first person semi-finite irrealis forms.De Vries & Wiersma (1992:31) note that, in Digul Wambon, NON1 forms were elicitedbut were never used outside elicitation; they do not give the elicited forms. ForKombai, de Vries (1993:25) states that finite NON1 future tense forms are also usedwith intentional meaning.

Thus Awyu-Dumut semi-finite irrealis forms consist of a verb stem (in Awyulanguages and Kombai a secondary irrealis verb stem), a non-overt irrealis moodmarker and a subject person-number suffix. The non-overt irrealis mood is indicatedin the glosses as IRR between square brackets before the person-number marker. Theexample given in (39) contains three Mandobo semi-finite irrealis forms.

(39) Oratlight

ke-nbecome-[IRR]NON1SG

doCONN

kotoma-onpull-[IRR]1PL

doCONN

moto-n.come.out-[IRR]NON1SG

‘When it has become morning, let us pull it (the canoe) and it will come out.’Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:37)

Example (40) illustrates the use of a semi-finite irrealis form in Aghu.

3When describing the optative mood for Awyu languages, Drabbe (1950) does not mention Ye-nimu at all, so nothing can be said about a possible semi-finite irrealis paradigm in Yenimu. Drabbedoes note that Pisa does not have a specific optative modality; that is, the same forms are used toexpress optative, intentional or adhortative meaning as are used to express future tense. However, itwould be speculative to state that the same is true of the future tense paradigm found in Yenimu.

92 6. Mood

Table 6.3: Awyu-Dumut semi-finite irrealis forms

1SG NON1SG 1PL NON1PL

AXU ade ade ad-oã ad-enãhearII[IRR.1SG] hearII[IRR].NON1SG hearII-[IRR]1PL hearII-

[IRR]NON1PL

PSA adi adı adi-a adi-nãhearII[IRR.1SG] hearII[IRR].NON1SG hearII-[IRR]1PL hearII-

[IRR]NON1PL

SHI ader-ewe ader-en ader-ewan ader-enanhearII-[IRR]1SG hearII-

[IRR]NON1SGhearII-[IRR]1PL hearII-

[IRR]NON1PL

MAN ande-p ande-n ande-won ande-noneat-[IRR]1SG eat-[IRR]NON1SG eat-[IRR]1PL eat-[IRR]NON1PL

YWB tami-p tami-n tami-wan tami-nanmake.canoe-[IRR]1SG

make.canoe-[IRR]NON1SG

make.canoe-[IRR]1PL

make.canoe-[IRR]NON1PL

DWB ka-p ka-vago-[IRR]1SG go-[IRR]1PL

KOM ade-(f) ade-fohearII-[IRR]1SG hearII-[IRR]1PL

Sources: Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:58); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:118); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:14); Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:23); YonggomWambon (Drabbe 1959:128); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:31); Kombai (de Vries 1993:25)

(40) Xatiagain

bagidi,next.day

xatiagain

mi-di-kcome.down-SS-CONN

xo-x-enã.go-REAL-NON1PL

Düsago

nifor

kiam-enãsearch.II-[IRR]NON1PL

xo-x-enã.go-REAL-NON1PL

‘Again the next day, again they descend (from the house) and go. In order tolook for sago they go.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:63)

A common use of semi-finite irrealis forms in Digul Wambon is in quotative con-structions, which express intention or volitionality. The intention is expressed assilent speech or thought directed by the agent to himself (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:32),as in the next two examples:

(41) Oipig

taximo-pbuy[IRR]-1SG

ne-mbel=osay-SEQ=CONN

ka-t-mbo.go-REALNON1SG-PST.

‘I want to buy a pig’ he said and went (In order to/with the intention ofbuy(ing) a pig he went).’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:32)

6.3. Realis Mood 93

(42) XitulopThursday

nombo-n=ethis-tr.nasal=TOP

nux=eveI=TOP

mba-mba-mohunt-hunt-do

ka-pgo-1SG


mba-mba-mohunt-hunt-do

ka-l-ep-mbo.go-REAL-1SG-PST

‘That Thursday ‘I want to hunt’ I said, and I did so (that Thursday I wantedto go hunting)’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:92)

To summarize, all Awyu-Dumut languages have semi-finite irrealis forms that ex-press adhortative, intentional or optative meaning and that consist of a verb stem (asecondary verb stem in Awyu languages and Kombai) and a person-number marker.Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut all had semi-finite irrealis formsconsisting of a verb stem and a person-number marker. In Proto Awyu and ProtoAwyu-Dumut, specific irrealis secondary verb stems existed. The reconstruction ofAwyu-Dumut semi-finite realis verb forms in the next section will prove to be lessstraightforward than the reconstruction of Awyu-Dumut semi-finite irrealis verbforms.

6.3 Realis Mood

6.3.1 Introducing realis markers in Awyu-Dumut throughreanalysis

In the Awyu-Dumut grammar descriptions written by Drabbe (1950, 1957, 1959),de Vries & Wiersma (1992) and de Vries (1993), there is no mention of realis moodmarkers. However, there are two verbal markers in Dumut languages as well as twoverbal markers in the Awyu languages and in Kombai, as described by Drabbe andde Vries, that are better reanalyzed as realis markers. In the Dumut languages thereanalysis concerns the morphemes -t and -ken, which immediately follow the verbstem and which Drabbe and de Vries analyze as ‘neutral-present tense markers’,that is, as tense markers that can express both present and past meaning. De Vries& Wiersma (1992)also call -t in Digul Wambon a ‘non-future tense marker’. In theAwyu languages, the markers are -d and -k, analyzed by Drabbe as either part of theperson-number marker (-d) or as a ligature between the verb stem and the person-number marker (-k). Kombai also has -d and -g (an allomorph of -k); de Vries (1993)analyzes -d as a non-future tense marker but seems to analyze Kombai -g as part ofthe NON1 subject person-number marker. An analysis of -t, -ken, -d and -k as realismarkers is logical for a number of reasons.

When Dumut -t is analyzed as either a present-neutral or a non-future tensemarker, there are two Dumut past tense markers. A Dumut past tense consists of averb stem, the morpheme -t, a person-number marker, and past tense marker-an (Yonggom Wambon, Mandobo) or -mbo (Digul Wambon). A way around thisproblem would be to state that -t...-an/-mbo is a discontinuous tense marker thatexpresses past tense. The co-existence of a past tense marker and a non-future or

94 6. Mood

present-neutral tense marker in Dumut languages would be odd, and is an analysisbest avoided by reanalyzing the ‘present-neutral tense marker’ -t as a realis marker.

The introduction of a realis marker in Dumut languages leads to a symmetricverbal system: a past tense form corresponds to a future tense form, while a realisform corresponds to an irrealis form. The future and past forms are then fully fi-nite, while the realis and irrealis forms are semi-finite because they do not expresstense. A reanalysis of Awyu -d and -k yields a similar symmetric system in Awyulanguages, although Awyu languages have multiple past tenses and not all Awyulanguages have a future tense marker.

For Awyu languages, there are additional reasons to reanalyze -d and -k as realismarkers. Drabbe analyzes -d as part of the first person person-number markers.There are two problems with this analysis. First, if -d is analyzed as being partof the first person person-number marker, then when a tense marker occurs after-d, the person-number marker is discontinuous, as Drabbe notes for Aghu: “thetense marker -k we find in between the two parts of the person-number markers.”4

Second, -d only occurs in verbs with realis and past tense meaning, which, if it ispart of the person-number marker, would mean that there are two sets of person-number markers. It makes sense to analyze the phoneme that constitutes the onlydifference between these two supposed sets of person-number markers as a markerof realis mood. The same argument applies to -k in non-first person verb forms; itonly occurs in realis contexts and hence is better analyzed as a realis marker than aspart of the subject person-number marker. For Aghu, Drabbe does not analyze -k aspart of the person-number marker but as a ligature between the verb stem and theperson-number marker. A ligature occurs to ease pronunciation, and the ligaturesthat occur elsewhere in Awyu-Dumut languages are n, y and w, but not k; k is nota prototypical transitional sound. An analysis of -k as a realis marker takes care ofthis odd ‘ligature’ explanation by Drabbe.

Thus Awyu languages have two realis markers, one that occurs in first personforms and one that occurs in non-first person forms. Kombai has the same realismarkers as the Awyu languages. Dumut languages have two realis markers, -t and-ken, which both occur throughout the paradigm, that is, with all person-numbermarkers. One problem which remains after this reanalysis is that the two realis mar-kers in the Dumut languages appear to have the same function. In the paragraphson realis mood in each individual Dumut language below, it will be shown that -tand -ken do have differentiated functions.

6.3.2 Dumut realis forms

Table 6.4 contains realis -t and -ken paradigms from Mandobo, Yonggom Wambonand Digul Wambon. The realis marker -t also occurs in past tense forms, which arediscussed in Chapter 7 on Tense.

4“De tijdwijzer k vinden we tussen de beide delen van de subjectwijzers” (Drabbe 1957:11).

6.3. Realis Mood 95

Table 6.4: Dumut realis paradigms


MAN

-t mende-r-ep mende-t menda-r-ewon menda-r-oncome-REAL-1SG come-REAL[NON1SG] come-REAL-1PL come-REAL-NON1PL

-ken ti-gin-ep ti-gen ti-gin-iwon ti-gin-onbuild-REAL-1SG build-REAL[NON1SG] build-REAL-1PL build-REAL-NON1PL

YWB

-t etaga-r-ep etaga-t etaga-r-ewan etaga-r-insee-REAL-1SG see-REAL[NON1SG] see-REAL-1PL see-REAL-NON1PL

-ken ti-gen-ep ti-gen ti-gen-ewan ti-gin-inbuild-REAL-1SG build-REAL[NON1SG] build-REAL-1PL build-REAL-NON1PL

DWB

-t aktu-l-ep aktu-t aktu-l-ewa aktu-l-ewrap-REAL-1SG wrap-REAL[NON1SG] wrap-REAL-1PL wrap-REAL-NON1PL

-ken ndat-kend-ep ndat-ke ndat-kend-eva ndat-kend-ehear-REAL-1SG hear-REALNON1SG hear-REAL-1PL hear-REAL-NON1PL

Sources: Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:11, 32); Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:128-129); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma1992:25); (Jang 2008:33)

Digul Wambon has several allomorphs for -ken: -kend, -knd, -ke and -xe. The -ke and-xe allomorphs only occur in NON1SG verb forms; -xe occurs when the verb stemends in a vowel, -ke when it is consonant-final. De Vries & Wiersma (1992) and Jang(2008) describe the -kend and -knd forms as ending in an /e/ (thus as -kende and -knde), but it makes more sense, especially in the NON1PL form, to analyze this -e asbelonging to the subject person-number marker that follows the mood marker. Thefinal -d then found in Digul Wambon 1SG, 1PL and NON1PL forms is absent in bothYonggom Wambon and Mandobo; unfortunately it is at this point not known (1)how this -d became attached to the Digul Wambon -ken form or (2) what its functionis.

Besides the Digul Wambon allomorphs of -ken, some other phonological changesalso occur in the paradigms in Table 6.4. The realis marker -t changes to /r/ inter-vocalically in Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon, and to /l/ in Digul Wambon. InMandobo and Yonggom Wambon, the /k/ of -ken changes to /g/ intervocalically,while vowel harmonization also occurs, for example in Yonggom Wambon ti-gin-in‘they are/were building’. These changes can be accounted for by the morphophone-mic sound changes listed in Chapter 2 (Section 2.2).

All Dumut semi-finite realis forms are used to express actions that are currentlyhappening or that happened in the recent past. In the three Dumut languages, -t and-ken forms have various other functions as well as different distribution frequencies.The following paragraphs offer a synchronic description of -t and -ken forms in thethree Dumut languages.

96 6. Mood

Mandobo semi-finite realis forms

In Mandobo, semi-finite realis -ken forms are far more frequent than semi-finite re-alis -t forms; in all Mandobo texts (Drabbe 1959:10-102), there are only six occur-rences of -t forms, while there are hundreds of -ken forms. There are so few -t formsbecause they only occur in what Drabbe (1959:32,104-105) describes as conditionalconstructions. These constructions have a -t form in the protasis and a semi-finiteirrealis form or an imperative form in the apodosis. So in (43), ŋŋgwandet is the -t formand the apodosis is formed by the semi-finite irrealis keaon, whereas in (44) mendaronends the protasis and noa forms the apodosis. The occurrence of Mandobo realis -tforms is further discussed in Sections 11.3.3 and 11.3.6.

(43) Muruprain

ŋŋgwande-tstop-REAL[NON1SG]

kea-on.go[IRR]-1PL.

‘If it stops raining, let us go.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:32)

(44) Mbethat

kee-r-in-anbring-REAL-NON1PL-PST

aneeat

rowith

menda-r-on,come-REAL-NON1PL

noa.give[IRR.NON1SG]‘if you (PL) brought something with you to eat, give (it to me).’ Mandobo (Drabbe

1959:31)

Thus the difference between -t and -ken forms in Mandobo is that -t forms occurspecifically in clauses with a conditional interpretation, while -ken forms occur inall other contexts where a Mandobo speaker wants to express realis meaning. TheMandobo sentences in (45) contain ten -ken forms occurring with perception verbs(itigio-gen, ndot-ken), before the connective doro in a tail-head linkage construction(ra-ŋŋgen), with the sequence marker -aro, and in its usual position, clause-final posi-tion (ko-gen, ra-ŋŋgen, taga-ŋŋgen, ra-ŋŋgen).

(45) Teen-genshoot-REAL[NON1SG]

doCONN

ko-gen.go-REAL[NON1SG]

Kogo

itigio-gensee-REAL[NON1SG]

do,CONN

kümodie

ra-ŋŋgen.lie-REAL[NON1SG]

Kümodie

ra-ŋŋgenlie-REAL[NON1SG]

doro,CONN

ndot-kenhear-REAL[NON1SG]

do,CONN

ainside

wüopcenter

mbostay

upig

munyoung.one

mboDUR

taga-ŋŋgen.make.sound-REAL[NON1SG]

Kogo

küaphuman

tagamo,tell

me-recome-NON.CLOSE


do,CONN

upig

munyoung.one

mbostay

mangormouth

oCONN

namothrough

meri-gin-arocome.down-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

ra-ŋŋgen.lie-REAL[NON1SG]

6.3. Realis Mood 97

‘When he (Ngou) shot (it), it (the pig) went. He (Ngou) goes and sees (that)(the pig) is dead. (The pig) is dead and Ngou hears a piglet make soundinside the pig (in the pig’s belly). He goes and tells the humans, he comesand sees (that) the piglet has come out (of the pig) through the mouth and islying down.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:17)

Yonggom Wambon semi-finite realis forms

From Drabbe’s description of Yonggom Wambon, it appears that semi-finite realis-t and -ken forms have very similar functions. He notes that “in general, the samething can be said about the use of -t forms as about the use of -ken forms.”5 However,languages hardly ever have two very different forms with exactly the same function.The question that therefore needs to be answered is what distinguishes -t forms from-ken forms in Yonggom Wambon.

A detailed study of Drabbe’s analysis of Yonggom Wambon reveals two possibledifferences between -t and -ken forms. First, the sequential marker -a may only occurafter -t forms, and such sequential forms will always be followed by a -ken form or apast finite -ran verb form (Drabbe 1959:134). According to Drabbe, a second instancein which only -ken forms but no -t forms may occur is after a switch in subject hasoccurred in a sentence (Drabbe 1959:133). However, both of these claims by Drabbecan be disproved by examples from Yonggom Wambon texts. In (46) and (47), a-t form, rather than Drabbe’s prescribed -ken or -ran form follows the verb form towhich the sequence marker -a is attached.6

(46) Mbanepcrocodile

mende-r-acome-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

mbarukrawa-t.sleep.with-REAL[NON1SG]

‘The crocodile comes and sleeps with (the daughter).’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe

1959:149)

(47) Mberema-r-atake-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

turo-rogo.up-NON-CLOSE

enoptree

jojomaratree.type

kogo

andawa-t.bind-REAL[NON1SG].‘He takes (them) and goes up and binds one tree to another.’ Yonggom Wambon

(Drabbe 1959:153)

5“In ’t algemeen kunnen we over het gebruik der -t vormen hetzelfde zeggen als over dat der-ken vormen” (Drabbe 1959:129).

6The Yonggom Wambon sequence marker is -a, whereas in Mandobo it is -ra or -aro. The Yong-gom Wambon sequence marker -a cannot be reanalyzed as actually being -ra, as -a occurs afterNON1PL forms in which it is not directly preceded by an /r/:

(1) rahold

kogo

mbukma-r-in-astay-REAL-1PL-SEQ

and-r-in-an.eat-REAL-1PL-PST

‘They take it, stay (sit down) and eat (it).’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:149)

98 6. Mood

The second difference claimed by Drabbe – that realis -t forms would not occurimmediately after a change of subject – is invalidated by (48) and (49), where a semi-finite -t form occurs in a sentence after a change of subject has occurred.

(48) irow=estone=TOP

soma-tthrow-REAL[NON1SG]

maricome.down

ŋŋgamburuthump

ke-t.be-REAL[NON1SG]

“He throws the stone and it comes down with a thump.” Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe

1959:154)

(49) Ri-r-incut.down-REAL-NON1PL

kandefall.down

okriver

rira-t...go.down-REAL[NON1SG]...

‘They cut down (the tree), it falls down, it goes down the river...’ Yonggom

Wambon (Drabbe 1959:154)

Thus, the differences in function between -t and -ken forms proposed by Drabbeare not supported by his own Yonggom Wambon textual data. A further look atYonggom Wambon texts will reveal some differences between Yonggom Wambonsemi-finite -t and -ken forms.

A quick glance at Yonggom Wambon texts reveals that -t forms are far morefrequent than -ken forms. A count of all semi-finite verb forms in Yonggom Wambontexts (Drabbe 1959:145-157) results in 25 -ken forms and 258 -t forms.7 Thus, in thesetexts, 91% of all semi-finite realis forms are -t forms, whereas only 9% are -ken forms.

Although this difference in frequency is significant, it does not reveal whenYonggom Wambon speakers use a -ken form rather than a -t form. Hypothetically,Yonggom Wambon -t and -ken forms could still be used interchangeably. However,there are circumstances in which -ken forms are more likely to be used than -t forms.When looking at the 25 -ken forms found in the Yonggom Wambon texts, one findsthat a high percentage of them, 60% to be precise, are formed with position verbsmba- ‘sit’, jaŋŋ- ‘lie’ and ri- ‘stand,’ which are used in progressive or durative con-structions in Yonggom Wambon. Furthermore, almost half (40%) of all -ken formsfound occur in the final clause of a sentence rather than in sentence-medial clauses.8

However, these are only tendencies of Yonggom Wambon -ken forms, as they doalso occur non-finally and with verbs other than position verbs. Furthermore, thesetendencies towards occurring finally and with position verbs do not distinguish -kenforms from -t forms, as 27% of all -t forms occur finally and 10% of all -t forms aremade with position verbs. These results are given in Table 6.5.

To conclude, -t forms are far more frequent than -ken forms in Yonggom Wambon,while -ken forms tend to occur with position verbs and clause-finally. Hypotheti-cally, the two forms could be used interchangeably because no individual identify-ing difference between the two forms was found. Only when the sequence marker

7Fifty-five of these -t forms occur with the sequence marker -a.8Overall, sentence-medial clauses with semi-finites are far more frequent than sentence-final

clauses with semi-finites. Of 283 clauses containing semi-finite verbs in Yonggom Wambon, only80 were sentence-final clauses. Of semi-finite realis -t forms, only 27% occurred in sentence-finalclauses.

6.3. Realis Mood 99

Table 6.5: Comparison of -t and -ken forms in Yonggom Wambon texts

-ken forms -t formstotal 25/283 = 9% 258/283 = 91%of which are final 10/25 = 40% 70/258 = 27%of which are position verbs 15/25 = 60% 26/258 = 10%

-a attaches to a semi-finite form must it be a -t form. Knowing the exact difference inmeaning or function between Yonggom Wambon -t and -ken forms is, based on thecurrent data, beyond our grasp.

Digul Wambon semi-finite realis forms

Digul Wambon, like Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo, has two realis mood mar-kers, -ke(nd) and -t. The allomorphs of Digul Wambon -ke(nd) were discussed above:in NON1SG the mood marker is realized as -ke or, if the verb stem preceding themood marker ends in a vowel, as -xe. In 1SG, 1PL and NON1PL verb forms, themood marker is realized as -kend or, if shortening occurs, as -knd. The mood marker-t is realized as -t except when it occurs intervocalically; it is then realized as -l.When Digul Wambon realis semi-finites occur clause-medially, they are obligatorilyfollowed by the coordinating connective =o.

A study of Digul Wambon texts (de Vries and Wiersma 1992:83-96 and Jang2008:125-131) reveals a difference between the two Digul Wambon semi-finite re-alis verb forms. The -ke(nd) forms occur in constructions with connective verbs thatexpress aspectual meaning,9 while -t forms do not.10 Two aspectual constructionsexist with which -ke(nd) forms often co-occur. The first construction is with the non-finite form of the verb kit ‘to finish’, indicating that an ongoing action has finished.In 50, the measuring of string is the action which is completed before another action.

(50) yat-ke-l=olight-be-REAL[NON1SG]=CONN

awaiktop=kaearly.morning=ERG

lavi-lodescend-NON.CLOSE

konoand

sifal=emeasure.string=TOP

hano-mo-knd-eva-n=omeasure-do-REAL-1PL-tr.nasal=CONN

kit-mbel=ofinish-SEQ=CONN

mbup-ma-l-eva-mbo.split-do-REAL-1PL-PST

‘When it became light we descended and we finished measuring string andwe split (the logs).’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:88)

9See also Section 8.3.10Jang (2008) recognizes that -ke(nd) forms occur with an ongoing or progressive meaning: “The

majority of the frequent uses of the final verb present form [= Jang’s analysis of ke(nd) forms] inmedial clauses are understood to be pragmatically analogous to the progressive aspect of final verbs”(Jang 2008:60). De Vries & Wiersma (1992) only note that -ke(nd) forms are present narrative verbforms.

100 6. Mood

The second aspectual construction is formed with the NON1SG -ke(nd) of the verb ko‘to go,’ and has means ‘until’.11 A verb conjugated with -ke(nd) precedes koxeno andexpresses an ongoing action. In (51), the sawing is continued until something elsehappens.

(51) OsakAgain

osax-aagain-CONN

waxotmonth

hanone

lap-kend-eva-n=osaw-REAL-1PL-tr.nasal=CONN

koxenountil

taxemothree

miŋŋgu-n=eveweek-tr.nasal=TOP

taxem-kathree-ERG

lav=osaw=CONN

nda-mbel=onot.be-SEQ=CONN

yat-ke-l=olight-be-REAL[NON1SG]=CONN

nux=eI-TOP

hitulov=eThursday=TOP

ndave-l-ep-mbo.return-REAL-1SG-PST

‘Again one month we sawed until three weeks had gone, the sawing finishedand when it became light on Thursday I returned.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma

1992:92)

Of 25 -ke(nd) forms found in Digul Wambon texts, 16 occur in either of these twoaspectual ‘until’ or ‘finish’ construction.12 Thus Digul Wambon -ke(nd) forms, likeYonggom Wambon -ken forms, tend to occur in aspectual contexts, a tendency thatis not shared by Digul Wambon -t forms.

Rather, Digul Wambon -t forms occur when there is a switch in subject, as il-lustrated in (52), where the subject changes after loxolevo from ‘I’ to ‘they’ and afterakmoxeleno from ‘they’ to ‘we’.

(52) Et-mbel=oLeave-SEQ=CONN

aphouse

nda-nocome-SIM

loxo-l-ev=ospeak-REAL-1SG=CONN

kav=epeople=TOP

nukme

akmoxe-l-en=ofollow-REAL-NON1PL=CONN

kononext

oy=epig=TOP

talemocut

hali-mbel=ocarry-SEQ=CONN

lap-ndave-l-eva-mbo.take-come-REAL-1PL-PST

‘I left and came to the house speaking and people followed me and we cutup the pig and carried it and came (back).’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:84-85)

On the other hand, -ke(nd) forms do not necessarily mark a switch in subject. Thusthe main difference between Digul Wambon -t and -ke(nd) forms is not their fre-quency (besides 25 -ke(nd) forms, 22 -t forms were found in Digul Wambon texts),but in whether or not they mark a switch in subject. In addition, Digul Wambonkend- forms tend to occur in continuous or progressive contexts.

11The stem of the verb ‘to go’, namely ko, can also have the meaning ‘until’.12The -ke(nd) forms that were followed by a time clause such as ‘4 weeks’ or ‘afternoon’ were also

counted as occurring in an ‘until’ construction. It must also be noted that -ke(nd) verbs are not theonly verb forms that can precede kitmbelo or koxeno; non-finite SS forms and fully finite past tenseforms also occur in that position.

6.3. Realis Mood 101

6.3.3 Awyu realis forms

The realis verb form found in all four Awyu languages consists of a verb stem fol-lowed by a realis marker and a person-number marker. In these forms, no tensemarker occurs, and the realis forms can be used to express both events occurringpresently (Aghu, Pisa, Shiaxa, Yenimu) and those occurring in the recent past (Aghu,Pisa). All Awyu languages have two realis mood markers, either of which followsthe verb stem; -d in first person forms and -k in non-first person forms.

Table 6.6: Awyu realis paradigms


AXU da-d-e da-k-e da-d-oã da-k-enãcome.I-REAL.1-1SG come.I-REAL.NON1-

NON1SGcome.I-REAL.1-1PL come.I-REAL.NON1-

NON1PL

PSA de-d-i de-x-i de-d-a de-x-enãcome.I-REAL.1-1SG come.I-REAL.NON1-

NON1SGcome.I-REAL.1-1PL come.I-REAL.NON1-

NON1PL

SHI da-d da-g da-d-a da-gox-onahear.I-REAL.1 hear.I-REAL.NON1 hear.I-REAL.1-1PL hear.I-REAL.NON1-

NON1PL

YEN wu-d-i wu wu-d-a wu-gox-onacome.I-REAL.1-1SG come.I come.I-REAL.1-1PL come.I-REAL.NON1-

NON1PL

Sources: Aghu (Drabbe 1957:10); Shiaxa, Pisa, Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:111-112)

Table 6.6 contains a realis paradigm from each of the four Awyu languages,clearly showing the alternation between realis marker -d in first person forms andrealis marker -k in non-first person forms. The realis marker -k has several allo-morphs. In Aghu, -g, -x and -ox are allomorphs of -k; Drabbe states that there isno rule governing which allomorph is chosen (Drabbe 1957:10). For Pisa, Drabbenotes that allomorph -g is used when the verb stem ends in /e/ or /o/, allomorphŋŋg occurs after a nasal vowel, while -k appears after /i/ or /a/ (Drabbe 1950:112). InShiaxa and Yenimu, -kox or -gox are found in the NON1PL forms; -kox is not an exactallomorph of -k, but rather is -k plus -ox. However, it is unclear how this form cameabout; it will be glossed as an allomorph of -k.

Unlike for Dumut languages, little can be said about the distribution or specificfunction of semi-finite realis forms in Awyu languages, as a complete grammar isavailable only for Aghu.13

6.3.4 Kombai realis forms

Kombai marks realis mood like Awyu languages: -d is the mood marker in firstperson forms, while -k (allomorph -g intervocalically) is the non-first person moodmarker. However, -g only occurs as a mood marker with verbs whose stems end in

13The function of Aghu semi-finites is discussed in Chapter 11 on Clause Linkage.

102 6. Mood

a nasal vowel; the realis marker does not appear in non-first person forms when theverb stem does not end in a nasal vowel. These two situations are illustrated by twoparadigms in Table 6.7.

Table 6.7: Kombai realis paradigms

non-nasal stem nasal stem

1SG xa-d-e(f) u-d-e(f)go.I-REAL.1-1SG kill.I-REAL.1-1SG

NON1SG xa u-g-ego.I[REAL.NON1SG] kill.I-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

PL xa-d-efo u-d-efogo.I-REAL.1-1PL kill.I-REAL.1-1PL

NON1PL xa-no u-g-enogo.i-[REAL]NON1PL kill.I-REAL.NON1-NON1PL

Source: de Vries (1993:22-23)

The non-first person forms for the verb xa ‘to go’ are formed by adding a person-number marker to the verb stem; no mood marker occurs.14 In the non-first personforms of the verb u ‘to kill’, the non-first person realis marker -g appears. Note thatthe analysis of -d and -g as mood markers differs from the analysis given in de Vries(1993), where -d and -g are analyzed as being part of the person-number markers.

6.4 Reconstruction

Proto Dumut

Dumut languages have two realis mood markers, -t and -ken, which occur in se-parate paradigms. In Digul Wambon, -ken occurs mainly in aspectual contexts withcompletive kitmbelo ‘finish’ and progressive koxeno ‘until’ constructions. In YonggomWambon, 60% of all -ken forms occur with position verbs, which in Awyu-Dumutlanguages express progressive meaning (see Chapter 8 on Aspect). Interestingly,Aghu has a durative marker -ke to express ongoing action; thus bey-oa-ŋŋge15 means‘we are beating sago’ in Aghu (Drabbe 1957:21). The origin of Dumut -ken is likelyto be this progressive marker -ke, now only found in Aghu; this marker, in turn, pos-sibly derived from the auxiliary verb *ke ‘to be’. In Proto Dumut, *-ken forms thenonly occurred in progressive contexts.

Thus *-ken is reconstructed as a realis marker in Proto Dumut. Proto Dumut*-ken occurred in constructions that express progressive meaning and is thought tohave originated from a progressive marker -ke derived from *ke ‘to be’. Realis

14Kombai irrealis non-first person forms are also formed by adding a person-number marker to averb stem. The non-first person realis forms can be distinguished from irrealis non-first person formsbecause different stems are used.

15The /k/ of -ke has become ŋŋg because it occurs intervocalically and after a nasal vowel.

6.4. Reconstruction 103

*-t is reconstructed as the older Proto Dumut realis marker; the *-ken form enteredProto Dumut later and started competing with realis *-t forms. The reason to re-construct *-t as the older form is because it has been marginalized in Mandobo andrestricted in Digul Wambon. Linguistic archaisms tend to survive in marginalizedor less basic functions, while the new forms that replace them are more widespread(Koch 1996:219). In Mandobo, -ken forms pushed -t forms aside to the point whereMandobo -t forms only occur in conditional clauses. In Yonggom Wambon, -t formsremained frequent while very few -ken forms occur. The -ken forms that do occurin Yonggom Wambon do not all appear in a progressive context, unlike in ProtoDumut. In Digul Wambon, -t and -ken forms are about equally frequent.

To summarize, Proto Dumut had two realis markers, *-t and *-ken. Proto Du-mut *-ken originated as a progressive marker and only occurred in progressive con-texts. In Proto Dumut’s daughter languages, especially in Mandobo, *-ken formsexpanded in function and frequency, pushing aside the more archaic *-t forms.

Proto Awyu

All four Awyu languages have -d as a realis marker in 1SG and 1PL verb forms,and realis marker -k in NON1SG and NON1PL verb forms. Hence for Proto Awyu*-d is reconstructed as REAL.1 marker and *-k as REAL.NON1 marker. The only dif-ference in meaning and function of Proto Awyu *-d and *-k mood markers is thesubject person-number marker with which they co-occur. Proto Awyu might havestarted to use two different mood markers in 1SG and NON1SG contexts becausefinal consonant deletion leveled out the difference between 1SG and NON1SG sub-ject person-number markers. Thus Proto Awyu Dumut *-ep 1SG and *-en eventuallyboth became *-e in Proto Awyu because of the deletion of final /p/ and /n/.

Before final consonant deletion took place in Proto Awyu, mood markers werenot needed to distinguish between first and non-first person, and the proto languageat that stage might have had only one mood marker. This one mood marker is mostlikely to have been *-d, which is still found in both first and non-first person inseveral Awyu past tense paradigms (see Chapter 7 on Tense). The mood marker *-kthen later entered Proto Awyu, replacing *-d in non-first person forms.

Proto Awyu-Dumut

For Proto Dumut, two realis markers were reconstructed, *-t and *-ken, where *-t isthe older realis marker and *-ken has its origin in a progressive aspectual marker-ke. For Proto Awyu, *-d REAL.1 and *-k REAL.NON1 were reconstructed; *-d washypothesized to be the older form, while *-k came to be used as a realis marker oncethe distinction between first and non-first person became unclear in Proto Awyu.Given these reconstructed situations in the daughter languages, what can be saidabout mood in Proto Awyu-Dumut?

In both Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu, *-t or *-d was reconstructed as the olderform, while *-ken and *-k entered these proto languages at a later stage. Proto Awyu

104 6. Mood

*-k and Proto Dumut *-ken are false cognates. Although both express realis mood,they differ in form, function and origin.16 These differences are hard to explain, andthus, following the form-function constraint introduced in Chapter 1, neither *-kennor *-k is reconstructed for Proto Awyu-Dumut. Rather, Proto Awyu-Dumut hadone realis marker *-t,17 which occurred in both first and non-first person forms. InProto Awyu and Kombai, the Proto Awyu-Dumut realis marker *-t was replaced inNON1 forms by *-k when 1SG and NON1SG endings became the same due to finalconsonant deletion; in Proto Awyu, *-k was then pressed into use as a non-first per-son realis marker in all instances, while in Kombai, -k only came to be used as arealis marker if the verb stem ended in a nasal vowel. Thus Kombai illustrates anintermediate step between Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto Awyu, in which the realismarker *-k has not spread to all NON1 verb forms. The fact that Kombai and ProtoAwyu share the innovation of a realis marker -k supports a subgrouping of Kombaiwith the Awyu languages rather than with the Dumut languages, a hypothesis towhich I will return in the conclusion of this book.

16Proto Dumut *-ken has its origins in a progressive marker -ke and has aspectual functions, whileProto Awyu *-k marks non-first person, besides expressing realis meaning.

17*-t rather than *-d is reconstructed for Proto Awyu-Dumut because /t/ is likely to have changedto /d/ intervocalically in Proto Awyu. It must be noted however that /t/ to /d/ is not a regularsound change occurring (intervocalically) between Proto Awyu-Dumut and Proto Awyu.

7

Tense

Awyu-Dumut languages are mood-driven, as demonstrated in the chapter on Mood.Awyu-Dumut verbs are first marked for mood and then optionally for tense. Thustense is only marked on the verb if mood is expressed as well; if the verb is in realismood, a past tense marker may occur, whereas if the verb is in irrealis mood, a fu-ture tense marker may attach to the verb. Figure 7.1 depicts the interaction betweenmood and tense in Awyu-Dumut languages. The verbs that are marked for bothmood and tense are finite verb forms, those only marked for mood are semi-finiteverb forms, whereas non-finite verb forms mark neither tense, mood, nor subjectperson-number, but may contain a temporality marker.1 Both semi-finite and fi-nite verbs do mark subject person-number. In semi-finite verb forms, the subjectperson-number marker always follows the mood marker. In Dumut and Kombai fi-nite verbs, the tense marker comes after the subject person-number marker, whereasin the majority of Awyu finite verbs, the tense marker precedes the subject person-number marker.

Verbs

+Mood

+REAL

+TNS,+PN(past)

–TNS,+PN

+IRR

+TNS,+PN(future)

–TNS,+PN

–Mood

–person-number(PN)

+temporality -temporality

Figure 7.1: Awyu-Dumut verb structure

Semi-finite verbs, which do not contain a tense marker but which are marked formood, are far more frequent than finite forms, which express both tense and mood.

1As was pointed out in Chapter 6 on mood, Awyu non-finite verbs do express mood, althoughnot by a separate mood marker.

106 7. Tense

Indeed, in the Aghu text “Two Orphan Girls” (Drabbe 1957:55-62), there is one oc-currence of a historical past form at the very end of the story, which places the wholestory, a myth, in the historical past. In the same story, there are a few occurrencesof distant past forms but only with the verb e- ‘to sit’ in durative contexts (Drabbe1957:40).2 On the other hand, there are hundreds of semi-finite realis forms in thisstory. Five of the nine other Aghu stories and myths recorded by Drabbe also havea historical past form at the end of the story but few or no other finite past tenseforms, while semi-finite forms are abundant.

The two tenses that occur in Awyu-Dumut languages are past tense and futuretense. There is no present tense; rather, actions that occur at or near the momentof speaking are expressed using a semi-finite realis form, as described in Chapter 6on Mood. The Dumut morphemes -t and -ken were originally analyzed as ‘present-neutral’ tense forms by both Drabbe (1959) and de Vries & Wiersma (1992) but werere-analyzed as realis mood markers in Section 6.3.1.

In Awyu languages multiple past tenses are found, while Dumut languages haveone past tense. A future tense is found in most but not all Awyu-Dumut languages.In Section 7.2, future tense is discussed after past tenses are treated in Section 7.1.Reconstructions are presented at the end of each section.

7.1 Past Tense

Foley notes that “tense systems in Papuan languages are generally more elaboratethan in European languages. In almost all cases more than one past tense is distin-guished” (Foley 1986:159). This is true for Awyu languages, where a distinction canbe made between the recent past of today, yesterday’s past, the distant past and thehistorical past. Dumut languages have only one past tense, while Kombai has nopast tense at all. Both Awyu and Dumut past tenses are expressed through tensemarkers.

7.1.1 Dumut Past Tense

All three Dumut languages have one past tense, which is formed by suffixing a pasttense marker to a semi-finite realis -t form after the subject person-number marker.The Dumut past tense is used to refer to any action or process that took place beforethe time of speaking. The past tense marker in Yonggom Wambon and Mandobois -an, while Digul Wambon employs -mbo as a past tense marker. A past tenseparadigm for each of these three languages is presented in Table 7.1.

A few changes that occur in these paradigms due to morphophonemic rules needto be explained. When the realis marker -t occurs intervocalically, it changes to/r/ in Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo, and to /l/ in Digul Wambon. In DigulWambon the sounds /p/ and /mb/ combine to yield /p/, which then does not

2For an explanation of how position verbs are used in durative contexts in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages, see Section 8.1.

7.1. Past Tense 107

Table 7.1: Dumut past paradigms

Mandobo Yonggom Wambon Digul Wambon

1SG roroan etagarewan andeleporo-t-op-an etaga-t-ep-an ande-t-ep-mboput-REAL-1SG-PST see-REAL-1SG-PST eat-REAL-1SG-PST

NON1SG roran etagaran andetmboro-t-an etaga-t-an ande-t-mboput-REAL[NON1SG]-PST see-REAL[NON1SG]-PST eat-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

1PL rorunan etagarewanan andelevamboro-t-un-an etaga-t-ewan-an ande-t-eva-mboput-REAL-1PL-PST see-REAL-1PL-PST eat-REAL-1PL-PST

NON1PL rorinan etagarinan andelemboro-t-in-an etaga-t-in-an ande-t-e-mboput-REAL-NON1PL-PST see-REAL-NON1PL-PST eat-REAL-NON1PL-PST

Sources: Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:10); Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:130); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:26)

fricativize, unlike /p/ in the Yonggom Wambon 1SG form, which fricativizes to/w/. The /p/ that would be expected in the Mandobo 1SG form disappears be-tween the /a/ and the /o/, as Drabbe notes: “between /a/ and /o/ the /p/ isdropped, and /w/ does not occur as a ligature”3 in Mandobo.

For Proto Dumut, *-an is reconstructed as the past tense marker, as it occurs inboth Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon. It is likely that Digul Wambon introduced-mbo as a past tense marker after losing Proto Dumut *-an. Digul Wambon -mbomight have its origin in the durative marker -mbo, which in turn is derived from thelocative verb mba ‘to sit, to stay’.

7.1.2 Awyu Past Tenses

Awyu languages can have up to four past tenses. The four past tenses found inAwyu languages are the hodiernal and hesternal pasts, respectively used to expressactions that occurred today or yesterday, and the distant and historical pasts. Notall Awyu languages have all four tenses. Aghu, for example, distinguishes onlytwo past tenses, the distant and the historical, and uses semi-finite realis forms toexpress events that occurred recently, as described in Section 6.3.3. Pisa also has justtwo past tenses; hesternal past and distant past. Shiaxa and Yenimu each have fourpast tenses. The semantic use of the past tenses is not exact. Rather, it is based onhow much time the speaker feels has passed. Drabbe observes the following aboutthe use of past tenses in Aghu:

The boundary between the use of both past tenses is of course not exactlymarked off, all the more because the Papuan, and especially the AghuAwyu who has no wet and dry season to measure time by, has a very bad

3“Tussen /a/ en /o/ vervalt echter de /p/, en treedt geen /w/ op als verbinding” (Drabbe1959:6).

108 7. Tense

sense of time. In many cases both past tenses might be used, dependingon how much time one feels has passed.4

The following paragraphs give a description of each of the four past tenses found inAwyu languages.

Hodiernal past

The hodiernal past form is used to express actions that took place on the same day aswhen the utterance was spoken. Only Shiaxa and Yenimu have specific hodiernalpast forms; Aghu and Pisa use semi-finite realis forms, consisting of a verb stem,a mood marker and a person-number marker, to express hodiernal actions. Semi-finite realis paradigms for all four Awyu languages can be found in Table 6.6 inChapter 6, while Table 7.2 gives hodiernal past paradigms for Shiaxa and Yenimu.

Table 7.2: Shiaxa and Yenimu hodiernal past paradigms

Shiaxa Yenimu

1SG dadowe atidikida-d-owe ati-di-k-icome.I-REAL.1-1SG bite.I-REAL.1-HOD-1SG

NON1SG dagore atikida-k-ore ati-k-k-icome.I-REAL.NON1-NON1SG bite.I-REAL.NON1-HOD-NON1SG

1PL dadowa atidikada-d-owa ati-di-k-acome.I-REAL.1-1PL bite.I-REAL.1-HOD-1PL

NON1PL dagena atikinada-k-ena ati-k-k-inacome.I-REAL.NON1-NON1PL bite.I-REALNON1-HOD-NON1PL

Sources: Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:113); Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:113-114)

Shiaxa forms its hodiernal past by using a specific set of person-number markers,different from the one it uses for semi-finite realis verb forms. The hodiernal pastperson-number markers are also used in all other Shiaxa past tenses. The two dif-ferent person-number sets Shiaxa uses are listed in Table 7.3. The initial vowels ofthe singular person-number markers vary according to the final vowel of the stem:if a stem ends in /a/, then the singular marker start with /o/; otherwise, the initialvowel of the singular person-number marker is the same as the final vowel of theverb stem.In Yenimu, a hodiernal marker -k occurs throughout the paradigm; in first personforms it comes after the mood marker -d and in non-first person forms it combines

4“De grens tussen het gebruik der beide praeterita is natuurlijk niet nauwkeurig afgebakend,temeer daar de Papoea, en vooral de Aghu-Awyu die geen natte en droge seizoenen kent om er detijd mee te meten, een zeer slecht begrip van tijd heeft. In veel gevallen zal men zowel het ene als hetandere praeteritum gebruiken, al naar gelang men de verstreken tijd aanvoelt” (Drabbe 1957:12).

7.1. Past Tense 109

Table 7.3: Shiaxa person-number markers

finite pastforms

semi-finiterealis forms

1SG -(V)we –NON1SG -(V)re –1PL -owa -aNON1PL -ena -ona

with the mood marker -k. The subject person-number markers in the Yenimu hodier-nal past paradigm do differ from the subject person-number markers it uses in otherparadigms, but this variation in form does not express a (distinctive) variation inmeaning.

Hesternal past

Awyu speakers use a hesternal past verb form when talking about an action thathappened on the day before the time of speaking. Each Awyu language has its ownway of forming the hesternal past. Table 7.4 gives hesternal past paradigms for Pisa,Shiaxa and Yenimu.

Table 7.4: Awyu hesternal past paradigms

Pisa Shiaxa Yenimu

1SG dedira dagodewe otodifide-d-i-ra da-go-d-ewe oto-d-ificome.I-REAL-1SG-HEST hear.I-HEST-REAL-1SG ascend.I-REAL-1SG

NON1SG dexira dagodere otodide-k-i-ra da-go-d-ere oto-d-icome.I-REAL-1SG-HEST hear.I-HEST-REAL-

NON1SGascend.I-REAL-NON1SG

1PL dedara dagodowa otodifade-d-a-ra da-go-d-owa oto-d-ifacome.I-REAL-1PL-HEST hear.I-HEST-REAL-1PL ascend.I-REAL-1PL

NON1PL dexenãra dagodenã otodinade-k-enã-ra da-go-d-enã oto-d-inacome.I-REAL-NON1PL-HEST

hear.I-HEST-REAL-NON1PL ascend.I-REAL-NON1PL

Sources: Pisa (Drabbe 1950:114); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:114); Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:114)

In Pisa, a tense marker -ra is added after the semi-finite realis form. This is the onlyAwyu past tense marker that occurs at the end of the verb form; all other Awyu pasttense markers occur in between the mood marker and the subject person-numbermarker. In Dumut languages, past tense markers always occur verb-finally.

In Shiaxa, a hesternal tense marker -go is positioned in between the verb stemand the mood marker -d, which in this paradigm occurs in both the first person

110 7. Tense

and non-first person forms. The vowel in Shiaxa’s hesternal mood marker is notalways -o but rather depends on the vowel which occurs in the stem. In Yenimu,the hesternal paradigm is distinguished from other Yenimu past paradigms by theoccurrence of realis marker -d throughout the paradigm.

Aghu uses its semi-finite realis paradigm to also express hesternal meaning, justas it uses these forms to express hodiernal meaning; the Aghu semi-finite realisparadigm is not included in Table 7.4 but can be found in Table 6.6.

Distant past

All four Awyu languages have the possibility of expressing the distant past forevents that did not take place recently nor a very long time ago. Table 7.5 contains adistant past paradigm from Aghu, Pisa, Shiaxa and Yenimu.

Table 7.5: Awyu distant past paradigms

Aghu Pisa

1SG fidke dedaxarifi-d-(a)k-e de-d-aka-ricome.I-REAL.1-DIST-1SG come.I-REAL.1-DIST-1SG

NON1SG fiaki dakifi-ak-i de-ak-icome.I-DIST-NON1SG come.I-DIST-NON1SG

1PL fidkoã dedaxayafi-d-(a)k-oã de-d-aka-yacome.I-REAL.1-DIST-1PL come.I-REAL.1-DIST-1PL

NON1PL fiakenã dakinãfi-ak-enã de-ak-inãcome.I-DIST-NON1PL come.I-DIST-NON1PL

Shiaxa Yenimu

1SG atimakewe tagamafiati-mak-ewe taga-ma-fibite.I-DIST-1SG tell.I-DIST-1SG

NON1SG atimakere tafamakiati-mak-ere tafa-mak-ibite.I-DIST-NON1SG tell.I-DIST-NON1SG

1PL atimakowa tagamafaati-mak-owa taga-ma-fabite.I-DIST-1PL tell.I-DIST-1PL

NON1PL atimakena tagamakinaati-mak-ena taga-mak-inabite.I-DIST-NON1PL tell.I-DIST-NON1PL

Sources: Aghu (Drabbe 1959:10); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:115); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:115); Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:115)

In the Pisa and Aghu paradigms, the realis marker -d occurs in first person forms,while realis -d is absent in the Shiaxa and Yenimu distant past paradigms. In Aghu

7.1. Past Tense 111

and Pisa, the distant past marker is -ak, with variants -k in Aghu and -axa in Pisa.Drabbe does not analyze the /a/ in Aghu as being part of the tense marker but

writes it separately, without a gloss. A comparison with Pisa, however, justifiesanalyzing Aghu’s distant past marker as -ak. The initial /a/ only occurs in NON1forms, and then only if the verb stem ends in /i/ or /ü/. If the verb stem ends in an/a/ or an /e/, the /a/ of -ak replaces that vowel. Thus, the distant past paradigmfor the Aghu verb ede ‘to give’ is

Table 7.6: Aghu distant past paradigm

SG PL

1 ededke ededkoãede-d-(a)k-e ede-d-(a)k-oãgive-REAL.1-DIST-1SG give-REAL.1-DIST-1PL

NON1 edaki edakenãede-ak-i ede-ak-enãgive-DIST-NON1SG give-DIST-NON1PL

In Shiaxa, the distant past marker is -mak, while Drabbe claims that the Yenimudistant past marker is -ma (Drabbe 1950:115). However, in NON1 verb forms, a /k/follows Yenimu -ma, and it makes more sense to analyze Yenimu as having a distantpast marker -mak, like Shiaxa, of which the final /k/ was dropped in first personverb forms.

Historical past

Aghu, Shiaxa and Yenimu each have a historical past to express events that tookplace a long time ago. All three languages have a tense marker that occurs inbetween the mood marker -d(i), found throughout the paradigm, and the person-number marker. The tense marker in Aghu is -ia, in Shiaxa it is -ra and in Yenimuit is -r. Table 7.7 contains three historical past paradigms, one for each of the Awyulanguages with a historical past.

Comparison and reconstruction of Awyu past tenses

Great diversity exists within and between the different Awyu past tenses. Not onetense is formed the same way in any of the four languages. In some paradigms, -doccurs throughout as a realis marker (Yenimu hesternal past, all historical pasts); inanother paradigm it is absent altogether (Shiaxa distant past). Three distinct pasttense markers occur throughout the paradigms: -(a)k, -ra and -ma(k). We find -(a)kas a hesternal past marker (Yenimu) and as a distant past marker (Aghu, Pisa). Themarker -ra is a hodiernal past tense marker in Pisa, but the historical past tensemarker in Shiaxa and Yenimu. The marker -ma is only found as a distant past markerin Shiaxa and Yenimu, while the variant -mak occurs throughout the Shiaxa distant

112 7. Tense

Table 7.7: Awyu historical past paradigms

Aghu Shiaxa Yenimu

1SG dadia atidirawe atidrefida-d-ia ati-di-ra-we ati-d-r-eficome.I-REAL-HIST[1SG] bite.I-REAL-HIST-1SG bite.I-REAL-HIST-1SG

NON1SG dadia atidirare atidrada-d-ia ati-di-ra-re ati-d-r-acome.I-REAL-HIST[NON1SG]

bite.I-REAL-REAL-NON1SG

bite.I-REAL-REAL-NON1SG

1PL dadiaoã atidirawa atidrefada-d-ia-oã ati-di-ra-wa ati-d-r-efacome.I-REAL-HIST-1PL bite.I-REAL-HIST-1PL bite.I-REAL-HIST-1PL

NON1PL dedianã atidirana atidrenada-d-ia-nã ati-di-ra-na ati-d-r-enacome.I-REAL-HIST-NON1PL

bite.I-REAL-HIST-NON1PL

bite.I-REAL-HIST-NON1PL

Sources: Aghu (Drabbe 1957:11); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:116); Yenimu (Drabbe 1950:116)

Table 7.8: Awyu past tenses

Aghu Pisa Shiaxa Yenimu

hodiernal past 1SG realis form realis form realis form+PN1 di+k+PN

hodiernal past NON1SG realis form realis form realis form+PN1 k+k+PN

hodiernal past 1PL realis form realis form realis form+PN1 di+k+PN

hodiernal past NON1PL realis form realis form realis form+PN1 k+k+PN

hesternal past 1SG realis form d+PN+ra g(V)+d+PN1 d+PN

hesternal past NON1SG realis form k+PN+ra g(V)+d+PN1 d+PN

hesternal past 1PL realis form d+PN+ra g(V)+d+PN1 d+PN

hesternal past NON1PL realis form k+PN+ra g(V)+d+PN1 d+PN

distant past 1SG d+(a)k+PN d+axa+PN mak+PN1 ma+PN

distant past NON1SG (a)k+PN ak+PN mak+PN1 mak+PN

distant past 1PL d+(a)k+PN d+axa+PN mak+PN1 ma+PN

distant past NON1PL (a)k+PN ak+PN mak+PN1 mak+PN

historical past 1SG d+ia – d+ra+PN1 d+r+PN

historical past NON1SG d+ia – d+ra+PN1 d+r+PN

historical past 1PL d+ia+PN – d+ra+PN1 d+r+PN

historical past NON1PL d+ia+PN – d+ra+PN1 d+r+PN

past paradigm and in NON1 forms in the Yenimu distant past paradigm. Diversityis also found in the order of the morphemes; sometimes the tense marker precedesthe mood marker (Shiaxa hesternal past, Shiaxa distant past, Yenimu distant past),while in other paradigms it follows the person-number marker (Pisa hesternal past).In all other cases the tense marker is placed in between the mood marker and theperson-number marker. Table 7.8 summarizes the past tenses found in Aghu, Pisa,

7.2. Future Tense 113

Shiaxa and Yenimu.Concerning the use of Awyu past tenses, little is known because only the Aghu

grammar description contains texts. It is therefore unclear in what contexts or withwhat frequency Awyu past tenses are used. For Aghu, it is clear that distant pastforms are very infrequent (only two occurrences in all the texts), while historical pastforms only occur at the beginning or the end of a story. Thus it can be hypothesizedthat the past tenses are not used very frequently in the other Awyu languages either.

For these two reasons (great diversity and paucity of data) I do not consider itpossible to reconstruct past tense(s) for Proto Awyu, except to say that Proto Awyumost probably had at least one past tense.

7.2 Future Tense

If a language has a distinction between realis and irrealis forms, as Awyu-Dumutlanguages do, that does not necessarily mean that the language also has a specificfuture tense. As Comrie notes:

Some languages have a basic modal distinction between realis and irre-alis, where realis refers to situations that have actually taken place or areactually taking place, while irrealis is used for more hypothetical situa-tions, including situations that represent inductive generalisations, andalso predictions, including also predictions about the future [...] Since fu-ture time reference in these languages is subsumed under irrealis, whilepresent time reference (in the absence of any other modal value) is sub-sumed under realis, it is indeed the case that present and future timereference will have different grammatical realisations, but without it be-ing the case that these languages have a distinct future tense [...] We aretherefore left with the problem of finding a language in which there isa separate grammatical form used for future time reference, but wherethe use of this form cannot be treated as a special use of a grammaticalcategory with basically non-tense meaning. (Comrie 1985:45-46)

In two Dumut languages (Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon), one Awyu language(Aghu) and in Kombai, such a future tense is found. These languages have a specificfuture tense marker that is attached to the semi-finite irrealis form. In the threeAwyu languages without a future tense marker (Pisa, Shiaxa and Yenimu), futuremeaning is expressed by the semi-finite irrealis forms.

The future tense marker in Yonggom Wambon is -in, the Mandobo future markeris -en, while Aghu has a future tense marker -E and Kombai expresses future tensemeaning by adding the future tense marker -i, which de Vries (1993) states is in freeallomorphic variation with -e. Table 7.9 contains future tense paradigms for thesefour languages.In Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo, the future tense marker comes before the 1SG

subject person-number marker. It then loses its final /n/ before the 1SG marker -ep,

114 7. Tense

Table 7.9: Dumut future tense paradigms

Mandobo Yonggom Wambon

1SG andeyep mayoyipande-y-e-ep mayo-y-i-epeat[IRR]-LIG-FUT-1SG descend[IRR]-LIG-FUT-1SG

I will eat I will descendNON1SG andenen mayonin

ande-n-en mayo-n-ineat[IRR]-NON1SG-FUT descend[IRR]-NON1SG-FUT

you/he/she/it will eat you/he/she/it will descend1PL andewonen mayowanin

ande-won-en mayo-wan-ineat[IRR]-1PL-FUT descend[IRR]-1PL-FUT

we will eat we will descendNON1PL andenonen mayonanin

ande-non-en mayo-nan-ineat[IRR]-NON1PL-FUT descend[IRR]-NON1PL-FUT

they will eat they will descend

Aghu Kombai

1SG adeyE aifiade-y-E ai-f-ihear.II[IRR.1SG]-LIG-FUT go.II[IRR]-1SG-FUT

I will hear I will goNON1SG adenE aini

ade-n-E ai-n-ihear.II[IRR]-NON1SG-FUT go.II[IRR]-NON1SG-FUT

you/he/she/it will hear you/he/she/it will go1PL adoanE aifoni

ad-oan-E ai-fon-ihear.II[IRR]-1PL-FUT go.II[IRR]-1PL-FUT

we will hear we will goNON1PL adenanE ainoni

ad-enan-E ai-non-ihear.II[IRR]-NON1PL-FUT go.II[IRR]-NON1PL-FUT

they will hear they will go

Sources: Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:23); Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:128); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:14); Kombai (de Vries1993:23)

and a ligature /y/ connects the verb stem and the future tense marker. In all otherinstances, the future tense marker follows the subject person-number marker.

Digul Wambon,Pisa, Shiaxa and Yenimu do not have a future tense marker thatcan be added to irrealis semi-finite forms. Drabbe does note that Pisa and Shiaxa canadd the affirmative postposition ni after semi-finite irrealis forms when they wantto express indicative future meaning. Drabbe even notes that this ni is never left outwhen future meaning is expressed in Shiaxa, although he leaves it out in his Shiaxa

7.2. Future Tense 115

future paradigm.Although Digul Wambon does not have a future tense marker, it does have a

construction that expresses immediate future meaning. By placing a realis conju-gated form of the verb ma ‘to do’ after a semi-finite irrealis form, immediate futuretense is realized in Digul Wambon, as illustrated by the paradigm given in Table7.10.

Table 7.10: Digul Wambon immediate future paradigm

1SG atkip malepatki-ep ma-t-epwrap[IRR]-1SG do-REAL-1SG

I will wrap soonNON1SG atki mat

atki ma-twrap[IRR.NON1SG] do-REAL[NON1SG]you/he/she/it will wrap soon

1PL atkiwa ma(le)wa5

atki-ewa ma-t-ewawrap[IRR]-1PL do-REAL-1PL

we will wrap soonNON1PL atkina mat

atki-na ma-twrap[IRR]-NON1PL do-REAL[NON1PL]

Source: Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:34)

Jang (2008:34) further notes that if ma ‘to do’ is conjugated with the realis markerke(nd) instead of with the realis marker -t, the construction has a remote future mea-ning. De Vries & Wiersma (1992:27) have a different analysis than Jang (2008), claim-ing that -mat is Digul Wambon’s future tense marker and that in 1SG and 1PL formsthe person-number markers appear twice, before and after ma(t). Thus de Vries &Wiersma (1992) analyze atkip malep as in (53).

(53) atki-pwrap[IRR]-1SG

mal-epFUT-1SG

‘I will wrap’

Jang’s analysis is more elegant and has more credibility because Kombai also usesthe verb ma to express immediate future meaning, as in (54). In Kombai, a realis formof the verb ma ‘to do’ follows an infinitive verb, marked by the infinitive marker -ni,to express what the speaker is about to do or say.

(54) DoüSago

ade-nieat-INF

ma-d-edo-REAL-1SG

‘I am about to eat sago’ Kombai, de Vries (1993:17)

5Jang (2008) places le in the 1PL form malewa in parentheses, while de Vries & Wiersma (1992)also note that the /l/ does not appear in the 1PL form. This is an idiosyncracy for which the currentdata offer no explanation.

116 7. Tense

Reconstruction of Awyu-Dumut future tense

Yonggom Wambon, Mandobo, Aghu and Kombai respectively have future tensemarkers -in, -en, E and -i/-e. These are all reflexes of the same proto future tensemarker, which is reconstructed as *-e in Proto Awyu and as *-en/*-in in Proto Dumutand Proto Awyu-Dumut. Kombai and Proto Awyu dropped the final consonant/n/. Whether the vowel in the Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut future tensemarker should be *e or *i cannot be determined because no regular sound changeswere found which could help answer this question. The Awyu-Dumut languagesthat do not have a reflex of Proto Awyu-Dumut/Proto Dumut *-en/*-in or ProtoAwyu *-e are thought to have dropped future tense marking altogether, which isnot unlikely if one considers how infrequent finite verb forms are in Awyu-Dumutlanguages. The use of the support verb ma ‘to do’ to express immediate future tensein Kombai and Digul Wambon is a shared retention, a construction that was lost - ornot attested - in all other Awyu-Dumut languages.

7.3 Summary

Awyu-Dumut languages, which are mood-driven, all have distinct verb forms inwhich tense is marked. These tensed verb forms occur very infrequently, whichperhaps explains why the Proto Awyu-Dumut future tense marker does not appearin all Awyu-Dumut languages, and why Digul Wambon lost Proto Dumut past tensemarker *-an. At the same time, there is great freedom for Awyu-Dumut languages tovary in their realizations of tense, resulting in a plethora of past tenses. Indeed, thediversity within Awyu-Dumut past tenses is so great that no Proto Awyu or ProtoAwyu-Dumut past tense(s) can be reconstructed.

8

Aspect

While tense is concerned with the sequence of events in real time and mood marksthe speaker’s attitude towards the situation, aspect describes the internal tempo-ral or phasal structure of actions or states. Thus, amongst other things, the as-pect of a verb can express whether an action is ongoing, whether it has been com-pleted, if it occurs over a long period of time or whether it happens once or multipletimes. Within Awyu-Dumut languages, aspectual structures are employed to ex-press whether an action is ongoing (progressive) or completed, whether an actiontakes place habitually, and whether or not an action is repeated and/or iterative.A continuous or progressive aspect implies an ongoing, dynamic process. The ha-bitual aspect on the other hand describes a situation that is characteristic of an ex-tended period of time.

Section 8.1 describes how Awyu-Dumut locative verbs can express durative mea-ning, Section 8.2 discusses how iterative verb forms express habitual meaning, whileSection 8.3 introduces connective verbs used to either encode completed action orbounded ongoing action.

8.1 Position Verbs

The Proto Awyu-Dumut position verb *mba ‘to sit/to stay’ has reflexes in all eightAwyu-Dumut daughter languages, and in all Awyu-Dumut languages except Shi-axa, this verb can express durative meaning when joined to another verb. Morespecifically, if a conjugated form of the verb mba ‘to sit/to stay’ follows a non-finiteverb form in Digul Wambon (55), Yonggom Wambon (56), Aghu (57) or Kombai,that non-finite verb expresses an ongoing action.

(55) Yaxop3PL

hetax=olook=CONN

mba-knd-e.stay-REAL-NON1PL

‘They are looking.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:33)

118 8. Aspect

(56) Waepmo-notravel-SIM

mboge-nansit-[IRR]NON1PL

rakonmocapsize

okriver

kimbarukmo-nan-in.swim-NON1PL-FUT

(while) you(pl) will be traveling, you will capsize and will swim (across) theriver.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:149)

(57) Gobümü-du-kcut.off-SS-CONN

emuthen

xasunibung.leaf

axıhut

si-k-enã.build-REAL-NON1PL

Si-di-kbuild-SS-CONN

ba-de-ksit-SS-CONN

syübanana

e-ŋŋg-enã.eat-REAL-NON1PL

E-ne-keat-SS-CONN

okem’forever

ba-de-ksit-SS-CONN

syübanana

enigomo-do-keat.it-SS-CONN

ba-dia-na.sit-DIST.PST-NON1PL

‘They cut of nibung leaves and built a hut. They built it, stayed there and atebananas. They ate, stayed forever eating bananas.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:62)

In Aghu example (57), the non-finite forms of the verb ‘to sit’ (badek) do not havedurative meaning, while the fully finite distant past form of ba, badiana, does result ina durative reading of the preceding verb. Besides ba ‘to sit’, two other position verbs,namely e ‘to stand’ and i ‘to lie down’ may also function in a durative construction inAghu. In Pisa, position verbs baxamo- ‘to sit’ or ri(mo)- ‘to lie down’ can occur afteranother verb, giving it a durative interpretation. From the description by Drabbe(1950:126) it is not clear, however, whether or not in Pisa the first verb is non-finiteand whether or not the position verb is inflected. As examples, Drabbe gives radirimo- ‘to continue holding’ and bu baxamo- ‘to fast for an extended period of time’.

In Mandobo, the conjugated form of the verb mba does not express durative as-pect, but a durative marker mbe, clearly derived from the verb mba, occurs before aconjugated verb, giving it a durative reading (58).

(58) WeminNight

ge-genbe-REAL[NON1SG]

do,CONN

kinumsleep

raŋŋgi-rolie.down-NON.CLOSE

ödream

itigio-gen:see-REAL[NON1SG]

yomoropfruit

upig

teFOC

mbeDUR

ŋŋ-gen.eat-REAL[NON1SG]

‘When it was night, he lie down asleep and in a dream he saw: a pig waseating the fruit’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:14)

Like Mandobo, Aghu has a durative marker before the verb, namely bu,1 derivedfrom the Aghu position verb ba (59). Kombai similarly has a pre-verbal durativemarker bo (60).2

1The durative marker bu is shortened to b’ before a vowel-initial verb. The /u/ of bu oftenchanges due to vowel harmony.

2The durative marker is written separately from the verb by Drabbe and attached to the verbby de Vries. Therefore they imply different levels of grammaticalization. What is certain is that thedurative marker in Awyu-Dumut languages is not part of a serial verb construction or simply a non-finite form of the verb ‘to sit’, as the marker always has a slightly different form than the stem of theverb ‘to sit’.

8.1. Position Verbs 119

(59) BüsyaghatigiBüsyaghatigi

yoxothey

mida-de-kdownstream.come-SS-CONN

oxoriver

biDUR

ki-ŋŋg-enã.bathe-REAL-NON1PL

Oxoriver

biDUR

ki-ŋŋg-enã,bathe-REAL-NON1PL

mi-di-kcome.down-SS-CONN

feone

u-g-e.stab-REAL-NON1SG

‘The Büsyaghatigi clan, they come downstream and are bathing in the river.They are bathing in the river, he comes down and stabs one.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:58)

(60) NuI

doüsago

bo-ne-d-e.DUR-eat-REAL-1SG

‘I am eating sago’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:28)

Pisa has a pre-verbal durative marker ri, derived from the position verb ri(mo) ‘to liedown’. Thus ri mari means ‘to descend over an extended period of time’ and ri nımeans ‘to eat lots, to keep eating’ (Drabbe 1950:126).

Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon have a durative marker that occurs afterthe verb rather than before it, as in the other Awyu-Dumut languages. The Yong-gom Wambon post-verbal durative marker mbon (61) and Digul Wambon durativemarker mbo (62) are both derived from the verb mba ‘to sit’.

(61) Kagupmen

te,COORD

raramunwomen

de,COORD

munotitchildren

t’COORD

i-ŋŋgin-ineat-REAL-NON1SG

mbonDUR

‘Men and women and children are eating’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:145)

(62) YuString.bag

si-knd-ep-o3

make-REAL-1SG-DUR

‘I am making a string bag’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:33)

So far, Shiaxa has not been discussed, although it does also have a position verbwith an aspectual function. Drabbe (1950:125) notes that baxamo in Shiaxa encodeshabitual meaning. Emed-baxemo, for example, means ‘to be used to doing’. Com-rie explains how habitual meaning can be expressed by a position verb or anotherelement which expresses location:

Of the languages examined where habitual meaning is expressed by meansof a locative, it is always the case that progressive meaning is also ex-pressed as a locative, indeed it is usually the case that the same locativeconstruction is used for both meanings [...] the locative expression ofprogressive meaning is basic, and only if a language has this possibility

3In this Digul Wambon example, the morphophonemic rule /p/+/mb/=p applies, and thus thedurative marker -mbo is expressed as -o in this example. Note that the past tense marker in DigulWambon is also -mbo. However, the past tense marker only attaches to realis -t forms, not to realis-kend forms.

120 8. Aspect

can it further extend the same form to habitual meaning, and this exten-sion is rather an extension of the earlier progressive to become the onlyimperfective form. (Comrie 1976:103)

Thus Shiaxa baxemo is hypothesized to have, at one point, expressed a durative mea-ning as well. Indeed, it might be the case that baxemo still has a durative reading inShiaxa in addition to its habitual reading, but that Drabbe did not note it in his shortgrammar sketch. The use of a position verb to express both durative and habitualmeaning is not found in other Awyu-Dumut languages. Rather the habitual tendsto be formed with iterative verb stems in other Awyu-Dumut languages, as will beillustrated in the next section.

To summarize, there are two ways in which durative meaning is expressed inmost Awyu-Dumut languages:

1. a conjugated form of the position verb mba- ’to sit’ (and in Awyu also i- or ri-‘to lie down’) following a non-finite SS verb form

2. the use of a separate durative marker before or after the verb; the durativemarker is always derived from a position verb.

Table 8.1 contains the durative markers found in each Awyu-Dumut language, aswell as the stems of the position verbs that can express durative meaning.4

Table 8.1: Durative markers and verbs in Awyu-Dumut languages

durative marker position verb expressing durative meaning

YWB ...mbon mba/mbage to sitDWB -mbo mba to sitMAN mbe... -

AXU bu..., i... ba to sit i to lie down, -e to standPSA ri... ba to sit , ri to lie downKOM bo- ba to sit

The durative markers are derived from position verbs, most often from the positionverb mba- ‘to sit, stay’. In many languages, there is a similarity between durativeaspect and position adverbs or verbs (Comrie 1976:98-102). Examples in Dutch areik ben aan het schrijven, literally ‘I am at the writing’, where aan is a preposition, andhij staat koffie te drinken, literally ‘he stands coffee to drink’, where a position verb‘to stand’ combines with the infinitive form of the verb ‘to drink’. Thus, althoughall Awyu-Dumut languages have position verbs that express durative meaning, thissimilarity may not be best explained by a common linguistic history but rather bygeneral typological tendencies in languages. Nevertheless, the forms of the positionverbs are clearly cognate, and clearly stem from a shared linguistic ancestor.

4The [...] preceding or following the durative markers in Table 8.1 indicate whether the durativemarker precedes or follows the verb.

8.2. Iterative Verb Stems 121

8.2 Iterative Verb Stems

Iterative or repeated actions can express a habit, an action that occurs regularly overan extended period of time. Habitual aspect might express an action that is repeatedregularly, as in The bird used to chirp at five every morning, or a general truth that heldfor a bounded period of time, such as The city of Oslo used to be called Christiania. InAwyu-Dumut languages, iterative verb stems are used to express both repeated andgeneral habitual aspect.

Iterative verb stems are formed in all Awyu-Dumut languages through partial orfull reduplication of the basic or suppletive verb stem. In most cases, the auxiliaryverb mo ‘to do’ is then added to the reduplicated stem. Table 8.2 contains someiterative verb stems from each Awyu-Dumut language.

Table 8.2: Awyu-Dumut iterative verb stems

verb stem meaning

YWB ti-/titimo- to build/to build repeatedlymbikmo-/mbikgimbikmo- to give a shot/to give multiple shotsip-/iwipmo- to twist rope/to twist rope continuously

DWB ndat-/ndatndatmo- to listen/to listen usuallykunomo-/kunomomo- to kiss/to kiss repeatedly/habitually

MAN rü-/rürüomo- to go down/to go down several timeskaremo-/kageremo- to treat well/to always treat welltömo-/tötömo- to pull X from ground/to pull several X

from groundAXU xo-/xoxomo- to go/to go repeatedly

fio-/fiogomo- to bake/to bake repeatedly or thoroughlyponi-/poponi- to burst/to burst over a period of time

PSA nı-/ninı- to eat/to eat repeatedlykitı-/kikitimo- to plant/to plant repeatedly

SHI ri-/ririmi- to call/to call repeatedlymode-/modedeme- to come/to come repeatedlywako-/wakowakomo- to have pity/to have pity repeatedly

KOM xaxe-/xaxexaxema- to listen/to be obedientne-/nenema- to eat/to eat repeatedly or usually

Sources: Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:126-127); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:15); Mandobo (Drabbe1959:34,57,86); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:22); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:125); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:126); Kombai (de Vries 1993:15)

In Digul Wambon (63) and Kombai (64), the use of a verb formed with an iterativeverb stem implies habitual meaning.

(63) Evo-n-amil=ethat-tr.nasal-child=TOP

nexo-ni-n=ohis-mother-tr.nasal=CONN

lukword

ndatndat-mo-xe.listen.IT-do-REAL[NON1SG]‘That child usually obeys his mother.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:33)

122 8. Aspect

(64) YaThey

doüsago

nene-ma-no.eat.IT-do-[REAL]NON1PL

‘They usually eat sago/they are sago-eaters.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:16)

In Yonggom Wambon and in the Awyu languages, besides an iterative stem, addi-tional morphology is needed to form a habitual construction. In Yonggom Wambon,the habitual marker -op5 is added to the iterative stem before mo-, and this construc-tion is followed by a conjugated form of the verb mba- ‘to sit, stay’, so that

(65) kogo-y-opgo.IT-LIG-HAB

modo

na-mbonIMP-sit

Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:142)

means ‘continue to always go (there)’, formed with the iterative stem of ko- ‘to go’and the imperative form of mba- ‘to sit, stay’. A Yonggom Wambon habitual con-struction with an iterative, reduplicated verb stem is exemplified in (66).

(66) Ndun...sago

eTOP

yuguphe

ratake

mecome

enene-y-op-moeat.IT-LIG-HAB-do

mbage-t.sit-REAL[NON1SG]

‘He takes the sago, comes (home) and always he (is the one who) eats it.’Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:154-155)

Awyu languages do not have a habitual marker like Yonggom Wambon. Rather,they make use of several other strategies to form habituals. In Aghu, the supportverb -sumo is added to iterative stems in order to yield a form with habitual mea-ning. Thus Aghu xoxomoxe means ‘he kept going away’, while xoxomsumoxe means‘he habitually went away’ (Drabbe 1957:23). For Shiaxa, Drabbe notes about itera-tive verb stems that “many such derived verb stems can be used to express a ha-bitual process also.”6 Drabbe does not state that Pisa iterative verb stems expressa habitual process. He does state that they imply an ongoing process, or at timesthat either the subject or the object of the iterative verb is plural. That an iterativeverb indicates a plural subject is also found in Kombai; in (67) the iterative verb gege‘to inspect’ has a plural subject, namely multiple males involved in ‘inspecting’ avillage fight (de Vries 1993:28).

(67) Yademo-racome.together-CONN

xuroeach.other

ugino-nohit-[REAL]NON1PL

luquarrel

menethis

gege-mo-rainspect.IT-do-CONN

irabihand

irabihand

rimo-fo-nene.shake-[IRR]1PL-QUOTE.PL

‘They said: ‘let us have a meeting and then discuss this quarrel that theywant to hit each other, and then make peace.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:27)

5The Yonggom Wambon habitual marker -op can also occur with other verb forms to yield ahabitual meaning; Drabbe does not describe an iterative stem as being required in the YonggomWambon habitual construction (Drabbe 1959:141-142).

6“Veel van de aldus afgeleide secundaire stammen gebruikt men ook wel om een habitueel procesaan te duiden” (Drabbe 1950:127).

8.3. Connective Verbs 123

In summary, it can be said that all Awyu-Dumut languages except Pisa use iterativeverb stems to express habitual meaning but that an Awyu-Dumut iterative verbstem need not necessarily express a habitual process.

8.3 Connective Verbs

Connective verbs are Awyu-Dumut verbs that have a specialized function in con-necting clauses. Certain connective verbs imply aspectual meaning, either comple-tive meaning or bounded continuative meaning. Although examples of connectiveverbs in other Papuan languages can be cited,7 a detailed study into the typology ofconnective verbs in Papuan languages is lacking.

Two categories of connective verbs exist in Awyu-Dumut languages: (1) verbswith meaning ‘to finish’ and (2) motion verbs. The connective motion verbs canbe translated as ‘until’ and imply that the verb preceding the motion verb has aprolonged duration, which ends when the action expressed by the verb followingthe motion verb begins. The connective ‘finish’ verbs express a completive aspectualmeaning. It is not always easy to determine whether a connective verb still functionsas a verb or has grammaticalized into a connective (de Vries 1986:48). Most often theconnective verb appears in 3SG form and therefore seems petrified, as in (69) below,but at times connective verbs can also be conjugated in 1SG or any other form, asin (74) below. I therefore gloss connective verbs as conjugated verbs; they are usedperiphrastically. Table 8.3 contains the motion verbs and ‘finish’ verbs that are usedas connective verbs expressing aspectual meaning in five Awyu-Dumut languages.

Table 8.3: Awyu-Dumut connective verbs

motionverb

meaning finish verb meaning

YWB ko to go mbumo, ndoimo, oro to finish, to not do, to put downDWB ko to go kit(mo) to finishMAN - etamo, ndamo to finish, to not doAXU - eme, buomo, mu to do thus, to continue, to not wantKOM xa to go lei to lie down

Connective motion verbs were found in Yonggom Wambon, Digul Wambon andKombai grammars, but were not attested in the other Awyu-Dumut languages. Ex-amples of how the verb ‘to go’ can express the aspectual meaning ‘until’ in thesethree languages is illustrated in Section 8.3.1. The connective ‘finish’ verbs found infive different Awyu-Dumut languages are discussed in Section 8.3.2.

7For example, Reesink (1987:83-84) notes that several Usan verbs act as connective verbs.

124 8. Aspect

8.3.1 Connective motion verb ‘to go’

In Yonggom Wambon, Digul Wambon and Kombai, the verb ku/ko/xa ‘to go’ canfunction as a connective verb with meaning ‘until’. In Yonggom Wambon, the mostcommon form of this connective verb is kura, which is a NON1SG realis form with asequence marker -a attached (68). In Digul Wambon, koxeno is the most commonlyused form of the connective verb ko ‘to go’ (69). In Kombai, the motion verb xa com-bines with a marker nege ‘until’ when functioning as a connective verb expressingaspectual meaning (70).

(68) Ngoparrow

tare-r-inscrape-REAL-NON1PL

ku-r-ago-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

wagae-ke-r-an.smooth-be-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘They scraped an arrow until it was smooth.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:135)

(69) Nda-knd-eva-n-ocome-REAL-1PL-tr.nasal-CONN

ko-xe-n-ogo-REAL[NON1SG]-tr.nasal-CONN

kutipke-lodark.become-NON.CLOSE

KuiKouh

mata-l-eva-mbo.arrive-REAL-1PL-PST

‘We traveled until the night fell and arrived in Kouh’ Digul Wambon (de Vries 1986:48)

(70) Dunorof-afood-CONN

ox-adrink-CONN

b-adiya-non-aDUR-give-NON1PL-CONN

xa-negego-until

fa-n-aput.aside-NON1SG-CONN

gone-n-a...overfull.be-NON1SG-CONN...

‘They gave him food and drink until he put it aside (because) he was over-full...’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:127)

8.3.2 Connective verb ‘to finish’

When a verb with the meaning ‘to finish’ or ‘to stop’ follows another verb in Awyu-Dumut languages, it indicates that the action expressed by the first verb has ended.The ‘finish’ verb might be conjugated as a non-finite, semi-finite or finite verb, andmay follow non-finite, semi-finite or finite verbs. The ‘finish’ verb acts as a connec-tive verb, indicating that the action in a second clause takes place after the actionin a first clause; ‘finish’ verbs, like connective motion verbs, have not been attestedsentence-finally. A sentence that contains a ‘finish’ verb can be translated as ‘after(subject) finished X, Y happened’.

Drabbe describes connective finish verbs as emphasizing anteriority (Drabbe1959:136), and de Vries (1993:29) notes that the Kombai verb lei ‘to lie down’ ex-presses both completion and posteriority of the next event, as in (71). In the Man-dobo and Yonggom Wambon verbs ndamo and ndoimo the negative element nda/ndoiis present, and these verbs literally mean ‘to not do’. When they function as connec-tive verbs they express completed action, as in (72).

8.3. Connective Verbs 125

(71) Ganabush.knife

fa-d-ef-atake-REAL-1SG-CONN

lei-n-alie-[REAL]NON1SG-CONN

xi-d-ef-a...run-REAL-1SG-CONN...‘After I had taken the bush knife, I ran and...’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:29)

(72) Koujust

mba-gensit-REAL[NON1SG]

do,CONN

noŋŋgun-irandop1PL.POSS-tuber

upig

metoTOP

aneeat

ndamo-gennot.do-REAL[NON1SG]

ne-gen-on.say-REAL-NON1PL

‘While you just sit there, that pig is eating completely (all) our tubers’ theysaid.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:26)

In (73) and (74) the other Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo verbs for ‘to finish’ areused, namely etamo and mbumo.

(73) Roawork

etamo-gen-epfinish-REAL-1SG

toCONN

togümo-r-an.pay-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘After I finished working he paid (me)’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:101)

(74) Ande-r-ew-aeat-REAL-1SG-SEQ

mbumo-gon-epfinish-REAL-1SG

teCONN

me-gen.come-REAL[NON1SG]

‘After I finished eating, he came.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:136)

Example (75) contains multiple instances of the Digul Wambon verb kit(mo) ‘to fin-ish’,8 while (76) illustrates the use of connective verb eme ‘to do thus’ in Aghu.

(75) Ndanonext

la-l-eva-mbo-n=osleep-REAL-1PL-PST-tr.nasal=CONN

yat-ke-lolight-be-NON.CLOSE

wesat-ke-loday-be-NON.CLOSE

konoand

enov-andil=etree-trunk=TOP

li-nocut-SIM

nda-ndaxa-mo-knd-eva-n=oput-put-do-REAL-1PL-tr.nasal=CONN

kit-mo-mbel=ofinish-do-SEQ=CONN

odoand

sini=ŋŋgastick=ERG

uxumoput.under

ndatkap-molift.up-do

lap-ko-tulotake-go-ascend

mbait=kahill=ERG

halo-knd-eva-n=oput.down-REAL-1PL-tr.nasal=CONN

kit-mbel=ofinish-SEQ=CONN

epkathere

lavobring

ŋŋguliŋŋge-noroll-SIM

lap-kotake-go

hala-l-eva-mbo.put.down-REAL-1PL-PST

‘Next we slept until daybreak and after we finished cutting down some treetrunks, we put sticks under them and we lifted the sticks and brought thetree trunks uphill and after we finished putting them down, we rolled them(from) there and put them down.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:87-88)

8In Digul Wambon, kit means ‘enough’ or ‘full’ (de Vries, p.c.)

126 8. Aspect

(76) Xasu-axıleaf-hut

si-dbuild-SS

eme-de-kfinish-SS-CONN

widiriver

küto-d-oã.descend-REAL-1PL

‘After we finished building the leaf hut, we went down to the river.’Aghu (Drabbe 1957:36)

8.4 Reconstruction

This chapter looked at how Awyu-Dumut languages express durative, habitual andcompletive aspects. Durative meaning is expressed in all Awyu-Dumut languagesexcept Shiaxa by a conjugated position verb and/or a durative marker derived fromthe position verb mba ‘to sit/stay’. The use of position verbs to express durativemeaning is common in the languages of the world (Comrie 1976). Concerning con-nective verbs, it can be said that the indication of completed action lies within thesemantics of the verb ‘to finish’, while the verb ‘to go’ implies moving, ongoing ac-tion. Similarly, a habitual reading lies within the semantics of iterative verbs; anyaction that is repeated several times might become a habit. Therefore the fact thatposition verbs, motion verbs and connective verbs have aspectual meanings in allAwyu-Dumut languages cannot be used to proof that these languages are genealo-gically related, as all Awyu-Dumut languages might have developed the aspectualmeanings independently from the same verbs. In other words, the similarities inexpression of aspectual meaning in Awyu-Dumut languages might be reflections ofgeneral typological tendencies. Nevertheless, as it has become clear in other parts ofthe morphology that Awyu-Dumut languages are indeed related, it is not unlikelythat these changes and broadening of meaning of position, location and connectiveverbs already took place in Proto Awyu-Dumut, and hence were inherited by ProtoAwyu, Proto Dumut and their daughter languages.

9

Negation

This chapter explores the development of double negation in Awyu languages, aswell as the abundance of negation strategies found in Dumut languages. In ProtoAwyu, negated verbal clauses were emphasized, and the emphatic marker turnedinto a second negation marker, resulting in double negation in Proto Awyu andAwyu languages. Dumut languages do not have double negation; they employ anumber of other negation strategies. Section 9.1 offers a description of negationin Awyu languages, culminating with a description in Section 9.1.4 of how the Jes-persen cycle is visible in Awyu negation. The ways in which various negation strate-gies function in Dumut languages is shown in Section 9.2. The negation construc-tions of Kombai (Section 9.3), as well as of Korowai and Tsaukwambo, will shedlight on the reconstruction of Proto Awyu-Dumut negation in Section 9.4.

9.1 Awyu Negation

All Awyu languages have double verbal negation, but each Awyu language has aslightly different double negation construction. A diachronic path in the develop-ment of double negation in Awyu languages can be traced, and will be discussedin Section 9.1.4. The descriptions of negation in the Awyu grammars are much lessdetailed than those in Dumut grammars. For one Awyu language, Yenimu, no in-formation at all is available on how its nouns and verbs are negated. Descriptions ofnegation strategies in Aghu, Pisa and Shiaxa are given in the following paragraphs.

9.1.1 Aghu negation

Aghu has double and sometimes triple negation. The three negative elements arefede, de and oxo. The element oxo is a copula, or as Drabbe calls it, a predicative ele-ment, and in negative constructions is glossed as NEG.COP to show that it functionsmore as a third negator than as a copula. Besides the negator de, there is also an em-phatic marker de with copular function in Aghu, but Drabbe warns his readers thatthe emphatic de should not be confused with the negative de (Drabbe 1957:8). How-

128 9. Negation

ever, given that according to Croft (1991:5) negative markers often derive from em-phatic markers, it is not unlikely that diachronically the negator de derived from em-phatic marker de. In the following section, non-verbal predicate negation in Aghu isexamined first before Aghu verbal negation is described.

non-verbal predicate negation in Aghu

Nominal predicates are negated in Aghu by placing de oxo after the noun (77 and78). The morpheme oxo always shortens to xo if it follows a vowel-final morphemesuch as de.

(77) NuI

deNEG

xo.NEG.COP

‘It was not me.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:9)

(78) Xofeman

teTOP

EbaEba.river

n’POSS

axuhuman.being

deNEG

xo.NEG.COP

‘That man is not a man from the Eba river.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:9)

Existential clauses are negated not with de oxo but with fede oxo (79 and 80).

(79) Büshühouse

tadigabig

fedeNEG

xo.NEG.COP

‘There are no big houses.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:9)

(80) Düsago

fedeNEG

xo.NEG.COP

‘There is no sago.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:9)

verbal predicate negation in Aghu

Aghu semi-finite realis verbs, finite past tense verbs and finite future tense verbs areall negated by de oxo following the verb, while a negator fede may optionally precedethe verb. Table 9.1 contains a negated semi-finite realis paradigm, a negated distantpast tense paradigm and a negated future tense paradigm. In negated verb forms,Drabbe writes the negator de attached to the verb, whereas when de follows a noun,it is written separately; Drabbe’s notation is followed here.

Note that the Aghu future tense marker -e is not present in the negated futuretense forms. Hence the negated future tense paradigm looks like a negated semi-finite irrealis paradigm. However, the semi-finite irrealis verb forms are negated byadding kuoxo to the verb, resulting in a prohibitive (81) or a negative wish (82).

(81) Amsechildren

xoTOP

büshühouse

aghinang-guoxo.go.II[NON1SG]-NEG

‘Do not let the children go home.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:14)

9.1. Awyu Negation 129

Table 9.1: Aghu negated paradigms

semi-finite realis future

1SG (fede) da-d-e-de xo (fede) ade-de xo(NEG) come.I-REAL.1-1SG-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.II[1SG]-NEG NEG.COP

I did not come recently I will not comeNON1SG (fede) da-x-e-de xo (fede) ade-n-de xo

(NEG) come.I-REAL.NON1-NON1SG-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.II-NON1SG-NEG NEG.COP

he/she/it did not come recently he/she/it will not come1PL (fede) da-d-oa-de xo (fede) ad-oan-de xo

(NEG) come.I-REAL.1-1PL-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.II-1PL-NEG NEG.COP

we did not come recently we will not comeNON1PL (fede) da-x-enan-de xo (fede) ad-enan-de xo

(NEG) come.I-REAL.NON1-NON1PL-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.II-NON1PL-NEG NEG.COP

you(pl)/they did not come recently you(pl)/they will not come

distant past historical past

1SG (fede) da-d-k-e-de xo (fede) da-dia-de xo(NEG) come.I-REAL.1-DIST.PST-1SG-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.I-HIST[1SG]-NEG NEG.COP

I did not come a while ago I did not come a long time agoNON1SG (fede) da-ak-i-de xo (fede) da-dia-de xo

(NEG) come.I-DIST.PST-NON1SG-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.I-HIST[NON1SG]-NEG NEG.COP

he/she/it did not come a while ago he/she/it did not come a long time ago1PL (fede) da-d-k-oan-de xo (fede) da-dia-oan-de xo

(NEG) come.I-REAL.1-DIST.PST-1PL-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.I-HIST-1PL-NEG NEG.COP

we did not come a while ago we did not come a long time agoNON1PL (fede) da-ak-enan-de xo (fede) da-dia-nan-de xo

(NEG) come.I-DIST.PST-NON1PL-NEG NEG.COP (NEG) come.I-HIST-NON1PL-NEG NEG.COP

you(pl)/they did not come a while ago you(pl)/they did not come a long time ago

Source: Drabbe (1957:17)

(82) Nume

atosunucare.for

akume-kuoxo.die.II[1SG]-NEG

‘Care for me lest I die.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:14)

A negated future tense verb form (83) has a negative declarative meaning.

(83) ......

axupeople

fedeNEG

baxe-nan-destay.II-NON1PL-NEG

xo...NEG.COP...

‘...no people will stay (here)...’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:80)

9.1.2 Pisa negation

Pisa has double negation, placing a negative element fa or fana before the verb and anegator de after the verb. Both negators are obligatory. The element de also appearsin Pisa as an interrogative marker and functions as an emphatic marker with copularmeaning as well. As in Aghu, the negator de might have its origin in the emphatic

130 9. Negation

de. Table 9.2 contains negated semi-finite paradigms, while Table 9.3 contains Pisafinite past negated paradigms.1

Table 9.2: Pisa negated semi-finite paradigms

realis semi-finite irrealis semi-finite

1SG fa(na) wu-d-i de fa(na) awu deNEG enter.I-REAL-1SG NEG NEG enter.II[1SG] NEG

NON1SG fa(na) wu-k-i de fa(na) awu deNEG enter.I-REAL-NON1SG NEG NEG enter.II.NON1SG NEG

1PL fa(na) wu-d-a de fa(na) awu-a deNEG enter.I-REAL-1PL NEG NEG enter.II-1PL NEG

NON1PL fa(na) wu-k-inã de fa(na) awu-nã deNEG enter.I-REAL-NON1PL NEG NEG enter.II-NON1PL NEG


Table 9.3: Pisa negated finite paradigms

hesternal past distant past

1SG fa(na) wu-di-ra de fa(na) wu-d-axa-ri deNEG enter.I-REAL-1SG-HEST NEG NEG enter.I-REAL-1SG NEG

NON1SG fa(na) wu-k-i-ra de fa(na) wu-ak-i deNEG enter.I-REAL-NON1SG-HEST NEG NEG enter.I-DIST.PST-NON1SG NEG

1PL fa(na) wu-d-a-ra2 de fa(na) wu-d-axa-ya deNEG enter.I-REAL-1PL-HEST NEG NEG enter-REAL-1PL NEG

NON1PL fa(na) wu-k-ina-ra de fa(na) wu-ak-inã deNEG enter-REAL-NON1PL-HEST NEG NEG enter.I-DIST-NON1PL NEG


9.1.3 Shiaxa negation

Shiaxa negative forms are made by always adding fa or fana in front of the verb andoptionally adding de after the verb. Drabbe gives a total of two negated examplesin Shiaxa, one in the future tense (84) and one using a semi-finite realis form withpresent meaning (85).

(84) FanNEG

agoxo-nego.II-NON1SG

(de).(NEG)

‘He will not go.’ Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:118)

1Recall from Chapter 7 on Tense that Pisa does not have a separate future tense; it expressesfuture meaning using its semi-finite irrealis verb forms.

2Drabbe (1947:21) lists wudaxaya as the hesternal 1PL form, but it is the distant past 1PL form. Thecorrect 1PL hesternal form is wudara.

9.1. Awyu Negation 131

(85) FanaNEG

fete-d.see-REAL[NON1SG]

‘I do not see (it).’ Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:118)

9.1.4 Reconstruction of Proto Awyu negation

Aghu, Pisa and Shiaxa all have double negation. The diachronic development ofdouble negation has been studied and is often explained in terms of the Jespersencycle. In 1917, Jespersen noted explained the cycle as follows:

The history of negative expressions in various languages makes us wit-ness the following curious fluctuation: the original negative adverb isfirst weakened, then found insufficient and therefore strengthened, gen-erally through some additional word, and this in its turn may be felt asthe negative proper and may then in course of time be subject to the samedevelopment as the original word. (Jespersen 1917:4)

In other words, there is an original pre-verbal negator whose meaning bleaches andwhich is then strengthened by a new post-verbal negator, resulting in double nega-tion. Eventually the first negator will pass out of use and only the final negator willremain. At different stages of this cycle either negator might be optional or oblig-atory. The term ‘Jespersen cycle’ was coined by Dahl, who stated that “Since weare dealing with a cyclical process in the sense that we go from a single particle toa double and back again, we may refer to this kind of development as ‘Jespersen’sCycle’ ” (Dahl 1979:88). van der Auwera (2009:38) gives a summary of the Jespersencycle in five stages using the French negators ne and pas:

1. neNEG

2. neNEG (...pasNEG)

3. neNEG ... pasNEG

4. (neNEG...) pasNEG

5. pasNEG

The cycle begins with a single negator (step 1), which is then strengthened by asecond negator. The second negator is optional at first (step 2) but later becomesobligatory (step 3). The next step is for the first negator to start fading out of use(step 4), eventually leaving the second negator as the sole negator (step 5).

The source of the second negator is often an emphatic marker. In his article enti-tled The Evolution of Negation, Croft notes that negators often originate in emphaticparticles:

The primary source of verbal negation that has been observed in prior re-search is via the employment of emphatic particles. This has been noted,for example, through direct historical evidence in the evolution of the

132 9. Negation

French emphatic forms pas, point, etc. in addition to the original negatorne (Meillet 1921:140). Eventually, the original negator is fused with theemphatic marker, or, as in modern colloquial French, drops out. (Croft1991:5)

The second negator de in Awyu languages has its source in the emphatic markerde; de is an emphatic marker with copular function in Aghu, Pisa and Shiaxa. ForAghu, Drabbe notes that the negator de should not be confused with the predicating,emphatic de (Drabbe 1957:8), which indicates that in Aghu emphatic de has fullygrammaticalized as a negative element. In Pisa, emphatic de (allomorph di) canfollow a noun (86) or a verb (87). In fact, Drabbe notes that emphatic de can alsofollow a negative de (88) in Pisa, showing that emphatic de and negative de are twodistinct elements in Pisa as well.

(86) Na1SG.POSS

nabofather

di.EMPH

‘It is my father.’ Pisa (Drabbe 1950:98)

(87) Emo-xoydo.I-REAL.NON1SG

de?EMPH

Did he do it? Pisa (Drabbe 1950:98)

(88) FaNEG

emo-xoydo.I-REAL.NON1SG

deNEG

di.EMPH

Indeed he did not do it. Pisa (Drabbe 1950:98)

The fact that the origin of the negator de can be traced to an element that also retainsits original function of emphatic marker, provides an additional indication that de isa younger negator than pre-verbal fa(na).

The Jespersen cycle is represented in Awyu languages in its various stages. Shi-axa represents the oldest phase of double negation development in Awyu languages,where the pre-verbal negator is still obligatory but where a second post-verbal nega-tor has already entered the scene and occurs optionally after the verb. Pisa re-presents the next stage, where both negators are obligatory. Aghu has gone evenfurther, making the pre-verbal negator optional and strengthening the post-verbalnegator de with a new copular morpheme, namely oxo.

For Proto Awyu, *fa/*feNEG is reconstructed as an obligatory pre-verbal negator.Aghu then added an element de to the Proto Awyu preverbal *fe, while Pisa andShiaxa (optionally) added an element -na to Proto Awyu *fa; the origin of these twoelements cannot be traced. An optional post-verbal negator *deNEG is reconstructedfor Proto Awyu as well; this *de also functioned as an emphatic marker in ProtoAwyu. The Jespersen cycle predicts that, at one point in time, *fa/*fe was the solenegator, but because it is not attested as a sole negator in any daughter Awyu lan-guages, it is not reconstructed as such.

9.2. Dumut Negation 133

9.2 Dumut Negation

The three Dumut languages each employ a number of negation strategies, althoughnone of them make use of double negation in the way Awyu languages do. Thefollowing sections describe how nominals, non-finite verbs, semi-finite verbs andfinite verbs are negated in Mandobo (Section 9.2.1), Yonggom Wambon (Section9.2.2) and Digul Wambon (Section 9.2.3). In Section 9.2.4, a Proto Dumut negatoris reconstructed. For the reader’s convenience, an overview of the Dumut negationstrategies is presented in Table 9.4.

Table 9.4: Dumut negation strategies


nominals nda tomba ndikndelocatives/existentials – ndoi mbumba, tembetnon-finites nda + IMP – ndoisemi-finite realis ne...nda nok supp.verb noksemi-finite irrealis – – -nok+-si, ndoifinite realis – nok+supp.verb nok+supp.verbfinite irrealis notü...nda -nok supp.verb+-ti xe-t ndoi

9.2.1 Mandobo negation

The negator in Mandobo is nda. It can occur after a noun, for example after kerewatop‘face’ (89) or ok ‘water’ (90).

(89) Roform(SS)

itigio-gensee-REAL[non1SG]

do,CONN,

kerewatopface

nda.NEG

‘He looks and they do not have faces.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:11)

(90) Okwater

mboTOP

ndaNEG

tarobecause

katerspit

eTOP

ndusago

ri-gin-on.stand-REAL-NON1PL.

‘There is no water, therefore they stand (and make) sago with (their) spit.’Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:39)

The Mandobo negator nda may also follow a non-finite verb form. A negated non-finite form in Mandobo is always followed by an imperative verb form in the nextclause (91).

(91) ŋŋgoyou

mboTOP

keago[IRR]

nda,NEG,

okriver

tiritiophigh.wall

mberemostay

taraphut

tibuild

mbegi-rolive-NON.CLOSE

mbutuphouse.on.poles

ti-nok.build-IMP.

‘Do not go, stay and build a hut on the river’s high wall, build a house onpoles!’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:54)

134 9. Negation

The connective -o may attach to the negator nda, yielding ndayo, as occurs in (92).

(92) NoMy

mandepson

itiwaearth

todig

komo-nda-y-o,put.in-NEG-LIG-CONN,

nomandepmy.son

wondengood

doroCONN

mbutüphouse

korupinside

teendükmo-nog-i-ninput.straight.up-IMP-LIG-NON1PL

ne-gen.say-REAL[NON1SG]

‘Do not put my son in earth, put my son (standing) straight up in a goodhouse, she says.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:82)

Thus, Mandobo negative non-finites only occur in sentences that also contain animperative. Mandobo negated non-finites can be interpreted as a prohibitive or as anegative imperative, and sentences that begin with a negated non-finite form meansomething to the effect of ‘don’t do X, do Y!’

Mandobo semi-finite realis -ken forms are negated by adding an element ne afterthe verb stem and the negator nda after the person-number marker. The element neconsists of transitional nasal /n/ and the support verb -e, which Drabbe mentionsis a support verb that means the same thing as ke-, namely ‘to be’ (Drabbe 1959:28).3

Example (93) contains a negated semi-finite realis -ken form.

(93) MateroGet.up

engottorch

keemolight


doCONN

yombutopdoor

tokmo-n-e-gen-ndaopen-tr.nasal-SUPP-REAL[NON1SG]-NEG

teCONN

ran-gen.lie-REAL[NON1SG]

‘She gets up, lights a torch and sees that the door is not open and lies backdown.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:36)

Drabbe does not explain how past tense forms are negated in Mandobo. For futuretense forms, however, he notes that the verb stem is followed by an element -notüor -notürü, which is then followed by a person-number marker and negator nda.According to Drabbe, -notü/-notürü might come from notüt ü, although he is unableto give the meaning of notüt ü (Drabbe 1959:38). The Mandobo future tense marker-en does not occur in these forms.

9.2.2 Yonggom Wambon negation

The most used negator in Yonggom Wambon is -nok, although a negator tomba (al-lomorph domba) is used to negate nominal predicates (94), while locative and exis-tential predicates are negated by the negative element ndoi (95, 96). According toDrabbe’s wordlist, ndoi, like Mandobo nda, means ‘nothing’ (Drabbe 1959:178).

(94) Sowenmosquito

domba.NEG

‘It is not a mosquito.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:124)

3It must be noted that Drabbe does not analyze the element ne in negated -ken forms as /n/ plus -e.


Table 9.5: Mandobo negated future tense paradigm

SG PL

1 ndare-notü-p-nda ndare-notürü-won-ndahear-?-1SG-NEG hear-?-1PL-NEG

I do not want to hear we do not want to hearNON1 ndare-notü-n-nda ndare-notür-on-nda

hear-?-NON1SG-NEG hear-?-NON1PL-NEG

he/she/it does not wantto hear

you(PL)/they do not wantto hear


(95) Mitiknight

ke-tbe-REAL[NON1SG]

yeand

yaher

magomŋŋguigrandchildren

mindi-r-in-a,come-REAL-NON1PL-SEQ

etaga-r-insee-REAL-NON1PL

deCONN

ra-mbariold-woman

eTOP

ndoi.NEG

‘It became night and her grandchildren came (home) and they saw that theold woman (their grandmother) was not there.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:155)

(96) Menepnow

eTOP

kagupmen

ndoi.NEG

‘Now there are no men.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:147)

The Yonggom Wambon negator -nok follows the verb stem in negated semi-finiteand finite realis forms. According to Drabbe, adding -nok to a verb stem nominalizesit. Therefore a verbalizing support verb ke ‘to be’ or mo ‘to do’ follows -nok. Thesupport verb is conjugated. Example (97) contains a negated semi-finite realis -kenform, (98) a negated semi-finite realis -t form and (99) a negated past tense form.

(97) Rap-noktake-NEG

mo-gon-ep.do-REAL-1SG

‘I did not take (it).’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:140)

(98) Mitiknight

ke-tbe-REAL[NON1SG]

teCONN

ndari-r-inhear-REAL-NON1PL

deCONN

romancrying

kupwith

me-nokcome-NEG

ke-t.do-REAL[NON1SG]

When it has become night, when they listen, (the sound of) crying does notcome to them.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:157)

(99) Etok-noksee-NEG

ke-r-ew-anbe-REAL-1SG-PST

‘I did not see (it).’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:140)

The finite future tense form is also negated by placing the negator -nok after the verbstem, followed by the support verb mo ‘to do’ (100). The support verb mo is conju-gated with the future -ti suffix. The future tense marker -ti only occurs in negated

136 9. Negation

finite future forms with negative indicative meaning; the Yonggom Wambon futuremarker -in does then not occur.

(100) Me-nokcome-NEG

mo-ti-p.do-FUT-1SG

‘I will not come.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:140)

9.2.3 Digul Wambon negation

In order to negate nominal predicates, Digul Wambon uses the negative elementndiknde (101). In addition, either one of the negators mbumba (102) or tembet (103) isused to negate locative or existential predicates.

(101) Ev-othat-CONN

kav-eman-TOP

na-mbap-ndiknde.my-father-NEG

‘That man is not my father.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:37)

(102) Ande-n-efood-tr.nasal-TOP

mbumba.NEG

‘There is no food.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:38)

(103) Ahituv-eAhitup-TOP

av-ehome-TOP

tembet.NEG

‘Ahitup is not at home.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:38)

In their paragraph on negation, (de Vries & Wiersma 1992) note that the negator ndoiis sometimes found with non-finite verb forms, giving (104).

(104) taximo-ndoibuy(SS)-NEG

‘not buying (same subject following)’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:36)

The exact meaning of such a negated non-finite, or its context, remains a mystery inde Vries & Wiersma’s (1992) description; (104) is the only negated non-finite foundin their Digul Wambon grammar description. However, Jang’s (2008) description ofDigul Wambon sheds light on the matter. He states that a non-finite verb followedby ndoi expresses a past impossibility, with meaning ‘could not’ (Jang 2008:53), asillustrated in (105).

(105) SitBanana

indup=eseedling=TOP

aphinotopke-l=obe.dry.season-REAL[NON1SG]=CONN

sokmboghe-l=obecome.dry-REAL[NON1SG]=CONN

lo-ndoi.plant-NEG.

‘As it was dry season, banana seedlings had withered and (people) could notplant (them).’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:53)


Digul Wambon semi-finite realis ke(nd) forms are negated by adding the negator-nok, which Digul Wambon shares with Yonggom Wambon, after the verb stemand before the realis marker -ke(nd), as in (106). No support verb occurs in DigulWambon semi-finite realis negation.

(106) lap-nok-kend-eptake-NEG-REAL-1SG

‘I do/did not take’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:35)

Although semi-finite realis -t forms are just as frequent as realis -ke(nd) forms inDigul Wambon, there is no information in Digul Wambon grammar descriptionsabout how they are negated.

Semi-finite irrealis forms are negated by adding the negator -nok after the verbstem, and a second negator -si follows -nok, while a person-number marker comesat the end of the negated verb form (107). De Vries & Wiersma (1992:35) note thatthe negator -si might have its origin in the verb soi ‘to refuse’.

(107) e-nok-si-teat-NEG-NEG-3SG

‘he does not want to eat’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:35)

Example (107) is the only example of a negated semi-finite irrealis form given byde Vries & Wiersma (1992). Jang (2008) notes that the -si form encodes ‘presentimpossibility’, as evident in (108).

(108) Kixuw=eDigul=TOP

nda-ke-ŋŋgot=ocome-REAL[NON1SG]-CAUS=CONN

Kolopkam-sixiKolopkam-for

ko-nok-si-t.go-NEG-NEG-3SG

‘Because the Digul river is flooded, he cannot go to Kolopkam.’ Digul Wambon

(Jang 2008:52)

Jang (2008) goes on to give another paradigm of negated semi-finite irrealis forms,which he states express negative wishes or intentions. They consist of a semi-finiteirrealis form followed by the negator ndoi. The paradigm is given in Table 9.6. Thus,between de Vries & Wiersma (1992) and Jang (2008), two different ways of negatingsemi-finite irrealis forms in Digul Wambon are described, either by a combinationof negators -nok and -si, or by negator ndoi.In Digul Wambon finite past tense forms, the negator nok follows the verb stem,and a support verb mo ‘to do’ conjugated in past tense follows nok, resulting in aform like the one in (109). In Digul Wambon the support verb mo ‘to do’ occurs innegative constructions, rather than the support verb ke ‘to be’ .

(109) e-nok-ma-l-ep-o4

eat-NEG-do-REAL-1SG-PST

‘I did not eat’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:35)

138 9. Negation

Table 9.6: Digul Wambon negated irrealis semi-finite paradigm

SG PL

1 atki-p-ndoi atki-wa-ndoiwrap-1SG-NEG wrap-1PL-NEG

I do not want to wrap we do not want to wrapNON1 atki-ndoi atki-na-ndoi

wrap[NON1SG]-NEG wrap-NON1PL-NEG

you/he/she/it does not want to wrap you(pl)/they do not want to wrap

Source: Jang (2008:55)

A negative indicative future action, with meaning ‘shall not’, is expressed in DigulWambon by placing xet ndoi after a semi-finite irrealis form consisting of a verb stemand a person-number marker. The element xet is analyzed as a negative markerby de Vries & Wiersma (1992:35) but is better analyzed as a (petrified) form of thesupport verb ke ‘to be’. A literal translation of taximo-xet-ndoi is then ‘he shall buy doit not’, freely translating as ‘he shall not buy it’. A paradigm of negative indicativefuture forms is given in Table 9.7. Note that in the 1SG form, xet does not occur;rather, the 1SG person-number marker -ep is repeated.

Table 9.7: Digul Wambon negated irrealis semi-finite

SG PL

1 taximo-ep-ep-ndoi taximo-eva-xet-ndoibuy-1SG-1SG-NEG buy-1PL-SUPP-NEG

I shall not buy we shall not buyNON1 taximo-xet-ndoi taximo-na-xet-ndoi

buy[NON1SG]-SUPP-NEG buy-NON1PL-SUPP-NEG

you/he/she/it shall not buy you(pl)/they shall not buy

Source: de Vries & Wiersma (1992:36)

9.2.4 Summary and reconstruction of Dumut negation

A plethora of negation strategies are used by the three Dumut languages, with onlysome forms being the same across multiple Dumut languages. Table 9.8 provides anoverview of the various negation strategies Dumut languages employ.

Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon stand out together because they have anegator nok that does not occur in any other Awyu-Dumut language. Drabbe de-scribes nok as a nominalizer, which is then followed by a support verb with verbali-zing properties. The nok negation strategy is a shared innovation of Digul Wambonand Yonggom Wambon, not reconstructible for Proto Dumut. Rather, *nda/*ndoi is

4Due to morphophonemic rules, the /p/ of 1SG-ep and the /mb/ of past tense marker -mbocombine to yield /p/.

9.3. Kombai Negation 139

Table 9.8: Dumut negation strategies


nominals nda tomba ndikndelocatives/existentials – ndoi mbumba, tembetnon-finites nda + IMP – ndoisemi-finite realis ne...nda nok supp.verb noksemi-finite irrealis – – -nok+-si, ndoifinite realis – nok+supp.verb nok+supp.verbfinite irrealis notü...nda -nok supp.verb+-ti xe-t ndoi

reconstructed as the Proto Dumut negator. This negator, which is a grammaticalizedform of a lexical item meaning “nothing” in both Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo,is found in all three Dumut languages. In Yonggom Wambon it occurs with locativeand existential predicates, in Digul Wambon with non-finites, negated irrealis semi-finites and in negative future indicative forms. In Mandobo the negator nda occursin all negation constructions. The exact construction in which *nda/*ndoi occurredin Proto Dumut cannot be reconstructed, except that the negator occurred after theconstituent it negated.

9.3 Kombai Negation

Kombai, like Awyu languages, has double negation. In negated expressions thatencode present or past meaning, the negative element fe- optionally comes beforethe verb, while the negative element -do is obligatory after the verb. The moodmarker and person-number markers found in affirmative semi-finite realis forms(110) are not found in their negated counterparts. Rather, the two negators appeararound a verb stem (111 and 112). Hence the negated verb form is the same for allperson-number conjugations in Kombai.

(110) NuI

aipig

fera-d-e.see-REAL-1SG

‘I see a pig.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:30)

(111) NuI

aipig

fe-fera-do.NEG-see-NEG

‘I do not see a pig.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:30)

(112) YaThey

aipig

fe-fera-do.NEG-see-NEG

‘They do not see a pig.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:30)

In negated future tense forms, there are also no mood or person-number markers,but the future tense marker -i does appear after the verb stem. The post-verbalnegator in future forms is madü rather than do (113).

140 9. Negation

(113) NuI

fe-ami-n-i-madü.NEG-drink-tr.nasal-FUT-NEG

‘I will not drink.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:30)

The post-verbal negative element -do can also occur in nominal predicates (114 and115).

(114) MeneThis

a-do.house-NEG

‘This is not a house.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:30)

(115) XoPerson

menethis

n-are-do.my-father-NEG

‘This person is not my father.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:32)

9.4 Reconstruction

In the reconstruction of Proto Awyu, it was shown that Jespersen’s cycle for dou-ble negation was at work in Awyu languages, and that the oldest form that couldbe reconstructed for PA was *fa/*feNEG...(*deNEG/EMPH). As double negation is alsofound in Kombai, in which the pre-verbal negator is optional and the post-verbalnegator obligatory, a double negation can be reconstructed for Proto Awyu Dumut.The same stage of the Jespersen cycle is reconstructed for Proto Awyu-Dumut asfor Proto Awyu, namely the oldest stage found in any of the daughter languages.Hence an obligatory pre-verbal negator *pe co-occurred with an optional post-verbalnegator *nde in Proto Awyu-Dumut. The pre-verbal negator is reconstructed witha *p because Proto Awyu-Dumut *p fricativized to *f in both PA and Kombai. Thevowel in the pre-verbal negator is /e/ rather than /a/ because /e/ is found in bothKombai and Proto Awyu, while the /d/ is prenasalized, as it always is in ProtoAwyu-Dumut.

That Proto Awyu-Dumut had double negation is further supported by Korowaiand Tsaukwambo, two Greater Awyu languages that also have double negation.Korowai has (ba)...da as a negative construction (van Enk & de Vries 1997:106-107),while Tsaukwambo uses (bo)...nda (de Vries 2012a:174).

For Proto Dumut, the post-verbal negator *nda/*ndoi was reconstructed, and thisoccurrence of a single post-verbal negator could represent the final stage of the Jes-persen cycle. However, PD *nda/*ndoi is clearly the grammaticalized form of a lexicalitem meaning ‘nothing’, while the post-verbal negator *(n)de found in Proto Awyu-Dumut, Proto Awyu and Kombai originated as an emphatic marker. Hence ProtoDumut *nda/*ndoi cannot be related to Proto Awyu-Dumut *nde, although the simi-larity in form remains striking.

10

Deictics and Demonstratives

Spatial deictics in Awyu-Dumut languages can be described in terms of a three-way distinction between a speaker-related deictic (here, close to speaker), a hearer-related deictic (there, close to hearer) and a third-person, neither speaker-relatednor hearer-related deictic (over there at greater distance, away from both speakerand hearer). Each Awyu-Dumut language makes this distinction between ‘here’,‘there’ and ‘over there’ and has three basic roots to express these concepts. Thesethree basic deictic terms are described for all Awyu-Dumut languages in Section10.1, while the demonstratives derived from them, namely ‘this’, ‘that’ and ‘thatover there’, are discussed in Section 10.2.

A well-known grammaticalization path is the development of spatial deicticsinto textual deictics, that is, where spatial deictics are no longer used to point toconcrete objects or locations but rather to point back to what has been said earlierin the discourse or to refer to what the speaker assumes the hearer knows. Theways in which Awyu-Dumut spatial deictics function as textual deictic elements arediscussed in Section 10.3.

10.1 Awyu-Dumut Basic Deictics

All Awyu-Dumut languages have three deictic terms for ‘here’ (near deictic), ‘there’(far deictic) and ‘over there’ (distant deictic), as listed in Table 10.1.1 Awyu-Dumutdeictic terms rarely occur in their bare form as found in Table 10.1; rather, they com-bine with a number of morphemes. Below, deictic elements in each Awyu-Dumutlanguage will be described before a reconstruction of Proto Aywu, Proto Dumut andProto Awyu-Dumut deictic elements is presented in Section 10.1.7.

10.1.1 Deictics in Yonggom Wambon

For Yonggom Wambon, Drabbe notes that me, ep and kop have derived forms mene,ewe and kowe, a combination of the deictic elements with topic marker =e (Drabbe

1No information or data are available on deictic elements in Yenimu.

142 10. Deictics and Demonstratives

Table 10.1: Awyu-Dumut deictics

near deictic far deictic distant deictic

DumutMAN me mbe mbegoYWB me e(p) ko(p)DWB ne ep kop

AwyuAXU nego wüo (wo), i- xoPSA ne u xateSHI ne ewe xage

NdeiramKOM me mofe maxo

Sources: Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:121); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:50-52); Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:19,30); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:25); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:102-103); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:102-103); Kombai (de Vries 1993:37-38)

1959:121).2 Instead of kowe, kore is a more frequent derived form of kop ‘over there’;-re is a nominalizer that also occurs with secondary deictic elements such as koture‘the one up there’ (Drabbe 1959:121-122), which is a combination of ko ‘over there’,tu- ‘to go up’ and -re. Drabbe goes on to note that the final p of ep is optional and thata final p may also appear on the derived forms of me and kore when they precede anoun, yielding menep and korep. When Yonggom Wambon deictic elements occur aslocative adverbials, the ergative marker ŋŋga occurs between the deictic element andthe verb, as in (116).3 When a deictic precedes a motion verb or a position verb inYonggom Wambon, ŋŋga does not occur, as in (117).

(116) Enoptree

koreover.there

ŋŋgaERG

ri-r-an.chop-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘He chopped down a tree over there.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:121)

(117) Menehere

me-gen-ep.come-REAL-1SG

‘I came to here.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:121)

10.1.2 Deictics in Digul Wambon

Like Yonggom Wambon deictic elements, the Digul Wambon far deictic ep can co-occur with circumstantial marker ka when it functions as a locative adverbial, as in(118).

2For further information and explanation of the topic marker =e, see Section 10.3.2.3A description of ergative marker ŋŋga and its functions is presented in Section 11.3.2.

10.1. Awyu-Dumut Basic Deictics 143

(118) Kutip-ke-lonight-SUPP-NON.CLOSE

KuiKou

mata-l-eva-mbo.arrive-REAL-1PL-PST.

Ep=kaThere=ERG

la-l-eva-mbo-n=o...sleep-REAL-1PL-PST-tr.nasal=CONN...‘At nightfall we arrived at Kouh. There we slept and...’ Digul Wambon (de Vries &

Wiersma 1992:51)

The Digul Wambon near deictic ne always combines with an element mbo, yieldingnombo, according to de Vries & Wiersma (1992). De Vries & Wiersma (1992) analyzethis mbo as a predicative element originating in the verb mba ‘to sit’. Jang (2008:91)notes that ne can also occur independently or together with ka, citing (119), while hestates that nombo has a temporal meaning ‘now’.4

(119) Nombo=ŋŋgahere=ERG

noxop=ewe=TOP

ko-nogo-SIM

ambamtalokdestination

kothere

etu-wa-ketoi.enter-1PL-FUT.NEG

‘Now/at this time, if we continue, we will not make it to the destination.’Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:91)

Both de Vries & Wiersma (1992) and Jang (2008) note that mbo also combines withthe distant deictic kop ‘over there’, resulting in kopo. The distant deictic may occurwithout mbo and then is often shortened to ko (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:51).

10.1.3 Deictics in Mandobo

The three Mandobo deictic elements are me ‘here’, mbe ‘there’ and mbego ‘over there’.The far deictic mbe also functions as a topic marker, a point which will be further ex-plored in Section 10.3. For the near deictic, a derived form mene is more frequentthan me. Like Yonggom Wambon mene, Mandobo mene is a combination of the neardeictic me and topic marker =e, with a transitional nasal occurring intervocalically.The topic marker =e does not combine with the far and distant deictics in Mandobo.However, the far deictic mbe does combine with a nominalizer -re, cognate to theYonggom Wambon nominalizer -re, yielding mbere ‘the one there’. The distant deic-tic mbogo also combines with -re: mbogore ‘the one over there’. The distant deicticmbogo consists of the far deictic mbe and the verb ko ‘to go’, where the final vowelof mbe harmonizes with the /o/ of ko, and the /k/ of ko changes to /g/ intervoca-lically. The /e/ of mbe nearly always harmonizes with the nearest following vowel.The locative adverbial use of Mandobo deictic elements mene, mbe and mbogo areillustrated in (120) and (121).

(120) ...nen1SG.POSS

etotetot

menehere

makmostay.together

mbegi-wonsit-1PL


‘...let us stay here together and sit in my etot he said.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:60)

4De Vries & Wiersma (1992) list the near deictic as being no, while Jang describes it as ne. Jang’sanalysis is correct, while no results from vowel harmony, which occurs when ne combines with mbo.


(121) Korogo

torogogo.uphill

NgouNgou

n’etotPOSS’etot

torogo-gengo.uphill-REAL[NON1SG]

doro,CONN

küawman

agöw-agöpmany-many

teriwwoman

agöw-agöpmany-many

mbathere

raŋŋ-gen.lie-REAL

‘When they go uphill to the etot of Ngou, many men and many women arelying there.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:77)

(122) itigio-gensee-REAL[NON1SG]

doCONN

riwopmiddle.of.river

mbogoover.there

önö-gen.come.above.water-REAL[NON1SG]‘He saw that it (the tree) came above water over there in the middle of theriver’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:52)

10.1.4 Deictics in Aghu

The Aghu deictic elements are nego ‘here’, wüo or wo ‘there’ and xo ‘over there’.Aghu deictic elements are always followed by the topic marker ke or kemu, oftenshortened to k’, when used adverbially (123-124).

(123) Pani-di-kcome.up-SS-CONN

o-x-e:say-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

Kiawi,Kiawi

negohere

k’TOP

ioxebe.NON1SG

numo-x-e.say-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

‘He came up and said: Kiawi, will you stay here? he said’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:67)

(124) Ogsu-k-e.Go.up.small.way-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

Bibimucrouched

wothere

k’TOP

ba-x-e.stay-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

‘He went up a little bit. He sat there crouched.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:70)

In Drabbe’s texts, another Aghu verbal deictic with meaning ‘there’ is found, whichDrabbe does not mention in his paragraphs on deictics and demonstratives, butwhich is much more frequent than wüo ‘there’. This element is ikemu (125).

(125) KiawiKiawi

o-x-e:say-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

kesaxetree

dabudotobuacross.water

i-g-e,lie-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

ikemuthere

onu-k-enãgo.across.stream-REAL.NON1-NON1PL

numo-x-e.say-REAL.NON1-NON1SG

‘Kiawi said: “The tree lying across the river, there they went across the river,”he said.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:66)

10.1. Awyu-Dumut Basic Deictics 145

The morpheme ikemu is mentioned by Drabbe in paragraph 77 of his 1957 Aghugrammar as an element meaning ‘there’. I analyze ikemu as consisting of i ‘there’and ke/kemu, the topic marker that also combines with all other deictic adverbials.Thus, i- is another Aghu deictic root meaning ‘there’.

10.1.5 Deictics in Pisa and Shiaxa

The other two Awyu languages, Pisa and Shiaxa use u (Pisa) and ewe (Shiaxa) to ex-press the concept of ‘there’. Shiaxa ewe is clearly related to the far deictic ep found inDigul Wambon and Yonggom Wambon. The other two deictic elements are ne ‘here’and xate ‘over there’ in Pisa, and ne ‘here’ and xage ‘over there’ in Shiaxa. In Pisaand Shiaxa, deictic elements combine respectively with topic marker ke (Shiaxa)5 orlocative element ma (Pisa, (126)) when they occur as adverbials.

(126) Uthere

maLOC

ayõ.lie.FUT[NON1SG]

‘He will lie there.’ Pisa (Drabbe 1947:10)

Before position verbs, adding ke is not obligatory in Shiaxa, while in Pisa, ma doesnot occur after deictics before the verb ba ‘to sit, to stay’.

In addition to adding ke after deictic elements, Shiaxa deictic elements are oftenpreceded by da, an element that might come from the verb ‘to come’, which is modein Shiaxa but de and da in Pisa and Aghu, respectively. Thus da ne bax means ‘he ishere’ in Shiaxa.

10.1.6 Deictics in Kombai

Kombai has deictic elements me ‘here’, mofe ‘there’ and maxo ‘over there’. The nearand far deictics me and mofe combine with the element -e when occurring adver-bially. A transitional nasal occurs, yielding mene ‘here’ and mofene ‘there’. The dis-tant deictic maxo does not combine with -e (127).

(127) Xumo-radie-CONN

maxoover.there

RomalüRomalü

bürüplace

xa-no.go.REAL-NON1PL

‘They die and go there to Romalü’s place.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:38)

Besides mofene, mofexo also occurs, a combination of mofe ‘there’ and xo ‘to go’. Thefar deictic maxo might be analyzed as also containing xo ‘to go’ after ma, whichmeans ‘to come’ in Kombai.

5ke is analyzed as a topic marker in Shiaxa because it occurs in similar positions as Aghu topicmarker ke; Drabbe’s description of Shiaxa does not, in and of itself, provide enough information forthis analysis.


10.1.7 Reconstruction of basic deictics

Near, far and distant deictic elements can be reconstructed for Proto Awyu, ProtoDumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut. Table 10.2 lists the basic deictic elements and theirderived forms found in the eight Awyu-Dumut languages, as well as their recon-structions.

Table 10.2: Reconstructed Awyu-Dumut deictics

near deictic far deictic distant deictic

DumutMAN me, mene mbe, mbere mbego, mbegeroYWB me, mene(p) e(p), ewe kop, kowe, kore(p)DWB ne, nombo ep ko(p), kopo

AwyuAXU nego (kemu) wüo (wo), i- (kemu) xo (kemu)PSA ne u xateSHI ne ewe xage

NdeiramKOM me, mene mofe, mofene maxo

PA *ne *(e)wV *xa/*xoPD *me, *ne *ep *kopPAD *me, *ne *ep *kop

Sources: Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:121), Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:50-52), Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:19,30), Aghu (Drabbe 1957:25), Pisa (Drabbe 1950:102-103), Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:102-103), Kombai (de Vries 1993:37-38)

The near deictic is reconstructed as *ne in Proto Awyu, while Proto Dumut and ProtoAwyu-Dumut each have two reconstructed forms, *me and *ne. There is no regularsound change established that would account for a possible /m/ to /n/ changeor vice versa, and hence two forms are reconstructed. The form *me ‘here’ couldbe related to the verb ‘to come’, which is reconstructed as *me.6 The element mbo,which combines with the Digul Wambon near and distant deictics and which washypothesized in Section 10.1.2 to have its origin in the position verb mba ‘to stay’,also occurs as the far deictic in Mandobo. The use of the verb mba in deictics isa change undergone by both Digul Wambon and Mandobo after splitting off fromProto Dumut; for Proto Dumut, only *ep is reconstructed as the far deictic. Mandoboreplaced Proto Dumut *ep with mbe.

In Proto Awyu, the far deictic is difficult to reconstruct because Aghu and Pisaboth have far deictics that consist of only one vowel. Nevertheless, the Proto Awyufar deictic is tentatively reconstructed as *(e)wV, with reflexes ewe in Shiaxa andw(ü)o in Aghu. This element is clearly cognate to Proto Dumut *ep, and thus forProto Awyu-Dumut *ep is reconstructed as the far deictic meaning ‘there’.

6Yonggom Wambon, Mandobo, Shiaxa, Yenimu and Kombai have a reflex of *me for ‘to come’,while Digul Wambon, Aghu and Pisa have a different realization of the verb ‘to come’.

10.2. Awyu-Dumut Demonstratives 147

The distant deictic element is reconstructed as *kop in Proto Dumut and ProtoAwyu-Dumut and as *xa/*xo in Proto Awyu. There are four Awyu-Dumut languagesthat combine their reflex of Proto Awyu-Dumut *kop with another morpheme: Man-dobo combines kop with its far deictic mbe, Kombai precedes xo with its near deicticme, while Pisa and Shiaxa add pragmatic markers te and ke to the distant deictic.In Yonggom Wambon, kop may occur independently, but it may also combine withtopic marker =e. The reconstructed distant deictic *kop might have its origin in theProto Awyu-Dumut motion verb *ko ‘to go’.

Lastly, a nominalizer *-re and a circumstantial marker *-ka are reconstructed asco-occurring with deictic elements in Proto Dumut, as both of these elements occurin two Dumut languages. Deictic elements are thought to also have combined withtopic markers such as *=e and *=ke in Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut when they occurred before verbs that were not motion or position verbs.

10.2 Awyu-Dumut Demonstratives

Awyu-Dumut demonstratives, like Awyu-Dumut deictics, are three in number androughly correspond to the English translations ‘this one here’, ‘that one over there’and ‘that one far away’. They are given for all Awyu-Dumut languages except Ye-nimu in Table 10.3. It is not feasible to reconstruct Awyu-Dumut demonstratives,but the demonstratives are included in this chapter because they derive from Awyu-Dumut deictic elements and in turn grammaticalize into topic markers, theme mar-kers and possibly into definite articles.

Table 10.3: Awyu-Dumut demonstratives

near demonstrative far demonstrative distant demonstrative

DumutMAN mene mbo – –YWB mene ewe koweDWB nombone, nombono eve, evo –

AwyuAXU nego wüo (wo), i- xoPSA nego ugo xategoSHI nere ewere xagere

NdeiramKOM mene mofene –

Sources: Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:121); Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:50-52); Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:19,30); Aghu (Drabbe 1957:25); Pisa (Drabbe 1950:102-103); Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:102-103); Kombai (de Vries 1993:37-38)

Awyu-Dumut demonstratives are derived from Awyu-Dumut deictics. Dumut lan-guages derive their demonstratives from their deictic elements by adding a topi-cal element, which is also derived from a deictic. Yonggom Wambon and DigulWambon add topic marker =e to the deictic stem to get a demonstrative. This =e


is derived from the far deictic ep, as shown in Section 10.3.2. Instead of =e, DigulWambon may also add =o to a deictic element, yielding nombono ‘this one here’ andevo ‘that one there’; nombono and evo may only occur pre-nominally, functioning asdemonstrative modifiers. Mandobo does not add either =e or =o, but rather a com-bination of the near deictic mene with the far deictic mbo yields a near demonstra-tive ‘this one here’. The Mandobo far deictic mbo, like =e, also functions as a topicmarker, as illustrated in Section 10.3. An example of the Mandobo near demonstra-tive is given in (128).7

(128) Ngo-anoyou-SUBJ

kurowstealing

ande-r-aneat-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

namy

upig

kurürümo-r-an;run.off.IT-REAL[NON1PL]-PST

ombaother

menehere

mboTOP

ŋŋgoyou

yocall

ge-robe-SIM

katomoseek

ge-robe-SIM

ni-ge...IMP-go...

‘your stealing and eating (=adultery) caused my pigs to run off; this other(pig) you go call and seek and...’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:46)

In Awyu languages, three different strategies are employed to form demonstratives.In Shiaxa, the suffix -re is added to the deictic, yielding nere, ewere and xagere. This el-ement -re might be cognate to the nominalizer found with Mandobo and YonggomWambon deictic elements. In Pisa, the suffix go is added to deictic forms to yielddemonstratives, for example ugo ‘that one over there’. Aghu employs a strategydifferent from that used by Pisa and Shiaxa. It does not add a suffix to get demon-stratives; rather the ‘plain’ forms have demonstrative meaning, while if the topicmarker ke follows nego, wüo or xo, they function as adverbial deictic elements.

Before turning to how Awyu-Dumut demonstratives can develop a textual deic-tic function, I would like to shed light on another grammaticalization path thatdemonstratives often follow, namely that of turning into (definite) articles. Thispath was first noted by Greenberg (1978) and further explored in Nikolaus Him-melmann’s 1997 doctoral thesis entitled Deiktikon, Artikel, Nominalphrase: Zur Emer-genz syntaktischer Struktur. In the International Handbook for Language Typology

7In paragraph 46 of his Mandobo grammar description, Drabbe also describes another way inwhich demonstratives are formed in Mandobo, namely by adding the possessive (ne) or the possess-ive plus the word for ‘human’ (ne guap) to the deictic elements mene and mbere, for example:

(1) menehere

naPOSS

ranwoman

‘this woman’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:20)

(2) mbuaclothes

menehere

nuPOSS

guapman

‘these clothes’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:20)

However, except in paragraph 46, no sentences containing a deictic element followed by ne or ne guapcan be found. Rather, the combination mene mbo ‘this one here’ is a far more frequent demonstrative.

10.3. Awyu-Dumut Textual Deixis 149

and Language Universals, Himmelmann lists two criteria that can be used to dis-tinguish articles from demonstratives, that is, to determine when a demonstrativehas grammaticalized into an article. First, articles only occur in nominal expres-sions, while demonstratives occur in all manner of phrases, and second, the arti-cle’s position with regard to the noun is fixed, whereas demonstratives are freer intheir placement (Himmelmann 2001:832). However, the number of occurrences ofdemonstratives in Awyu-Dumut texts and grammar descriptions are too few to de-termine whether these criteria are met. Hence Awyu-Dumut demonstratives are notanalyzed as having grammaticalized into definite articles, but the reader must bearin mind that this could - perhaps under certain circumstances - nevertheless be thecase.

10.3 Awyu-Dumut Textual Deixis

Spatial deictics that are at first used to refer to the world around the speaker candevelop into anaphoric markers that refer to what has previously been said in adiscourse. As Heeschen puts it, deictic elements “assume discourse functions andno longer refer to points in concrete space but to items previously mentioned in thelinguistic context” (Heeschen 1997:177), and as Reesink has noted: “Many Papuanlanguages extend the use of a deictic to mark textual relationships such as topic andrelative clause” (Reesink 1987:233).

In Dumut languages, but not in Awyu languages, demonstratives have gram-maticalized as markers of textual deixis. Dumut demonstratives function as topicmarkers. The definition of topic employed here is provided by Lambrecht (1994):

A referent is interpreted as the topic of a proposition if in a given situ-ation the proposition is construed as being about this referent, i.e. asexpressing information which is relevant to and which increases the ad-dressee’s knowledge of this referent. (Lambrecht 1994:131)

Topic is here defined in terms of ‘aboutness’, rather than ‘givenness’. It can be sum-marized as “that which the speaker wants to talk about”(Reesink 1987:208-209). Atopic most often has been mentioned before in the discourse, but not necessarilyso. Lambrecht (1994:118) notes that others (Chafe, Dik) make a distinction between‘topic’ and ‘theme’, where ‘topic’ is intra-clausal and defined, as Lambrecht does, interms of ‘aboutness’, while a ‘theme’ is extra-clausal and “sets a spatial, temporalor individual framework within which the main predication holds”(Chafe 1976:50).I will also make this distinction, first talking about topics in Section 10.3.1 beforetalking about themes in Section 10.3.3.

10.3.1 topics

The topic in a Dumut sentence, namely that element of the sentence about which thespeaker wants to give information, is often marked by a topic marker that originates


as a demonstrative. After nouns, Mandobo far demonstrative mbe, often realized asmbo, functions as a topic marker (129), as do Yonggom Wambon far demonstrativeewe (130) and Digul Wambon far demonstrative eve (131). Section 10.3.2 illustrateshow the element =e found in Digul Wambon and Yonggom Wambon also functionsas a topic marker. These topic markers occur after nouns or pronouns.

In Mandobo example (129), the agent, who does the stealing of the tubers whilehis in-laws sleep, is topicalized using the Mandobo far deictic mbe, here realized asmbo. The speaker wants to talk about this person – who is half human and half pigin the myth – and what he is doing.

(129) Weminnight

ke-genbe-REAL[NON1SG]

doro,CONN

e-anemo,3SG.POSS-father.in.law

e-ombut,3SG.POSS-brother.in.law

e-gonöp,3SG.POSS-mother.in.law

e-angen3SG.POSS-wife

kinumsleep

koŋŋgonfast

riŋŋgio-gen.lie.down-REAL[NON1SG]

Ege3SG

mboTOP

kouyapagain

maget.up


Maget.up

gogo

irandöptubers

kuropsteal

kouyapagain

ŋŋgen.eat.REAL[NON1SG]

‘When it is night, his father-in-law, his brother-in-law, his mother-in-law andhis wife lie fast asleep. He gets up again and goes. He gets up, goes, stealstubers again and eats them.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:33)

In the following Yonggom Wambon example, the wife Kukyar is the most topicalparticipant. She is introduced at the beginning of the sentence as the topic, and thenthe rest of the sentence talks about her and her offspring. Notice that the YonggomWambon demonstrative topic ewe combines with the ergative marker ŋŋga, which itoften does.

(130) MbinmarumyapMbinmarumyap

Kapan,Kapan,

KukyarKukyar

eweTOP

ŋŋgaERG

ŋŋgapmo-genbring.forth-REAL[NON1SG]

deCONN

uipig

ke-r-an,be-REAL[NON1SG]-PST,

ititcassowary

ke-r-an.be-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘Mbinmarumyap and Kapan, about (their wife) Kukyar, she brought forth(several offspring) and (these) become pigs and cassowaries.’8

Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:154)

In Digul Wambon example (131) the elder brother is the topic, but because the con-text of the utterance is unknown, it is not clear whether the elder brother occurredearlier in the story and hence constitutes ‘known information’. It is clear, however,that the elder brother is a topic in the sense that the speaker apparently wants to saysomething about his brother.

8Mbinmarumjap and Kapan are two males introduced at the beginning of this tale, and Kukyaris their shared wife. Kukyar is marked as the topic.

10.3. Awyu-Dumut Textual Deixis 151

(131) Na-net-evePOSS-elder.brother-TOP

mbapfather

sinim-ŋŋganext-ERG

mba-ke.sit-REAL.NON1SG

‘My elder brother sits beside father.’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:85)

10.3.2 topic marker =e

Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon have an element =e, which is a shorter formof the far deictic ep ‘over there’ and that functions as both a topic marker and adefinite article. Drabbe notes that “the deictic element ep is actually e...; the otherprimary deictic forms also occur with -p, namely menep, korep...”9 Thus, e is the fardeictic in Yonggom Wambon, an analysis that may be extended to Digul Wambon.This far deictic functions as a topic marker when it occurs after a verbal clause, muchlike the demonstrative ewe in Digul Wambon and Yonggom Wambon. It then resultsin a thematic clause, as explained in Section 10.3.3 and illustrated by (132).

(132) Mando-n-income-NON1SG-FUT

eTOP

rogo-y-i-p.say-LIG-FUT-1SG

‘If he will come, I will say so.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:142)

When =e occurs after nouns in Digul Wambon and Yonggom Wambon, both de Vries& Wiersma (1992) and Drabbe (1959) analyze it as a connective (‘relator’ and ‘schakelele-ment’ in their terms, respectively). Another possible analysis is that in these in-stances =e is a topic marker, as it is after verbal clauses. Drabbe does note that, inYonggom Wambon, =e can function as a subject marker (Drabbe 1959:119), and sub-jects are often the topic of an utterance. In Yonggom Wambon example (133) andDigul Wambon example (134), =e marks the topic of the sentence.

(133) Ndokma-r-inblock-REAL-NON1PL

deCONN

ok=eriver-TOP

kojake-r-an.get.full-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘When they blocked (it), the river flooded.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:146)

(134) Ndakoand

koma-l=odie-REAL[NON1SG]=CONN

odoCONN

nux=e1SG-TOP

uto...go.in...

‘And when it died, I went in...’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:84)

10.3.3 thematic clauses

When Dumut topic markers follow verbal clauses, they form thematic clauses, whichcan also be referred to as ‘domain-creating constructions’ (Reesink 1994). Thematicclauses are background clauses that are subordinate and serve as a grounding pointfor the rest of the clause. They are the most common way to express subordinationin Dumut languages.

De Vries (2006:814) notes that thematic clauses can consist of all sorts of con-stituents and that they function to produce thematically coherent speech. Haiman

9“Het element ep is eigenlijk e...; zo komen ook de andere primaire [deiktische] elementen voormet p, namelijk menep, korep...” (Drabbe 1959:121).


points out in his classic 1978 paper ‘Conditionals are Topics’ that what are often de-scribed as conditionals in grammars are actually topics, as both “are givens whichconstitute the frame of reference with respect to which the main clause is eithertrue (if a proposition), or felicitous (if not)” (Haiman 1978:564). Of course, con-ditionals are not topics in the sense of being what the sentence is about (Reesink2014:21), but the point made here is that clauses marked with a topic marker canhave a conditional interpretation. Indeed, thematic clauses can have many interpre-tations/translations, for example as relative clauses, adverbials, temporal clauses,causatives or conditionals (Reesink 1994). Perhaps the translation that captures the-matic clauses the best is “given the state of affairs x, y” (de Vries 2006:815).

As in many Papuan languages, in Dumut languages the demonstratives thatfunction as topic markers are employed to form thematic clauses. Thus Mandobombo and Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon ewe and =e can follow a verbalclause, nominalizing it and turning it into a thematic background clause. The fol-lowing two examples illustrate the occurrence of thematic clauses in Dumut lan-guages, with square brackets enclosing each thematic clause.

(135) E-nou3SG.POSS-mother

mboTOP

tagaŋŋ-gen:say-REAL[NON1SG]

na-y-oson-LIG-VOC

noI

metarephungry

toroCAUS

[etothut

neof

teripwomen

ndusago

mbogothere

rigio-genstand-REAL[NON1SG]

mbo],TOP

noI

gogo

makmojoin

ndusago

rigi-w-ostand[IRR]-1SG-CONN


His mother says: “I am hungry, the hut of the women making sago is overthere, I am going to join (them) and make sago,” she says. Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:78)

In example (135), mbo marks the clause ‘hut of women making sago’ as given infor-mation that forms the background or setting of the rest of the utterance.

(136) Ndare,hear

materoget.up

[ndusago

mbiDUR

ri-genstand-REAL[NON1SG]

mbo],TOP

materoget.up

motu-ndümusack-sago

tömopull.out

teCONN

amkamoturn.inside.out

ŋŋgunophead

ndarakmoput.on

me-gen.come-REAL[NON1SG]

‘She hears, she gets up - she was making sago - she gets up, pulls out a smallsago sack and turns it inside out, puts it on her head and comes.’ Mandobo

(Drabbe 1959:81)

In example (136), mbo marks the clause she was making sago as background informa-tion that is essential to place the rest of the utterance in the right context (becauseshe was making sago, she had a sago sack with her).

In Yonggom Wambon thematic clauses, ewe tends to co-occur with ergative markerŋŋga, as illustrated in (137). The topic marker e occurs withoutŋŋga (138) when it marksa thematic clause.

10.4. Summary 153

(137) [Iŋŋ-gin-ineat-REAL-NON1PL

ewe]TOP

ŋŋgaERG

ut-ken-ep.go.in-REAL-1SG

‘When they were eating, I went in.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:134)

(138) [Miriprain

kupCOMIT

maya-r-ancome.down-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

e,]TOP

kigipother

kogo

ti-r-an.build-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘When it rained (given that it rained), she built another (hut).’ Yonggom Wambon

(Drabbe 1959:156)

Lastly, two examples from Digul Wambon are provided, with eve marking a subor-dinate thematic clause.

(139) [Simson=eSimson=TOP

nde-t-mbo-n=eve]come-REAL[NON1SG]-PST-tr.nasal=TOP

nexo3SG.POSS

salip=ewife=TOP

wasialready

ande-t-mbo.eat-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘When Simson arrived, his wife had already eaten.’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:86)

(140) Mbonop-ŋŋgambun=kaMbonop-maelstrom=ERG

mbaxe-mbel=ostay-SEQ=CONN

ŋŋgerkayisaw

lavo-vatake[IRR]-NON1PL


ep=kathere=ERG

mba-l-eva-mbo.stay-REAL-NON1PL-PST

[Ep=kathere=ERG

mba-l-eva-mbo-n=eve]stay-REAL-NON1PL-PST=TOP

sanov=eMonday=TOP

ilogo.down

ka-l-eva-mbo.go-REAL-NON1PL-PST

‘We stayed at the Mbonop maelstrom, in order to saw we stayed there. Giventhat/when we stayed there, on Monday we went down (there).’ Digul Wambon

(de Vries & Wiersma 1992:87)

10.4 Summary

This chapter offered a description and reconstruction of Awyu-Dumut spatial deic-tic elements and then focused on how Awyu-Dumut demonstratives derive fromAwyu-Dumut deictic elements. Two grammaticalization pathways were then dis-cussed:

1. demonstratives that grammaticalize into definite articles/markers of definite-ness

2. deictics and demonstratives that grammaticalize into topic markers

For the first grammaticalization path, this chapter demonstrates that there is toolittle Awyu-Dumut data to determine whether demonstratives (and deictic-derived


element =e) have indeed turned into definite markers, although it is likely that attimes they do have this function. The grammaticalized use of deictic-based topicmarkers was only found in Dumut languages, where demonstratives are employedas topic markers after nouns and after entire clauses. When they cliticize to a clause,they form a thematic clause or domain-creating construction.

11

Clause Linkage

Languages can link clauses together into sentences in multiple ways. The most com-mon ways to link clauses together cross-linguistically are through either coordina-tion or subordination, which form two ends of a continuum (called the continuumof hierarchical downgrading by Lehmann (1988)). As in many Papuan languages,clause chaining rather than either coordination or subordination is the main clauselinking strategy in Awyu-Dumut languages. Foley notes that clause chaining is“probably the most distinctive feature of Papuan languages” (Foley 1986:175), go-ing on to describe chained clauses as containing ‘co-subordinate’ verbs and as fallingin between coordination and subordination on the coordination-subordination con-tinuum. Awyu-Dumut clause chaining is discussed in Section 11.2, after Awyu-Dumut clause coordination is described in Section 11.1. At the subordination end ofthe continuum Awyu-Dumut thematic clauses are found, which, along with othertypes of subordinate clauses, are described in Section 11.3.

Important to remember in this chapter is that Awyu-Dumut languages havethree types of verbs: non-finites, semi-finites and finites. Non-finite verbs consistof a verb stem, semi-finite verbs consist of a verb stem, a mood marker and person-number marker, and finite verbs consist of a verb stem, a mood marker, a person-number marker and a tense marker. Non-finite verbs are dependent verbs, whileboth semi-finite and finite verbs are independent verbs. ‘Independent’ is here de-fined as ‘not needing another verb in the clause or sentence in order to function’;an independent verb form can hence be the only verb form in a complete sentence.Dependent verb forms always need another verb in order to function. These distinc-tions will be important in distinguishing between coordination and clause chaining,and also play a major role in Awyu-Dumut’s switch reference systems, described inSection 11.5.

11.1 Coordination

Coordinated clauses are syntactically equal and may also occur independently, mea-ning that a coordinated clause can be a sentence by itself. As Foley (2010:27) notes:

156 11. Clause Linkage

“[c]lauses linked in a coordinate nexus are not in an asymmetrical relationship ofembedded versus matrix clause, but are joined at the same level, strung along ratherlike beads on a string.” Awyu-Dumut languages have two strategies to coordinateclauses: juxtaposing them (Section 11.1.1), or placing a coordinator between them(Section 11.1.2). As will become apparent in Section 11.2, clause chaining can alsobe considered a type of coordination.

11.1.1 Coordination by juxtaposition

In Awyu-Dumut languages, most coordinated clauses are juxtaposed, together for-ming a sentence. Coordinated verbal clauses are found in Yonggom Wambon, DigulWambon, Mandobo, Aghu and Kombai. Unfortunately, Drabbe gives no descriptionof how clauses are joined together in Pisa, Shiaxa or Yenimu, nor is there informationavailable on how juxtaposed clauses differ from separate sentences prosodically.

Awyu-Dumut languages, like many Papuan languages, have medial verb formsand final verb forms, that is, verbs that may occur clause-finally and those that mayonly occur clause-medially. The final verb forms are more finite than the medial verbforms. In Awyu-Dumut languages, both semi-finite forms and finite verb formsmay occur clause-finally, while non-finite verb forms only occur clause-medially. A(non-final) clause is coordinated to the next clause if it ends in a semi-finite or finiteverb. Thus Aghu example (141) consists of two coordinated clauses, both ending ina semi-finite realis verb form.

(141) [Gi-k-enã]scrape-REAL-NON1PL

[efe3SG

n’amokoPOSS’son

axefish

saxa-k-e].shoot-REAL-NON1SG

‘They scrape (poison into water) and her son shoots fish.1’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:57)

Likewise, the following examples from Mandobo (142) and Yonggom Wambon (143)consist of multiple coordinated clauses ending in semi-finite or finite verb forms,with a semi-finite or finite verb form at the end of the sentence.

(142) [Tokmodivide

ndigi-r-an]give-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

[rohave.with

me-recome-NON.CLOSE

rurukma-gen-on].put.together-REAL-NON1PL.‘He divides and gives (the pigs), and they come put them together.’ Mandobo

(Drabbe 1959:22)

(143) [NaeropNaerop

taemba-r-in]shoot-REAL-NON1PL

[kima-r-an].die-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘They shoot Naerop and he dies.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:147)

1Drabbe notes that, in Aghu culture, women catch fish by scraping a poisonous root that drugsthe fish into the water, while men catch fish using bow and arrow.

11.2. Clause Chaining 157

11.1.2 Coordination by coordinator

In Digul Wambon, whenever a semi-finite -kend form or a finite past or future formoccurs non-finally, it is coordinated to the next clause. The coordinating connective=o occurs on these clauses but also on all other medial clauses that are part of clausechains rather than fully coordinated. An example of two coordinated clauses, thefirst of which ends in a semi-finite realis form, is given in (144).

(144) Mulogo.down

kilim-ke-knd-ev=opursue-be-REAL-1SG-CONN

hetaxa-l-ep-mbo-n=e...see-REAL-1SG-PST-tr.nasal=TOP

‘I went down, pursued it and I saw that...’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:84)

Besides Digul Wambon, Kombai is the only other Awyu-Dumut language that em-ploys an explicit coordinating connective, namely -a, after medially-occurring semi-finite verb forms, as in (145).

(145) Xalufoyesterday

nu1SG

bone-d-ef-aDUR.eat-REAL-1SG-CONN

gu2SG

owater

mi.drink[REAL.NON1SG]

‘Yesterday I ate and you drank water.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:57)

In Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo, =o does occur as a linking element, but it isunclear whether it is a coordinator in these languages. It usually appears between averb of speaking and that which was said, as in example (146).

(146) Sinambow

ŋŋgaERG

nataem-i-non=oshoot-[IRR]NON1PL-IMP=CONN

nde-t.say-REAL[NON1SG]

“‘You must shoot me with a bow” he said.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:149)

De Vries (1986, 2010) claims that Digul Wambon ndi and its cognate in its two Dumutsister languages, namely te in Mandobo and Yonggom Wambon, are also clausalcoordinators. However, see Section 11.3.4 for an argumentation explaining whyDumut te is better analyzed as a subordinating connective.

11.2 Clause Chaining

Besides fully coordinated clauses, Awyu-Dumut languages have clauses that arechained together. I will adhere to Longacre (2007:399) for a definition of a clausechain; he defines clause chains as consisting of “a final clause that has a verb of dis-tinctive structure that occurs but once in the entire chain” and “non-final clauseswhich have verbs of different and more restricted features.” Longacre goes on tonote that “the final clause is like an engine that pulls a string of cars.” There may beone or more non-final clauses. The main feature of clause chains is that the medialverbs are dependent upon the last verb for the interpretation of one or more of theirinflectional categories. On the coordination-subordination continuum, clause chain-ing is best classified as a type of coordination, one which involves dependent, butnot embedded, verbs. As Foley notes, clause chains “do not function as embedded


parts within a whole, but are linked to a fully inflected verb in a linear string, muchlike beads on a necklace. Because the linking of such clauses is at the same struc-tural level, rather than as part within a whole, I regard such clauses as coordinateand verbs of such clauses as ‘coordinate-dependent’” (Foley 1986:177).

In Awyu-Dumut languages, the medial verbs used in clause chains are non-finiteverbs that consist of a verb stem or a verb stem plus temporality marker, whilesemi-finite or finite verb forms can occur clause-chain finally and are independent.2

The non-finite verbs are dependent on the final verb for mood and person-numberinterpretation.

If the final verb expresses tense in addition to mood and person-number, this ca-tegory is also inherited by the non-finite verb(s) that precede(s) it. A Digul Wambonsentence consisting of three clauses, of which two are clause chains ending in a semi-finite verb, is found in (147), while (148) contains a Yonggom Wambon clause chainand (149) an Aghu clause chain.

(147) [Yanditroad

wamip=kainside=ERG

oy=epig=TOP

hetak-mbel=osee-SEQ=CONN

tambe-l-ev=o]shoot-REAL-1SG=CONN

[liki-lap-elobreak-take-SIM

ka-l=o]go-REAL[NON1SG]=CONN

[kilim-ke-knd-ev=o...]pursue-be-REAL-1SG=CONN...

‘I saw a pig inside the road and I shot it, and the pig took the arrow, wentand I pursued it and...’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:83)

(148) [Ngo2SG.POSS

nanŋŋguiyounger.brother

e,TOP,

ŋŋgo2SG.POSS

nenŋŋguielder.brother

e,TOP,

MatiramMatiram

ŋŋgaERG

ŋŋgotondekill.IT

e-noeat-SIM

mirbones

eTOP

toppit

mecome

agumoput.in

mba-gen-op].stay-REAL[NON1SG]-HABIT

‘Matiram killed and ate your younger and elder brothers (habitually/iteratively),coming and putting their bones in a pit.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:154)

(149) [Nu3SG

ni1SG

da-de-kcome.I-SS-CONN

syübanana

isiomall

a-de-ktake.I-SS-CONN

büsyühome

kemTOP

xo-do-kgo.I-SS-CONN

ab-su-k-e].take.I-go.up.I-REAL-NON1SG

‘He came to me, took all the banana’s, went home and took them up (intothe house).’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:19)

11.3 Subordination

Clauses that are not coordinated or chained, are subordinate. There are multipletypes of subordinate sentences in Awyu-Dumut languages, and in the following sec-

2Digul Wambon semi-finite -t forms are described by de Vries & Wiersma (1992) as not occur-ring sentence-finally and hence not being independent, but see Section 11.5.4 for new data whichshow that Digul Wambon -t forms are much like other Awyu-Dumut semi-finites: independent andsentence-final.

11.3. Subordination 159

tions, six different subordination strategies employed by Awyu-Dumut languagesare discussed.

All Awyu-Dumut subordinate clauses are linked to the rest of the sentence bya subordinating connective; the six subordination strategies make use of differentsubordinating connectives. What all Awyu-Dumut subordinating connectives havein common is that they nominalize the subordinate clause that they follow. Awyu-Dumut subordinate clauses are either hypotactic or embedded. Hypotactic subor-dinate clauses are not dependent on the main clause, nor do they have a syntacticfunction within the main clause (Lehmann 1988:182, 185). Embedded subordinateclauses, on the other hand, are dependent on the main clause and are governed by it.

Another important feature of Awyu-Dumut subordinate clauses is that they pre-sent background information. Concerning subordinate clauses in Papuan languagesin general Foley states: “Subordinate clauses in Papuan languages always functionto background given information, and correspond to two different constructions inmore familiar languages, adverbial clauses and relative clauses” (Foley 1986:201).Awyu-Dumut subordinate clauses fall within this generalization; they either pre-sent information usually found in adverbial clauses, for example information aboutthe timing, location, and/or manner of the main action, or they present further in-formation about the main topic of the sentence.

11.3.1 Subordination: thematic clauses with demonstrative topicmarkers

Thematic clauses formed with demonstrative-based topic markers are a very com-mon way to form subordinate clauses in Dumut languages and were described inSection 10.3.3. Thematic clauses were there defined as “background clauses that aresubordinate and serve as a grounding point for the rest of the clause. The topicmarker nominalizes the clause that it follows.” Thematic clauses are extra-clausal,most often appear in a left-dislocated position and can best be translated as “giventhe state of affairs x, y” (de Vries 2006:815), although many other translations arepossible. What many Papuan thematic clauses have in common is that thematicclause markers are markers that occur on both noun phrases and verb clauses, andin both instances render the phrase or clause they follow (more) presuppositional(Reesink 1983:223-224). In many languages, including Dumut languages, thematicclause markers also function as topic markers after nouns. Examples of thematicclauses formed with demonstrative topic markers mbo (Mandobo), ewe and e (DigulWambon and Yonggom Wambon) were given in Section 10.3.3 and are not repeatedhere.


11.3.2 Subordinator ŋga

The ergative marker ŋŋga,3 found in Digul Wambon and Yonggom Wambon, func-tions as a subordinator when it attaches to verbal clauses. The ergative marker op-tionally marks the agent of an action in Yonggom Wambon, as ergative markers doin other Papuan languages such as Dani and Hua (Dixon 1994:58). Its function isthen to either disambiguate who the agent is or to mark less prototypical agents.Thus ŋŋga in (150) makes it clear that Matiram is the cannibal, rather than the bro-thers, while in (151), ŋŋga marks a snake pulling on a sago sack, an action usuallyperformed by humans.

(150) Ngo2SG.POSS

nanŋŋguiyounger.brothers

e,TOP,

ŋŋgo2SG.POSS

nenŋŋguielder.brothers

eTOP

MatiramMatiram

ŋŋgaERG

ŋŋgotondekill.IT

e-noeat-NON.CLOSE

mirbones

eTOP

tophole

mecome

agumoput.in

mba-gen-op.stay-REAL[NON1SG]-HAB

‘Your younger brothers, your older brothers, Matiram used to kill (them), eat(them) and come put the bones in a hole.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:153-154)

(151) Kinumsleep

ya-r-alie-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

aŋŋgunsnake

ŋŋgaERG

matuisago.sack

mbima-tpull-REAL[NON1SG]

mborotke-t...break-REAL[NON1SG]‘(she) lies asleep and the snake pulls (on) the sago sack and it (the sago sack)breaks...’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:155)

The ergative marker originates in what de Vries & Wiersma (1992:58) call a ‘circum-stantial marker’, which may express instrumental (152), locative (153), manner (154)or time reference (155) meaning. Foley notes that it is common in Papuan languagesfor (peripheral) case markers that mark ablative, causal and/or instrumental case todevelop into (core) ergative markers which mark the agent. He explains that “[t]heextension of the instrumental and causal case to the actor is not surprising: both arecauses of the event, either primary or secondary, and identity between the ergativeand instrumental case markers is a common feature of languages, including otherPapuan languages such as Enga (Lang 1973), Kewa (Franklin 1971), Kate (Pilhofer1933) and Selepet (McElhanon 1972)” (Foley 1986:107). In his book on ergativity,Dixon (1994:57) further notes that cross-linguistically, the ergative case is known toalso function as a locative, instrumental or genitive case marker.

(152) Mayummayum.sago

tombonleaf.vein

ŋŋgaERG

ragaefish

turuma-t.shoot-REAL[NON1SG]

‘He shot fish with mayum sago leaf veins.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:146)

3ŋŋga has an allomorph =ka in Digul Wambon. In Digul Wambon, it is a clitic, while Drabbe writesŋŋga separately in Yonggom Wambon.


(153) Kixup=kaDigul=ERG

okima-l-eva-mbo.take.bath-REAL-1PL-PST

‘We took a bath in the Digul river.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:58)

(154) Wasi=ŋŋgaquick=ERG

nda-xecome-REAL[NON1SG]

‘He comes quickly.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:59)

(155) Ariw-aminearly-morning

ŋŋgaERG


mberemogather

ratake

ku-r-an.go-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘In the early morning she came and gathered [the fish traps], took them andwent.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:155)

The ergative marker ŋŋ ga functions as a subordinator, or thematic clause marker,when it follows a verbal clause, much like the Dani ergative marker (n)en, as ob-served by Reesink (1994:110), who cites (156) from Bromley (1981).4 In this case,the clause ‘we finished thatching’ is marked as a subordinate clause by the ergativemarker -en, which “signals a kind of causality...which shades into temporal succes-sion” (Reesink 1994:110).

(156) Wa’lekkathatch

salokocovering

hel-uk-enput-PERF-ERG

hupakkonight

mottokaltogether

kienter

ak-y.come-I

‘After we finished the thatching, when it was completely dark, I came inhere.’ Dani, Bromley 1981

Drabbe notes that ŋŋga is a marker of time both after nouns and after verbal clauses.He contrasts ŋŋga after an NP, namely miti ŋŋga kuran ‘night ERG he.went’ (he went atnight) with ŋŋga after a clause: mitik ken ŋŋga kajip literally ‘night will.be ERG I.will.go’(when it is night, I will go) (Drabbe 1959:144). Thus subordinate clauses marked bythe ergative ŋŋga in Yonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon always have a temporalmeaning, which can be translated with ‘while’, ‘when’ or ‘after’.

The example given in (157) illustrates ŋŋga functioning as a subordinator in DigulWambon, while (158) provides a similar example for Yonggom Wambon.

(157) Nux=eI=TOP

ande-l-ep-o=ŋŋgaeat-REAL-1SG-PST=ERG

nexephe

nde-t-mbo.come-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

When I ate, he came.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:60)

(158) Ndunsago

rinomake

mbage-rostay-non.close

ŋŋgaERG

eto-gen-epsee-REAL-1SG

teCONN

mende-r-an.come-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘While I was preparing sago, I saw that he came.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:134)

4Bromley (198:266) did not analyze (n)en as an ergative marker, but called it the generalizedsource relator -nen. Foley (1986:107) is probably the source of the reanalysis of Dani -nen.


For Digul Wambon, de Vries claims that “since all medial verb clauses are coor-dinated with the next clause, the postpositions/subordinators never occur withmedial verb clauses” (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:60). While this is true for DigulWambon, where indeed a subordinator never follows a non-finite SS verb form, inYonggom Wambon ŋŋga frequently follows non-finite SS verb forms, as is the casein (158) above. This is problematic because, as de Vries noted, medial verb formsstand in a (chaining) coordinate relationship to the next verb, so how can they occurin a subordinate clause? Reesink has found a similar puzzling construction in Usanand notes that although “medial verbs basically constitute asymmetrical coordinaterelationships...this basically coordinate relationship may be changed into a subor-dinate one in order to clearly express conditionality. Once this is done, again withthe [Usan] ‘given’ demonstrative eng, the preceding clause falls outside the scopeof negative, imperative and interrogative, as they apply to the following clause”(Reesink 1987:239). The difference between an Usan medial verb in a subordinateclause and a medial verb in a coordinated clause is illustrated by (159), showing asubordinate clause, and (160), showing a coordinate clause.

(159) Yarabcome.SS

engthe

ye-nipatme-step.over.SS

qurmoney

big-ar.put-pl.IMP

‘If you come, step over me and put your money (in the basket).’ Usan (Reesink

1987:239)

(160) Yarabcome.SS

qoasi-qoasimiss-miss.SS

qurmoney

big-ar.put-pl.IMP

‘Come, go beside me and put your money (in the basket).’ Usan (Reesink 1987:239)

In the first sentence, the imperative of the final verb does not have scope over themedial SS verb yarab ‘to come’, only over the medial SS verb nipat. In the secondsentence, the imperative has scope over both of the medial SS verbs yarab ‘to come’and qoasi-qoasi ‘to go beside’. Thus the Usan subordinator eng blocks the scope ofthe imperative. In his article on domain-creating constructions, Reesink notes that“[m]edial (SS and DS) clauses followed by -eng...are shielded from various operatorson the verb of the matrix clause: negation, illocution, nominalization. The cate-gories of tense and subject person-number, however, are subjected to the generalconstraints exerted by the final verb on the preceding ones in a sentence” (Reesink1994:104-105). Thus because the final verb bigar in both (159) and (160) has a pluralperson-number interpretation, all medial SS verbs, including yarab in the subordi-nate eng clause, have plural person-number interpretation. The subordinator engblocks certain but not all operators and categories of the (final) matrix clause verbwhen it occurs after a medial verb. Like Usan -eng, Yonggom Wambon ŋŋga does notblock switch reference. There are too few occurrences of ŋŋga in the data to determinewhether or not it blocks the scope of imperatives, interrogatives or negation.


11.3.3 Subordination with existential verb ke ‘to be’

The support verb ke ‘to be’ appears as a marker of subordinate sentences with con-ditional meaning in both Awyu and Dumut languages. In Digul Wambon, whatde Vries & Wiersma (1992) describe as a conditional marker, namely kexet, can beanalyzed as being a fossilized non-finite form of the verb ke followed by a third per-son non-singular realis form of the same verb, as illustrated in (161). Digul Wambonkexet only occurs in conditional sentences and is always followed by either of thetopical subordinators =e or =eve, discussed in Sections 10.3.3 and 11.3.1, yieldingkexeleve or kexele.

(161) ke-xe-tbe-be-REAL[NON1SG]‘being, it is/was’

In (162), kexel=eve marks the subordinate protasis of the sentence ‘if the river rises,we will not go.’

(162) Kixuv=eDigul=TOP

nde-t-ke-xe-l=evecome-REAL[NON1SG]-be-be-REAL[NON1SG]=TOP

noxov=ewe=TOP

ManggelumManggelum

ko-nok-siva.go-neg-intent.NEG.1PL

‘If the Digul River rises, we do not want to go to Manggelum.’ Digul Wambon


In Yonggom Wambon, a construction ket kinin ŋŋga occurs, which can be analyzed asconsisting of a non-first person realis form of the verb ke followed by a non-firstperson future form of ke, which in turn is followed by the ergative marker ŋŋga (163).Like in Digul Wambon kexel=eve, the verb ke occurs twice in the Yonggom Wambonket kinin ŋŋga construction.

(163) ketbe-REAL[NON1SG]

ki-n-inbe-NON1SG-FUT

ŋŋgaERG

‘it is, when it will be’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:134)

Drabbe always translates Yonggom Wambon clauses containing ket kinin ŋŋga with‘when’, rather than with a conditional ‘if’, and states that they talk about futuresimultaneous events, such as those expressed in (164), in which the giving of food isnot dependent on whether the people are working, but on when they are working.

(164) Awoŋŋwork

rap-kin-intake-REAL-NON1PL

ke-tbe-REAL[NON1SG]

ki-n-inbe-NON1SG-FUT

ŋŋga,ERG

kogo

nayokgive.IMP

ande-nan.eat-NON1PL

‘When they are working (when it is the case that they are working), go give(them food), let them eat.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:134)


In all three Dumut languages, the verb ke in subordinate sentences with conditionalmeaning is always conjugated in non-first person singular form because “the entirefirst clause is the subject of get” (Drabbe 1959:105).5 That is, the ke verb does notagree with the subject within the first clause, but rather with the clause as a whole.6

For Mandobo, Drabbe notes that ke-t only occurs when the protasis contains afinite past tense verb or a negated verb (Drabbe 1959:105), giving (165) and (166) asexamples.

(165) Ngoanoyou

kuropsecret

timo-r-antake-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

ke-t,be-REAL[NON1SG]

no1SG

tagamo-nok.tell-IMP

‘If you stole it, tell me.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:105)

(166) Nöp1SG

mbegi-ne-gen-e-mdabe-NEG-REAL-1SG-NEG

ge-t,be-REAL[NON1SG]

rogoafish

nanetmy.older.brother

ndigio-nok.give-IMP

‘If I am not there, give the fish to my elder brother.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:105)

Similarly, in Aghu, ki ‘to be’ only appears in conditionals if the protasis is negative,as shown in (167). The verb ki appears as kı, the non-first person optative form ofthe verb.

(167) Fikowork

afi-ndetake-NEG

kı,be[NON1SG]

sumketobacco

edaxe-nde.give-NEG.

‘If you do not work, I will not give you tobacco’ Aghu (Drabbe 1959:23)

Pisa is the last Awyu-Dumut language in which ke is attested in sentences with con-ditional meaning. In Pisa, the protasis starts with a non-first person singular formof the verb rigirö, a verb no longer in use that Drabbe translates as ‘to happen’. Af-ter this verb, the rest of the subordinate clause follows, and the subordinate clausealways ends with a non-first person future form of the verb gi ‘to be, to happen’ (thePisa cognate of ke). Thus rigirö dafina giro, edaxay literally means ‘if it happens (that)they will come, if (that) will be, I will give it” (Drabbe 1950:127).

It can be concluded that the verb ke ‘to be’ occurs in sentences with conditionalmeaning in many Awyu-Dumut languages, and can in those instances best be trans-lated as ‘it being the case that...’ The verb has the whole preceding clause as its ar-gument and always appears in non-first person singular (that is, third person singu-lar) form. In Digul Wambon and Yonggom Wambon, ke appears twice in a fossilizedform. Due to its widespread occurrence in Awyu-Dumut sentences with conditionalmeaning, it is likely that ke appeared in sentences with conditional meanings inProto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut.

5“De gehele voorzin is subject van get” (Drabbe 1959:105); get is the non-first person singularrealis -t form of ke in Mandobo after a vowel.

6Note that Reesink describes something similar for Usan existential verbs which follow finalverbs: “the existential verb seems to have the total preceding event as its argument, much as sensoryverbs have the event that is expressed by the medial verb as their complement” (Reesink 1987:92).


11.3.4 Subordinator te

All three Dumut languages have a focus element te that links clauses together.7 Onthe subordination-coordination continuum, the connective focus marker te is hardto classify as either coordinating or subordinating. The arguments presented in thefollowing paragraphs indicate that an analysis of te as a subordinating connective ismost plausible. Between verbal clauses, te will simply be glossed as CONN ‘connec-tive’.

Drabbe describes clause-final te as a linking element or a conjunction,8 but hedoes not indicate whether it is a coordinating or a subordinating conjunction. Thetranslations Drabbe gives for te clauses are numerous. Thus, for example, Drabbenotes that the Mandobo sentence

(168) Ne-neti1SG.POSS-father

taga-ŋŋgensay-REAL[NON1SG]

otoCONN

me-gen-ep.come-REAL-1SG

Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:103)

can mean ‘my father said it and then I came’, or ‘my father said it and therefore Icame’ or ‘when my father said it, I came’, but also simply ‘my father said it andI came.’9 Similarly, he notes that koŋŋgenep to tagamoran can be translated as either‘after I wrote, he read it’ or ‘I wrote it and he read it’. Thus Drabbe ascribes bothcoordinating meaning (‘and’) and subordinating meaning (‘after, when, because’) tothe linking element te, although he does not comment further on te’s syntactic rolein the sentence except to say that it is a linking element. Unlike Drabbe, who leavesundecided whether te is a coordinating or a subordinating conjunction, de Vries(2010) analyzes Dumut te as a coordinator.

The scope that polarity (negation) markers or illocutionary force (imperative,interrogative) markers have within a sentence consisting of multiple clauses is of-ten used as a test to determine whether one is dealing with subordinate clauses.Haiman shows that subordinate clauses in Hua are impervious to the mood, tenseor negation of the final clause (Haiman 1976). Similarly, Reesink (1987) describes thescope of negation, interrogatives and imperatives as not extending to subordinate-eng clauses. Thus if negation, imperative and interrogative modalities marked inthe final clause do not extend over any preceding te clauses, those clauses are likelyto be subordinate. The scope of negation and imperative do not extend over theclause marked by te in examples (169) and (170). Unfortunately there are too few

7Allomorphs ndi, oto (DWB), to, do, de, odo, oto (MAN, YWB). The Dumut focus marker te was alsodiscussed in Chapter 3 on Nouns. It was argued that te is always a focus marker when it occurs aftera noun, although it may have a copular interpretation. Only when te is repeated after each element ofan enumeration can it be analyzed and glossed as COORD (coordinator). This analysis of te as a focusmarker in most instances after nouns was a reanalysis of both Drabbe and de Vries, who alternatelycall te a copula, an emphatic marker, a linking element or a coordinator.

8“In al die gevallen functioneert te min of meer als voegwoord” (Drabbe 1959:134).9“Met neneti tagaŋŋgen oto megenep kan bedoeld zijn : mijn vader zei het en toen ben ik gekomen,

of : hij zei het en daarom kwam ik, of : toen hij het zei ben ik gekomen, maar ook eenvoudig : hij zeihet en ik kwam” (Drabbe 1959:103).


occurrences of negation, imperatives and interrogatives in Dumut texts to solidifythe claim that their scope does not extend over te clauses, although the few exam-ples there are do indicate that Awyu-Dumut te clauses are similar to the subordinateclauses described by Reesink and Haiman.

(169) Materoget.up

eŋŋgottorch

keemolight


doCONN

yombutopdoor

tokmo-ne-gen-daopen-NEG-REALNON1SG-NEG

teCONN

raŋŋ-genlie.down-REAL[NON1SG]

‘She gets up, lights a torch and sees: the door is not open, and she lies down.’Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:§96)

(170) Ndusago

orücut.down

rigi-nonstand-[IRR]NON1PL

do,CONN

küappeople

takinvitation

kea-nog-i-ninwalk-IMP-LIG-NON1PL


‘While/when the sago is being cut, go invite people, he said.’ Mandobo (Drabbe1959:§109)

Another indication that Dumut te is not a coordinator is its occurrence at the endof sentences. Sentence-final te cannot be a coordinating linking element, as there isno following clause to which te links the previous clause. Sentence-final te clausesare like the construction that Evans refers to as ‘insubordination’, that is, “conven-tionalized main clause use of what, on prima facie grounds, appear to be formallysubordinate clauses” (Evans 2007:367). According to Schapper & SanRoque (2011)and Reesink (2014), such insubordinate clauses express the speaker’s epistemic at-titude. Reesink notes that Usan sentences that end in -eng “convey the speaker’sattitude of assertiveness, indignation, or surprise” (Reesink 2014:249). The exam-ples in (171) and (172) illustrate the occurrence of te sentence-finally in YonggomWambon and Digul Wambon; in (171) the sentence-final te adds assertiveness to thecrocodile’s demand, while in (172), sentence-final te marks a clause which is addedto the main clause as an afterthought, strengthening it.

(171) Maturucome.up

teCONN

nu1SG

menehere

ŋŋgaERG

okriver

natin-inrow-IMP[SG]

nde-tsay-REAL

te.CONN

Okriver

ti-norow-SIM

mboke-t,stay-REAL[NON1SG]

ranwoman

ya3SG.POSS

mimiropmenstruation.blood

kupwith

undu-t.go.across-REAL[NON1SG]“‘After he came up, he said: row me across the river here!’ While it (the ca-noe/crocodile) was being rowed across the river, a woman is menstruating,it (the canoe/crocodile) goes across.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:§114)


(172) Malinmalin.bird

loxa-t-po;speak-REAL[NON1SG]-PST;

ap=wehouse=TOP

wasatmo-ni=nde.tomorrow.be[IRR.NON1SG]-INTENT=FOC

‘A malin bird had spoken; a day was about to break.’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:127)

Although de Vries (1986) shows how focus marker te became a nominal coordinator,he does not describe well how he thinks a focus marker became a coordinator afterAwyu-Dumut verbal clauses. Chapter 3 contains a summary of de Vries’ findingsconcerning te after nominals. It was described how a focus marker can developinto a coordinator after noun phrases; because (coordinated) noun phrases are rarein Awyu-Dumut languages, they are always followed by a (salient) focus marker,which is then associated with the coordination of nouns. From this analysis de Vriesthen comes to the conclusion that te is a coordinator when it occurs after Awyu-Dumut verbal clauses as well, labeling it a case of further grammaticalization.10

However, as was pointed out in Chapter 3, the analysis of te as a nominal coordina-tor is problematic. Furthermore, even if the analysis of te as a nominal coordinatoris deemed plausible, the ‘saliency argument’ which applies to nominal phrases doesnot apply to coordinated verbal clauses in Awyu-Dumut languages; they are quitefrequent, and so it is unclear why te should be analyzed as a coordinator in thiscontext. Neither is it clear how a verbal coordinator would be a further, more ab-stract, grammaticalization of a nominal coordinator. Rather, the data contained inDrabbe’s and de Vries’ grammars support an analysis of te as a focus marker and donot necessitate hypothesizing about any diachronic development.

To summarize, te is best analyzed as a subordinating conjunction rather than acoordinating conjunction because (1) the scope of negation and imperatives prob-ably do not extend over clauses marked by te, (2) te occurs sentence-finally and(3) it is not clear how a focus marker would develop into a clausal coordinator inAwyu-Dumut languages. Furthermore, and very importantly, Drabbe notes that theaddition of te to a verbal clause renders a it into a nominal.11 Nominalization is acharacteristic shared by all Awyu-Dumut subordinating morphemes.

One question remains: how can a focus marker function a subordinator, render-ing the clause that it follows into a dependent background clause that supports themain clause? Concerning morphemes which, like Dumut te, occur on both nominalsand clauses, Reesink notes:

In many languages a medial verb desinence12 or following connector is

10The term ‘further grammaticalization’ is used by Heine et. al. to denote the development ofa lexical item into a grammatical item, after which that grammatical item attains yet another, moreabstract grammatical function.

11“There is no meaningful difference between the construction with and without te, but now onehas two sentences, the first is nominal, the second verbal” in Dutch: “Er is geen verschil van betekenistussen de constructies zonder, en die met te, maar men heeft nu een voor- en een nazin, de eerstenominaal, de tweede verbaal” (Drabbe 1959:134).

12‘Medial verb’ here means ‘non-final verb’, not necessarily ‘dependent verb.’


used that can also appear on nominals. This is the case with -ma in Fore,and se in Waskia. The impression one gets from such nominal markingson clauses is that these clauses have more of a presuppositional statusthan other medial clauses. This has actually been proven by Haiman forHua, and it would be more than likely that this would hold for the otherlanguages as well. (Reesink 1983:223-224)

The morphemes that Reesink refers to here are, however, not focus markers like te.It seems strange at first sight that, like these nominal markers in Usan, Hua, Waskiaand Fore, a focus marker could mark clauses as presupposed or subordinate, sinceclauses that are in focus usually present salient, new information. However, evi-dence from multiple languages shows that focus markers can be used in structuringclauses. Bril (2007, 2010) writes about both topic markers and focus markers that areused as subordinators. She states the following:

The topicalised frame clause is the anchor for the propositional contentof the other clause, which contains the main information and assertion;by contrast, the focused restrictor clause contains the highly salient infor-mation and assertion, which restricts the truth value of the other clauseand its propositional content. (Bril 2007:224-225)

In other words, clauses that are subordinated by a focus marker restrict the circum-stances or conditions under which the main assertion can be made/uttered/heldas true. These focused restrictor clauses are subordinate because they are not apart of the main assertion, although they are necessary to understanding it, provi-ding essential context. Thus, the Dumut focus marker te, when attached to a verbalclause, can be analyzed as functioning as a restricting subordinator. In other words,te clauses present a restricting context or background setting in which the main as-sertion, that is the assertion made by the final clause, is situated.

11.3.5 Relative clauses

Within the grammar descriptions and texts on Awyu-Dumut languages, only thetwo grammars on Digul Wambon and Kombai by Lourens de Vries contain anyinformation on, or examples of, relative clauses. They are discussed here.

In Digul Wambon, relative clauses look much like the thematic clauses discussedin Section 11.3.1, ending in a demonstrative topic marker =e or =eve. In addition,what de Vries & Wiersma (1992) call a relative clause delineator, -a, appears on thefirst constituent of any Digul Wambon relative clause. The examples given in (173)and (174) illustrate Digul Wambon relative clauses, with the relative clause indicatedin square brackets.

(173) NukI

[oy-apig-RC

temke-n-oshoot-tr.nasal-CONN

kav=e]man-TOP

hetak-nok-knd-ep.see-NEG-REAL-1SG.

‘I do not see the man who shoots the pig’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:56)


(174) [Kaw-aman-RC

ŋŋguw=eyou-TOP

alip=kayesterday=ERG

ŋŋgaluma-t-po-n=ewe]meet-REAL-PST-tr.nasal-TOP

na-net-ndi.1SG.POSS-older.brother-FOC

‘The man who you met yesterday is my older brother.’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:105)

In Kombai, relative clauses end in ro, the lexical word for ‘thing’, or romu, thelexical word for ‘person’, depending on whether one is talking about a thing suchas a bush knife (175) or a person, such as one’s uncle (176).

(175) Ganabush.knife

[gu2SG

fali-x-acarry-go-REAL-NON1SG

ro]thing

na-gana-y-a.1SG.POSS-bush.knife-LIG-FOC

‘The bush knife that you took away, is my bush knife.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:77)

(176) Yareold.man

[gamojoin

xereyawork

bogi-n-oDUR.do.REAL.NON1SG-tr.nasal-CONN

rumu]person

na-momof-a.1SG.POSS-uncle-FOC

‘The old man, the person who is joining the work, is my uncle.’ Kombai (de Vries

1993:77)

Besides occurring with relative clauses, Kombai ro also occurs after adverbial clauses,functioning as a subordinator (177, 178).

(177) UniUni

berino-n-oDUR.make.REAL.NON1PL-CONN

ro,thing

na-büwogo1SG.POSS-parent

gamojoin

rino.make.REAL.NON1PL

‘When they built Uni, my parents joined the work’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:82)

(178) Mürain

bo-xe-re13

DUR-be.REAL.NON1SG-thingnuI

meda-n-e-madü.come-tr.nasal-FUT-NEG

‘If it rains, I shall not come’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:58)

Kombai confirms Foley’s remark that Papuan languages tend to have one subordi-nation strategy that covers both relative clauses and adverbial clauses (Foley 1986:201).Unlike Dumut languages, Kombai does not use demonstratives frequently to formsubordinate clauses, although the near deictic mene may follow an adverbial clauseending in ro, as in (179) and (180).

(179) Gu2SG

gwarisnake

munoPatola

gu2SG

ugi-robite.REAL.NON1SG-thing

menehere

gu2SG

fe-xumalene-madü.NEG-die.FUT.2SG-NEG

‘If a Patola snake has bitten you, you will not die’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:55)

13In this example, ro has cliticized to the verb boxe and vowel harmony has occurred, resulting inre.


(180) AmaxaloAmaxalo

xumelei-rodie.REAL.NON1SG-thing

menethis

xwaimigiforeigners

waluwano:...say.REAL.NON1PL

‘Concerning the death of Amaxalo, the foreigners had already said...’ Kombai

(de Vries 1993:57)

When mene occurs after ro, de Vries glosses it as FRM ‘frame’, which he explains ex-presses the meaning ‘given that...’ (de Vries 1993:55). Thematic clauses formed withdemonstratives in Dumut languages can also be translated as ‘given that’. Kombaiadverbial clauses with ro mene are very similar to these Dumut thematic clauses,and both are examples of subordination strategies also found in many other Papuanlanguages.

11.3.6 ‘Conditionals’

In Mandobo, Aghu and Shiaxa, sentences with conditional meaning occur without asubordinator, constructions which Drabbe terms ‘conditionalis’. In Mandobo, these‘conditionals’ consist of a realis -t form in the protasis, and an optative (181) orimperative verb (182) in the apodosis.

(181) Murüprain

ŋŋgwande-tstop-REAL[NON1SG]

kea-on.go-1PL

‘If it stops raining, let us go.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:32)

(182) Rothing

menda-r-onbring-REAL-NON1PL

noa.give.IMP

‘If you brought something, give it (to me).’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:32)

A similar construction exists in Aghu; in a sentence with conditional meaning theprotasis contains an optative verb, while the apodosis contains a future tense form(183, 184).

(183) Fikowork

afı,take.NON1SG

sumketobacco

edaxe-y-e.give[1SG]-LIG-FUT

‘If you work, I will give you tobacco.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:23)

(184) Düsago

füsome

baxestay.NON1SG

geme-y-e.buy[1SG]-LIG-FUT

‘If there is some sago, I shall buy it.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:23)

For Shiaxa, Drabbe states that conditional sentences consist of an apodosis contain-ing a future tense form and a protasis containing a future tense form.14 However,Drabbe does not provide any Shiaxa examples.

The assertion that these Mandobo and Aghu constructions contain subordinateclauses should be questioned. Their form is unlike that of all other subordinate

14“In Sjiagha vinden we in conditionele zinnen de gewone futurumvorm zonder meer in voor- ennazin.” (Drabbe 1950:127)

11.4. Tail-head Linkage 171

clauses discussed in the sections above because they lack an explicit subordina-tor. Instead they have the same form as juxtaposed coordinate clauses. Reesink(1987:239-240) notes that some Usan coordinate clauses can be translated as hav-ing a conditional interpretation, but that that does not make them subordinate;they are syntactically different from subordinate clauses. Thus these Mandobo andAghu constructions consisting of juxtaposed clauses are better analyzed as coordi-nate rather than subordinate. However, since Drabbe labels these constructions as‘conditionalis’, I have included them here in the section on subordinate clauses.

11.4 Tail-head Linkage

In Awyu-Dumut narratives, sentences are commonly linked by tail-head linkage, inwhich the final verb of the first sentence is repeated at the beginning of the secondsentence. By repeating the verb, tail-head linkage gives speakers the time to pro-cess the new sentence and hearers the opportunity to process the information in theprevious sentence (de Vries 2006:817). In addition to processing ease, three otherfunctions of tail-head linkage are referential coherence, thematic continuity and the-matic discontinuity (de Vries 2005:363). Within Awyu-Dumut languages there aretwo types of tail-head linkage: chained tail-head linkage and thematized tail-headlinkage, the first occurring with coordinated or clause-chained clauses in the head,and the second with thematic clauses in the head.

Three instances of chained tail-head linkage from Kombai, Aghu and Mandoboare illustrated in (185-187). In the Kombai example (185), the head consists of a semi-finite verb followed by a coordinating connective -a, while the Aghu and Mandoboheads each contain a non-finite SS verb. In addition, the Mandobo head contains anoun that was part of the tail of the previous sentence. Chained tail-head linkagescarry referential coherence mechanisms and event sequencing mechanisms acrosssentence boundaries (de Vries 2005:363). The story line is continued, but the speakerand hearer are given some time to process what is being communicated.

(185) Lenamalino-n-adescend.REAL.NON1PL-tr.nasal-CONN

büwogoold.people

xedeother

meneTOP

maroforanext

Fiyabo-xuFiyabo-COORD

Ola-xuOla-COORD

arabumano.stand.in.between.REAL.NON1PL

[Arabumano-n-a]stand.in.between.REAL.NON1PL-tr.nasal-CONN

bo-lomõ-g-eno-n-aDUR-refuse.REAL.NON1PL-tr.nasal-CONN...‘They descended and other older people stood between Fiyabo and Oba.They stood in between but they refused...’ Kombai (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:109)


(186) Idituber

küo-x-enã.dig-REAL.NON1-NON1PL

[Küo-do-k]dig-SS-CONN

a-de-ktake-SS-CONN

büsyühouse

da-x-enã.come-REAL.NON1-NON1PL

‘They dig tubers. They dig (tubers) and take them and come home.’ Aghu

(Drabbe 1957:62)

(187) Oratlight

ke-r-anbe-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

do,CONN

korügo.down

kogo

ŋŋgetaphut

ti-gen.build-REAL[NON1SG]

[Ngetaphut

ti]build

womoguard

mbegi-risit-NON.CLOSE


do,CONN

upig

me-gen.come-REAL[NON1SG]‘When it was light, he descended, went and built a hut. He build a hut,guarded it and saw that a pig came.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:17)

In thematic discontinuous tail-head linkage, the head is a thematic clause that marksa break in the story line and precedes a clause with background information. Thetheme or story line is then picked up again in the next sentence. The head is markedby a thematic clause marker te (188) or =eve (189). The verb in the head of a thematicdiscontinuous tail-head linkage is always a semi-finite or a finite verb form. The-matic discontinuous tail-head linkage does not occur in Aghu, as it does not havethematic clause markers. Thematic discontinuous tail head linkages are also notattested in Kombai.

(188) Omboitagumoptype.of.plant

taeŋŋgamocut.down

ratake

maricome.down

ndokma-r-in-an.block-REAL-NON1PL-PST

[Ndokma-r-inblock-REAL-NON1PL

de]CONN

ogriver

eTOP

kojake-r-an.get.full-REAL-PST

Ema-tthus.do-REAL[NON1SG]

teCONN

ragaefish

kupwith

ke-r-an.become-REAL-PST

‘They cut omboi-tagumop, bring it down (to the river) and block (the river).Because they block it, the river rises. That happened and fish came (into theriver).’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:146)

This example contains two instances of tail-head linkage. The first instance is ndokma-r-in, a recapitulated verb. A more generic verb with meaning ‘thus doing’ or ‘thushappened’ may appear in tail-head linkages instead of a repetition of the previoussentence’s final verb, as illustrated by ema-t in the above example. Both heads inthis example are subordinate thematic clauses marked by the subordinating focalconnective te.

11.5. Awyu-Dumut Switch Reference Systems 173

(189) Koiv=olast=CONN

talom=oyear=CONN

mben=oseven=CONN

waxol=evemonth=TOP

Mbonop-ŋŋgambun=kaMbonop-maelstrom=ERG

mbaxe-mbel=ostay-SEQ=CONN

ŋŋgerkayisaw

lavo-vatake-[IRR]1PL


ep=kathere-ERG

mba-l-eva-mbo.stay-REAL-1PL-PST

[Ep=kathere=ERG

mba-l-eva-mbo-n=eve]stay-REAL-1PL-PST-tr.nasal=TOP

sanov=eMonday=TOP

ilogo.down

ka-l-eva-mbo.go-REAL-1PL-PST

‘Last year in the seventh month we stayed at the Mbonop maelstrom to saw,there we stayed. Given that we stayed there, on Monday we went downthere.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries 1993:87)

Tail-head linkage is a widespread linking strategy in Awyu-Dumut languages, butalso in Papuan languages in general. Hence its occurrence in Awyu-Dumut lan-guages can best be explained as an instance of areal spread, rather than as a sharedconstruction reflecting genealogical relatedness. Having said that, tail-head linkagemight have already spread at the points in time when Proto Awyu, Proto Dumutand Proto Awyu-Dumut were spoken, and might, therefore, have occurred in theseproto languages as well.

11.5 Awyu-Dumut Switch Reference Systems

Switch reference is a common feature of Papuan languages, particularly of TransNew Guinea languages, and can be defined as “an inflectional category of the verb,which indicates whether or not its subject is identical with the subject of some otherverb” (Haiman & Munro 1983:x). Subject in Awyu-Dumut languages is defined asthat element of reality that is referred to by the person-number marker on the semi-finite or finite verb.15 Reesink (1983) argues that, in Papuan languages, it is the topicor most salient NP that is traced by switch reference, rather than the subject per se.This is true for Awyu-Dumut languages as well.

Roberts (1997) offers an extensive yet lucid description of Papuan switch refer-ence systems, based on a sample of 169 Papuan languages. He found seven diffe-rent strategies for marking switch reference in Papuan languages (Roberts 1997:136).Awyu-Dumut languages more or less employ what Roberts calls Strategy (iv), inwhich the absence or presence of a subject (person-number) marker marks the dis-tinction between same subject verbs and different subject verbs: same subject verbsdo not have a subject marker, while different subject verb forms do. In Roberts’ sam-ple, which did not include any Awyu-Dumut languages, ten other languages were

15Recall that Awyu-Dumut languages have three types of verbs: non-finite verbs consisting ofonly a verb stem, semi-finite verb forms consisting of a verb stem, a mood marker and a person-number marker, and finite forms, which have a tense marker in addition to a mood marker and aperson-number marker.


found that use Strategy (iv). This switch reference system can be viewed as a basicor rudimentary switch reference system, as no specific switch reference morphologyexists.

The reality of Awyu-Dumut switch reference marking is slightly more complexthan a simple distinction in degree of finiteness marking a difference between SS andDS verbs. Awyu-Dumut SS verb forms are straightforward: they are non-finite verbforms consisting of a verb stem and an optional temporality marker. They occurin clause chains and are dependent for their person-number interpretation on thenext more finite verb. Awyu-Dumut DS forms are semi-finite and finite verb formsoccurring sentence-medially. A clause which ends in a semi-finite or finite verb formis never chained to the next clause, because they (semi)-finite verb is an independentverb form. Thus the marking of switch reference is not restricted to clause chains inAwyu-Dumut languages, although clause chaining is a prerequisite for developinga switch reference system (Roberts 1997:159, Foley 2000:384).

Furthermore, Awyu-Dumut semi-finite and finite verbs do not always have adifferent subject than the next verb, but only in specific contexts may they have thesame subject. Awyu-Dumut (semi)-finites may only have the same subject as theverb in a following clause if one of two conditions apply:

1. when one event is fully completed before the next event

2. when a clause contains an explanation or a further specification of the previousclause

These two conditions are further explained and illustrated in Section 11.5.2. Beforethese semi-finite same-subject conditions are considered, Awyu-Dumut non-finitesame subject verb forms are extensively discussed in Section 11.5.1. I will then showin 11.5.3 that switch reference even occurs in Awyu-Dumut languages when oneclause is subordinate to the next clause. Switch reference functions somewhat differ-ently in Digul Wambon than in other Awyu-Dumut languages, and therefore DigulWambon switch reference is discussed separately in Section 11.5.4. Section 11.5.5 of-fers a summary of Awyu-Dumut switch reference systems, as well as some thoughtson the diachronic development of these systems, or the lack thereof.16

11.5.1 Same subject verb forms

All Awyu-Dumut languages have SS verb forms, which consist of a verb stem withno morphological expression of mood, person-number or tense. Awyu SS verb stemsare always marked with a SS marker, either -di or -bu. Awyu-Dumut SS forms oc-cur in contexts in which the following verb has the same subject. Concerning theseforms in Aghu, Drabbe notes that they occur “in one sentence in which two or moreprocesses are expressed which have the same subject; the last process is then ex-pressed by a verb form which indicates the tense of all the processes, and which has

16Note that nothing is known about the full switch reference systems of Pisa, Shiaxa and Yenimu,as no texts are available for these languages.


a subject marker.”17 Thus the final verb has the tense and subject marking on whichthe preceding SS form or forms (called ‘deelwoorden’ or participles by Drabbe)depend. Although SS forms are dependent on a following more finite verb form,Drabbe notes that they occur in coordinate sentences: “Such forms occur where wein Dutch have two sentences with one subject, which are connected with the coor-dinator ‘and.’ ” 18 These are sharp observations by Drabbe about Awyu-Dumut SS

forms, as the phenomenon now known as switch reference was only first describedby William Jacobsen 1967, long after Drabbe’s time. An example of a YonggomWambon SS form is sumo in (190), which depends on the semi-finite verb form kogenfor its mood and subject person-number interpretation.

(190) Sumopick.up


‘He picked it up and went.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:132)

In (190) tense is not marked on the final verb, as it often is not in Awyu-Dumutlanguages. Rather, the expression of mood is far more important, and SS verb formsare dependent on the following verb for mood interpretation. In Chapter 6 it wasdescribed how Awyu languages and Kombai have separate realis and irrealis verbstems, which means that a distinction in mood is marked on the verb stem, and sothe SS form would not be dependent on the next verb for mood. However, Drabbecarefully notes that only the realis verb stems are used in SS verbs in Aghu, Pisa,Shiaxa and Yenimu, even if the final verb is in irrealis form. The same is true forKombai, for which de Vries (1993:33) notes that the difference between dependentSS verb forms and infinitive verb forms is that dependent verb forms do not expressmood, whereas infinitive verb forms mark the contrast between realis and irrealismood.19 However, mood is realized to some degree in Pisa and Shiaxa SS verbforms, as the two obligatory SS markers in these languages (-di and -bu in Pisa, -dand -b in Shiaxa), mark a distinction in mood; -di/-d is used when the final verb is inrealis mood, while -bu/-b is used when the final verb is in irrealis mood. The Shiaxauses of SS markers -di and -bu are contrasted in (191) and (192).

(191) Mode-d,come.I-SS.REAL

dosago

raru-d,bake.I-SS.REAL

yoxoba3PL

ede-mak-ere.give.I-DIST.PST-NON1SG

‘He came, baked sago, and gave them (some of it).’ Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:110)

17 “De ‘deelwoorden’ worden gebruikt wanneer in één zin twee of meer processen worden uitge-drukt die hetzelfde subject hebben; het laatst genoemde proces wordt dan uitgedrukt door een werk-woordsvorm die de tijd aangeeft van het geheel der processen, en met een subjectwijzer” (Drabbe1957:19).

18“Zulke vormen treden op wanneer wij in het Nederlands twee zinnen hebben met één subject,die verbonden zijn door het voegwoord ‘en’ ” (Drabbe 1959:132) and “de deelwoorden in Shiaxatreden vooreerst op waar wij nevenschikkende zinnen gebruiken” (Drabbe 1950:110).

19Note that de Vries (1993:33) actually does not talk about mood but about tense. However, re-member that in Chapter 6 on Mood, Kombai non-future vs. future contrast was reanalyzed as a realisvs. irrealis contrast.


(192) Mode-b,come.I-SS.IRR

dosago

raru-b,bake.I-SS.IRR

yoxoba3PL

edexo-ne.give.II-[IRR]NON1SG

‘He will come, bake sago, and give them (some of it).’ Shiaxa (Drabbe 1950:110)

In Yenimu, only the SS marker -d occurs, while for Aghu, Drabbe notes that thedistinction in function between di and bu found in Shiaxa and Pisa has faded, withno difference in meaning found between SS forms which occurring with -d and thoseoccurring with -b (Drabbe 1957:18). Thus it can be concluded that Shiaxa and Pisa SS

forms are dependent on the final verb for only their person-number interpretation,while Aghu, Yenimu and Kombai SS forms, like Dumut SS forms, are also dependentfor the category of mood.

Temporality markers on SS verbs

Besides SS markers occurring in Awyu languages, Awyu-Dumut SS forms can bemarked by temporality markers and markers that express conceptual closeness ordistance. For Pisa, Drabbe notes that “we only find the participles [=SS forms] whentwo processes have the same subject, happen simultaneously and belong closely to-gether.”20 As Pisa SS only occur in simultaneous and conceptually close context,they do not need morphemes to express these concepts. We could say that PisaSS forms are quite restricted in their use and represent a stage that SS forms in otherAwyu-Dumut languages have already passed. In all other Awyu-Dumut languages,SS forms occur in both simultaneous and sequential contexts. When the action ex-pressed by a SS verb occurs simultaneously with the action of the following clause inYonggom Wambon and Digul Wambon, the SS form is marked with a simultaneousmarker -no, as illustrated in (193).21

(193) Yaxov=ethey=TOP

ko-nogo-SIM

ŋŋgomsong

li-knd-e.sing-REAL-NON1PL

‘While walking they are singing a song.’ Digul Wambon (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:20)

(194) ketmomdance

i-nodance-SIM

mandonanin.come.FUT.NON1PL

‘They will come here (while) dancing a dance.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:133)

Other Awyu-Dumut languages do not have simultaneity markers, but sequencemarkers do occur in some of them. Mandobo has a sequence marker -ra, which oc-curs only with verbs of motion and posture (Drabbe 1959:14). Digul Wambon has asequence marker -mbet (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:20), while Kombai has a sequencemarker -fo (de Vries 1993:21) which may occur after SS verb forms. Furthermore,

20“In Pisa treffen we de deelwoorden alleen aan als twee processen hetzelfde onderwerp hebben,tegelijkertijd geschieden en nauw samenhoren” (Drabbe 1950:110).

21Note that the simultaneous marker -no is analyzed by de Vries & Wiersma (1992:20) as consistingof the coordinator -o and a transitional nasal. While noting that the linking element -o might indeedbe the origin of the simultaneous form, I choose to extend Drabbe’s analysis of the simultaneousmarker as being -no to Digul Wambon.


Yonggom Wambon, Mandobo and Pisa have sequence markers that occur only withsemi-finite verb forms, not with non-finite SS forms; these sequence markers arediscussed in Section 11.5.2.

In Aghu, most SS forms have an element -ke suffixed to them, often shortened to-k. Whenever two processes occur sequentially, this ke occurs. It is not a sequencemarker, however, because it also attaches to SS forms that occur simultaneously withthe next verb, as in (195).

(195) Enigomo-do-keat.iterative-SS-CONN

da-x-enã.come-REAL-NON1PL

‘(While) eating they came here.’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:22)

Drabbe glosses -ke after SS forms as SCH ‘linking element’ and notes that it is thesame element as the emphatic ke which can occur after nouns and which occurswith deictics.22 I gloss it as CONN ‘connective’, noting that it most frequently occursin sequential settings.

Conceptual non-close marker

Besides the temporality markers just described, in the Dumut languages and Kom-bai a morpheme can attach to non-finite SS verb forms that, for a lack of a betterterm, I will call a ‘conceptually non-close marker’. The term comes from de Vries &Wiersma (1992:20), who in turn borrowed it from Haiman (1983), citing Haiman’sdefinition of conceptual distance as follows:

First, two concepts are conceptually close to the extent that they sharesemantic properties (e.g., two verbs are closer if they share a commontense, mood, subject, object, or topic); second, two concepts are closeto the extent that one is thought to affect the other (e.g. the conceptualcloseness between a verb and its object varies with the transitivity of theverb); finally, two concepts are close to the extent that they are perceivedas inseparable (e.g. there is a closer conceptual link between a possessorand an inalienably possessed object than between a possessor and analienably possessed object.) (Haiman 1983:783)

Haiman further states that conceptual distance equals formal distance; if two lin-guistic forms are further apart (that is, obligatorily separated by morphemes), theyare conceptually more distant than when they are juxtaposed. I admit that the term‘conceptually non-close’ covers morphemes whose function is not entirely clear. InDigul Wambon, the conceptually non-close marker is -lo, occurring directly after abare verb stem (de Vries & Wiersma 1992:19). In Yonggom Wambon, the cognate

22Aghu ke might best be analyzed as a topic marker, but Drabbe provides too little informationfor such an analysis to be argued for.


equivalent is -ro (Drabbe 1959:132).23 Drabbe notes that -ro does not occur when theSS verb has an adverbial interpretation, as wagaemo does in (196).

(196) Wagaemodo.good

rap-ken.hold-REAL[NON1SG]

‘He held it well.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:132)

In Mandobo, the conceptual non-close marker is -re or -ro; it only occurs with pos-ture and motion verbs, and Drabbe notes that it can be viewed as always markingsequentiality. Yet Mandobo -re/-ro is different from the Mandobo sequence marker-ra discussed above; Drabbe consistently glosses -ra as ANT (anteriority marker, thesame as a sequence marker), whereas he glosses -re/-ro as IV ‘infinitive’ consistently,even though it does not appear on all infinitive forms (Drabbe 1959:14-15). He alsoglosses Yonggom Wambon -ro as IV, which indicates that it is cognate to Mandobo-re/-ro. Lastly, Kombai has a morpheme -ra that can be added to SS verb forms.De Vries (1993:21) describes Kombai -ra as a general coordinator which implies con-ceptual non-closeness. Since Kombai -ra is so similar to the Dumut non-close mar-kers in form and function, I choose to reanalyze it as a non-close marker.

Reconstruction of SS morphology

Table 11.1 contains an overview of the temporality markers and conceptual non-close markers that occur after SS verb forms in Dumut languages and Kombai; inAwyu languages, these categories are not marked on SS verb forms.

Table 11.1: Temporality and conceptual non-close markers found on SS verbs

SIM SEQ NON-CLOSE

MAN – -ra -re/-roYWB -no – -roDWB -no -mbet -ro

KOM – -fo -ra

PD *-no – *-roPAD – – *-rV

A simultaneity marker *-no can be reconstructed for Proto Dumut, which then wasdropped by Mandobo (or at least not attested in Mandobo data). The sequence mar-kers are too dissimilar to allow for reconstruction. A conceptual non-close marker*-rV can be reconstructed for both Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut; it is notpossible to resolve which vowel the original non-close marker had. It remains re-markable that the Mandobo sequence marker -ra is so similar in form to the Man-dobo conceptual non-close marker, and even exactly the same in form as the Kom-bai non-close marker. There is a similarity in function also: non-close markers will

23Note that Digul Wambon /l/ is cognate to Yonggom Wambon /r/; both can be traced back toProto Dumut *t.


never occur in contexts in which actions are temporally close and take place simul-taneously. Thus it is quite plausible that a non-close marker came to be used as asequence marker. Note, however, that this is not what happens in Digul Wambonand Kombai, which have each pressed another morpheme into use as a sequencemarker; the origins of Digul Wambon -mbet and Kombai -fo are unknown.

11.5.2 Semi-finite same subject conditions

When semi-finite and finite verbs occur clause-medially in Awyu-Dumut languages,they usually have a different subject than the (semi-)finite verb that follows them.Illustrated in (197-199) are the appearance of Aghu, Kombai and Yonggom Wambonsemi-finites in their common DS context. Aghu has a separate DS marker, -ne, whichmay occur after semi-finite DS forms.24

(197) Xo-do-kgo-SS-CONN

ibird

ting-g-e.shoot-REAL-NON1SG

Ti-ni-kshoot-SS-CONN

a-butake-SS

da-de-kcome-SS-CONN

büsyühouse

osu-du-kgo.up-SS-CONN

efe3SG

n’apigiPOSS’boy

yoxo3PL

ed-ox-e-negive-REAL-NON1SG-DS

e-ŋŋg-enã.eat-REAL-NON1PL.

‘He goes and shoots a bird. He shoots (it), carries it home, goes up, and theirson gives it to them, and they eat (it).’ Aghu (Drabbe 1957:57)

(198) Bo-yadema-no-n-aDUR-meet-[REAL]NON1PL-tr.nasal-CONN

kepalahansifeheadman

xorabowife

marofo-rago.up-SEQ

xe-yale2SG.POSS-husband

bo-luwa.DUR-be.angry.with[REAL.NON1SG]

‘They held a meeting and the wife of the headman started to speak angrilyto her husband.’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:110)

(199) NaeropNaerop

taemba-r-inshoot-REAL-NON1PL

kima-r-an.die-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘They shoot Naerop and he dies.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:147)

However, sometimes clause-medial Awyu-Dumut semi-finite forms have the samesubject as the next verb. This can only occur when one of two conditions are met: (1)the verbs must express sequential actions that have no temporal overlap or (2) thesecond verb must occur in a clause that further explains the clause in which the firstverb occurs. The following two paragraphs present detailed illustrations of thesetwo conditions.

24Note, however, that this example is the only occurrence of ne in Aghu texts, so it is not widelyused.


Two non-close, sequential actions

Drabbe notes that when two processes ‘cannot be considered as one’, that is, if theyare separate actions that occur sequentially with no overlap in time, then two semi-finite verb forms with the same person-number marking may occur one after theother.25 In (200), for example, there are four actions that occur one after another; anew action does not begin until the previous one has been concluded.

(200) [Wokifebamboo.pipe

afamo-x-e],open-NON1.REAL-NON1SG

[sumketobacco

bomoku-ŋŋg-e],put.in-NON1.REAL-NON1SG

[sibomo-x-e],close-NON1REAL-NON1SG

[kifi-ox-e].put.away-NON1REAL-NON1SG

‘He opened a bamboo pipe, put tobacco inside, closed (it) and put it down.’Aghu (Drabbe 1957:19)

Like Aghu, Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo also use multiple coordinated semi-finite or finite verbs with the same subject to express processes that occur sequen-tially without overlapping. In Mandobo example (201), a pig is divided. Variousparts of the pig are given to different people in order; first the upper body, thenthe lower body and then the two back legs are given away. The subject, which isthe giving party referred to by the NON1PL marking on the three verbs, remains thesame.

(201) [Tiramböupper.body

mboTOP

küaphuman

ndigio-gen-on];give-REAL-NON1PLlower.body

[kegemanTOP

mbo,back.piece

münTOP

mbo,leg

kondogone.side

eiTOP

mbo,man

küapgive-REAL-NON1PL

ndigio-gen-on],leg

[kondogone.side,

ei,other

ombaagain

miman

küapgive-REAL-NON1PL

ndigio-gen-on].

‘They give the upper body to a man; they give the lower body, the backpiece, one back leg to a man, another man again they give the other backleg.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:42)

In Yonggom Wambon example (202), the subject first takes hold of some bark andafter that gets some banana ashes. In a summing up of similar actions like this,semi-finite verbs can occur medially while the next semi-finite verb has the samesubject.

25“In de gevallen dat twee processen niet als één kunnen beschouwd worden vinden we ook weltwee werkwoorden achter elkaar die in een tijdvorm met subjectwijzer staan” (Drabbe 1957:19).


(202) Yuw=eHe=TOP

kirigittype.of.sago

watekbark

rawa-t,take.hold-REAL[NON1SG]

totbanana

waninashes

rawa-t.take.hold-REAL[NON1SG]‘He takes some kirigit bark, he takes some banana ashes.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe

1959:151)

In Yonggom Wambon example (203), the main character takes a vine, attaches it toa tree and swings from one area to another multiple times. Each clause ends in afinite past tense form.

(203) [Ku-r-ago-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

toromvine

ŋŋgama-r-a,chop.off-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

ratake

me-rocome-NON.CLOSE

mbonmoput.away

oro-roput-NON.CLOSE

wamkaroktype.of.tree

kurugutup

atigo-robind-NON.CLOSE

WambonWambon


mende-r-an];come-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

[SagitSagit



[KambonKambon


ku-r-an];go-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

[MoropMorop



[SurukSuruk


mende-ran].come-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘He goes and cuts a vine and binds it in the top of a Wamkorok tree andgoes and comes (swings) to Wambon, he goes and comes to Sagit, he goesand comes to Kambon, he goes and comes to Morop, he goes and comes toSuruk.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:151)

Besides finite past forms, semi-finite -t forms marked by a sequence marker -a arefound in (203).26 Yonggom Wambon verbs marked by this subject marker -a havethe same subject as the next verb if there is no overlap in time between the two verbs,as is the case with the person swinging from place to place in (203). The occurrenceof Yonggom Wambon -a is further illustrated in (204).

26The sequence marker -a never attaches to Yonggom Wambon semi-finite -ken forms, nor does itattach to non-finite or finite forms.


(204) Ema-tthus.do-REAL[NON1SG]

teCONN

ratake

kogo

mbukma-r-in-acut.up-REAL-NON1PL-SEQ

andi-r-in-an.eat-REAL-NON1PL-PST.‘After having done thus, they cut up (the crocodile) and eat (it).’ Yonggom Wambon

(Drabbe 1959:149)

Mandobo, like Yonggom Wambon, also has a sequence marker that only occurs aftersemi-finites which have the same subject as the next verb. Drabbe finds the occur-rence of semi-finites in this context remarkable; he would have expected non-finites(Drabbe 1959:18). The Mandobo semi-finite sequence marker is -aro27 and only oc-curs in between (semi)-finite verbs that have the same subject, as in (205).

(205) Terepfibre

mbio-gen-aro,twist-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

e-metip3SG.POSS-daughter

n’itŋŋgombünPOSS’upper.arm

kagö-ŋŋgen.bind-REAL[NON1SG]‘He twists (a rope) from fibre and he binds it to his daughter’s upper arm.’Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:57)

The fact that two semi-finites can have the same subject when they occur in a se-quential condition may be explained by the fact that Awyu-Dumut non-finite SS

forms originally only occurred in simultaneity (SIM) conditions. This is still the casein Pisa where, as noted in Section 11.5.1, SS verb forms may only occur in clauses inwhich (a) the subjects of the two verbs are the same, (b) the actions occur simulta-neously and (c) the actions are closely related (Drabbe 1950:110). Sequence condi-tions may hence be a context in which semi-finite SS verb forms in the Awyu-Dumutswitch reference sytem ‘linger’. In Pisa, whenever two actions are sequential, twosemi-finite verbs are used. If the subject of the two semi-finite verbs is the same, anelement kidi (if the verbs are in realis mood) or kibu (if the verbs are in irrealis mood)appears in between the two verbs. This kidi/kibu element is a combination of a verbstem ki- ‘to be’ with the Pisa SS markers -di or -bu. The use of kidi in Pisa is illustratedin (206).

(206) de-x-icome-REAL-NON1SG

ki-dibe-SS

ro-xo-ysay-REAL-NON1SG

‘he came and said’ Pisa (Drabbe 1950:110)

Thus, the first condition in which semi-finites with a same subject may follow eachother is when they express sequential actions. A sequential marker may appearon the first semi-finite verb. A comma after a semi-finite in Drabbe’s texts is an(intonational) indication that the semi-finite finds itself in a sequential SS condition.

27With non-finites, the sequence marker -ra occurs, as noted above. However, -ra only occurs withmotion verbs and posture verbs; -aro is used with verbs that are not motion or posture verbs.


Specification or explanation

If a clause in a sentence is a further specification of, or explanation of, a clause di-rectly preceding it, then semi-finite verbs with the same subject may occur in bothclauses. The second clause can function as a separate sentence but is conjoined tothe previous clause because the clauses are closely tied together in meaning; Drabbeuses a semi-colon to indicate the coordination of the two clauses. Semi-finite verbsoccur in this SS context in Aghu, Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo.

Drabbe, when giving example (207), writes that the second clause (xabã tümoxe)can be seen as a new sentence, in which the storyteller explains the previous clauseor sentence.28 In the case of (207), the second clause specifies which part of hisenemy the main character cut off.

(207) [Bodotree.branch

kutofi-di-kput.down-SS-CONN

tüm-ox-e],cut.off-NON1.REAL-NON1SG

[xabãhead

tüm-ox-e].cut.off-NON1.REAL-NON1SG

‘He put (his enemy) on a tree branch and cut off, the head he cut off.’ Aghu

(Drabbe 1957:19)

In Yonggom Wambon example (208), the second clause specifies the time durationof the first clause, emphasizing that the chopping of the canoe took a long time.

(208) [Nde,Thus,

konoicanoe

eTOP

ririmo-gon-in;]chop-REAL-NON1PL

[tuma-r-in-achop-REAL-NON1PL-SEQ

woŋŋgoponlong.time

kegemo-gon-in.]be.iter-REAL-NON1PL

‘Thus, they chop the canoe; they chop the canoe and stay(work on it) for along time.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:149)

The Yonggom Wambon example (209) is like the Aghu example (207) in that it fur-ther specifies an act of violence. In this example, both clauses end in a past finiteverb form rather than in a semi-finite verb form.

(209) Sagotbig.rat

ŋŋgaERG

me-rocome-NON.CLOSE

kigumclub

ŋŋgaERG

yanhis

anielder.sister

i-r-an;hit-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

itopground

rira-r-an.hit-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘A big rat came and with a club hit his elder sister; it hit (her into) the ground.’Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:153)

Multiple Mandobo semi-finite -ken forms with the same subject can also appearin specifying contexts, like Aghu and Yonggom Wambon semi-finites. In (210), a

28“Xaba tümoxe kan men beschouwen als een nieuwe zin, waarin de verteller uitleg geeft van hetvoorafgaande” (Drabbe 1959:19).


tree trunk that fell into the river has just turned into a crocodile. The main charac-ter of the story observes how the tree trunk/crocodile first comes above water, thenmoves towards the bank, and then comes out of the river. Each independent clausegives new specifics regarding the movement of the tree trunk/crocodile. The wholeassertion means something like ‘it came above the water, in fact, it was coming to-wards the bank, in fact, it came on land’.

(210) Riwopmiddle.of.river

mbogothere.distant

önö-gen;come.above.water-REAL[NON1SG]

önöcome.above.water

muŋŋ-gen;come.across.other.side-REAL[NON1SG]

ehim

göpself

mbatowards

rotake

me-recome-NON.CLOSE

kima-gen.come.on.land-REAL[NON1SG]

‘it (a tree trunk turned crocodile) comes up in the distance in the middle ofthe river; it comes up and goes across to the other side, it comes towards himand comes on land.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:53)

Note that, in Kombai texts, the speaker often repeats himself, such as in (211). Thesecond clause then does not offer an explanation or a specification of what wassaid earlier. Rather, the repetition appears to be a speech strategy employed bythe speaker to allow himself more time to think. As Drabbe’s stories were clearlynot recordings of natural everyday speech but of origin myths recounted slowly, hisdata misses such instances of such repetition.

(211) Unafano-n-ahit.REAL.NON1PL-tr.nasal-CONN

unafano-n-ahit.REAL.NON1PL-tr.nasal-CONN

lenamalino.descend.REAL.NON1PL

‘Theyi hit themj and theyj went away’ Kombai (de Vries 1993:109)

Thus the second condition under which semi-finites with the same subject may oc-cur is when the second semi-finite verb occurs in an independent clause that furtherspecifies the clause in which the first semi-finite verb occurs. Drabbe often sepa-rates these independent clauses with a semi-colon, noting that they can be seen asseparate sentences.

11.5.3 Switch reference and subordinate clauses

In Section 11.3 it was discussed how the ergative marker ŋŋga (YWB, DWB) and thefocus marker te (YWB, DWB, MAN) function as subordinators.29 It was shown that

29Note that Digul Wambon ka is not a part of the discussion in this paragraph because it doesnot occur after non-finites. For the same reason, Digul Wambon ndi (cognate of te) is also not a partof this discussion; it only occurs after semi-finites and finites and hence there is no evidence that itdoes not block switch reference. Therefore it may be assumed that like all other subordinators, DigulWambon ka and te block switch reference.


ŋŋga does not block switch reference; when it occurs after a non-finite SS form, thatform is still dependent on the next (semi)finite verb form for its person-numberinterpretation. Thus etogoro in (212) gets its 1SG interpretation from the finite formraŋŋgandiyip, even though etogoro appears in a subordinate clause.

(212) Endomenemy

etogo-rosee-NON.CLOSE

ŋŋgaERG

raŋŋgandi-y-ip.shout-LIG-FUT.1SG

‘When I see the enemy, I will shout.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:134)

Reesink, who came across similar examples of the Usan subordinator -eng followingdependent medial verb forms, notes that “medial (SS and DS) clauses followed by-eng... are shielded from various operators on the verb of the matrix clause: nega-tion, illocution, nominalization. The categories of tense and subject person-number,however, are subjected to the general constraints exerted by the final verb on thepreceding ones in a sentence” (Reesink 1994:104-105). Thus a subordinator does notnecessarily exclude switch reference from occurring between a subordinate clauseand its matrix clause. The same can be argued for the subordinator te; like YonggomWambon ŋŋga, it may occur after non-finite SS forms in both Yonggom Wambon (213)and Mandobo (214).

(213) Matikget.up

teCONN


RamutRamut

ogiritwaterfall

mba-gen.sit-REAL[NON1SG]

‘After he gets up, he comes and sits (at) the Ramut waterfall.’ Yonggom Wambon

(Drabbe 1959:148)

(214) AŋŋgeImmediately

NgouNgou

metoTOP

upig

e-nou3SG.POSS-mother

mbökma-gen.cut.up-REAL[NON1SG]

Mbökmocut.up

toCONN

ro-gotake-go

toCONN

mbegi-rastay-SEQ

toCONN

ŋŋ-gen-on.eat-REAL-NON1PL

‘Immediately Ngou cuts up the mother pig. After they cut it up, carry it andsit down, they eat (the pig).’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:§45)

In these instances, the non-finite verbs matik and mbökmo, rogo and mbegira are de-pendent for their person-number interpretation on the semi-finite final verbs ke-tand ŋŋgenon, respectively. The difference between te andŋŋga is that te also occurs aftersemi-finite verb forms, whereas Yonggom Wambonŋŋga only appears after non-finiteSS forms. The question which then needs to be asked for te, which need not be askedfor ŋŋga, is whether the semi-finite verbs preceding it have the same subject as, or adifferent subject than, the (semi-)finite verb in the matrix clause.

Semi-finite verbs that occur before the subordinator te in Mandobo and YonggomWambon can occur in either SS or DS contexts. In Yonggom Wambon example (215)and Mandobo example (216), the semi-finite verb before te has the same subject asthe conjugated verb in the matrix clause. However, examples such as YonggomWambon example (217) and Mandobo example (218), where the semi-finite verbpreceding te has a different subject than the (semi-)finite verb in the matrix clause,are far more frequent.


(215) Kaguppeople

tawokmessage

ndugupma-r-an.send-REAL[NON1SG]-PST.

Memema-r-inCome.IT-REAL-NON1PL

deCONN

mbukma-r-in-an.cut.up-REAL-NON1PL-PST.‘Hei sent a message to the people. When they came, they cut (himj) up.’Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:154)

(216) Yemiktrap

tima-genmake-REAL[NON1SG]

doCONN

kareready

e-genbe-REAL[NON1SG]

do,CONN

irandöptuber

tötöma-gen-aro,pull.out-REAL[NON1SG]-SEQ

yemiktrap

korupcentre

ro-gen.put-REAL[NON1SG]

‘After he makes a trap, after it is finished, he pulls tubers out (of the ground)and puts them in the middle of the trap.’ Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:34)

(217) Ndokma-r-inblock-REAL-NON1PL

deCONN

ogriver

eTOP

kayake-r-an.rise-REAL[NON1SG]-PST

‘When they block (the river), it rises.’ Yonggom Wambon (Drabbe 1959:146)

(218) Koujust

mba-gensit-REAL[NON1SG]

do,CONN

noŋŋgun’irandöpPOSS.2PL’tuber

upig

metoTOP

aneeat

ndamo-genfinish-REAL[NON1SG]

ne-gen-on.say-REAL-NON1PL

“‘While you are just sitting (there), the pig is eating all our tubers” they say.’Mandobo (Drabbe 1959:26)

Thus another context in which semi-finite verb forms in Mandobo and YonggomWambon can have both the same subject as, or a different subject from, the nextsemi-finite or finite verb form is before the subordinator te. The te SS context is aspecial instance of the sequential SS context sketched in Section 11.5.2; the actiondescribed in the subordinate clause always precedes, and has no temporal overlapwith, the action described in the matrix clause.

11.5.4 Switch reference and Digul Wambon

Digul Wambon was mentioned little in Section 11.5.2 on semi-finites and same sub-ject switch reference marking. This is because its semi-finite -kend and -t forms func-tion differently from those in other Dumut languages. They by and large mark DS

when they occur non-finally and outside of subordinate clauses. Digul Wambon-kend forms may only have the same subject as the following verb if they occur be-fore a perception verb such as ‘see’ or ‘hear’, as in (219).

(219) Mulogo.down

kilim-ke-knd-ev=opursue-SUPP-REAL-1SG=CONN

hetaxa-l-ep-o-n=esee-REAL-1SG-PST-tr.nasal=TOP

kothere

la-t-mbo-ŋŋgelo...lay-REAL[NON1SG]-PST-CONN...


‘I went down, pursued (the pig) and I saw: it lay there and...’ Digul Wambon


Digul Wambon semi-finite realis -t forms always have a different subject from thefollowing verb when they occur non-finally. Indeed, de Vries & Wiersma (1992) andde Vries (2010) claim that Digul Wambon -t forms are dedicated DS forms that neveroccur in other contexts than medially marking DS. However, data by Jang (2008)show that Digul Wambon -t forms may also occur sentence-finally, as in (220) and(221).

(220) Ewothat

aŋŋgaidog

na-n-ayam=oPOSS-tr.nasal-chicken=CONN

amit=eyoung=TOP

in-ande-t.kill-eat-REAL[NON1SG]

‘That dog killed and ate my chicken’s young’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:57)

(221) Andemop-sixifood-PURP

laxopfield

ka-t.go-REAL[NON1SG]

‘He went to the field for (in order to get) food’ Digul Wambon (Jang 2008:79)

This means that Digul Wambon semi-finite realis -t forms are independent, just likeall other semi-finite verb forms in Awyu-Dumut languages. They are not dependenton a finite verb form. It is true that only past tense finite forms, not future tense finiteforms, may follow realis -t verbs, but that is simply because speakers do not switchmood in the middle of a sentence, not because the semi-finite form is dependent forits tense interpretation.

Thus Digul Wambon -t forms are not dedicated DS forms, but are much likeother Awyu-Dumut semi-finites. They have in common with Kombai semi-finitesthat they are only attested in DS conditions. However, I do not exclude the possibil-ity that more Digul Wambon data might reveal that Digul Wambon realis -t formsmay also occur in one of the two semi-finite SS conditions described in Section 11.5.2,especially since the Digul Wambon corpus is smaller than the Kombai, Aghu, Man-dobo and Yonggom Wambon corpuses.

Nevertheless, a hypothesis stating that switch reference is an emergent system inAwyu-Dumut languages and that the process is most complete in Digul Wambon,as set forth by de Vries (2010), cannot be entirely discounted. The fact that DigulWambon realis -t forms do not occur when the following verb has the same sub-ject must not be lightly bypassed. Digul Wambon could mark the endpoint of adiachronic path wherein Awyu-Dumut languages replace all semi-finites in SS con-ditions with non-finite verb forms.

11.5.5 Summary of Awyu-Dumut switch reference systems

Awyu-Dumut languages have rudimentary switch reference systems in which thepresence or absence of a person-number marker makes the difference between a SS

verb and a DS verb. The DS verbs may occur outside DS contexts as well, whenspecific conditions are met. The occurrence of DS verb forms when the next verb


has a same subject can diachronically be viewed from two angles. Either the Awyu-Dumut switch reference systems are constant, and DS verbs have always been al-lowed to occur in these two specific same subject conditions, or Awyu-Dumut switchreference systems are emergent, in which case non-finite verb forms are on their wayto marking SS in all contexts, while two SS contexts remain in which their semi-finiteand finite counterparts may still occur. I prefer the first angle, as I see too few dif-ferences in the switch reference systems of Awyu-Dumut languages to support anemergent hypothesis. However, the reader must keep in mind that an emergenthypothesis, as presented by de Vries (2010), could also account for the synchronicreality of Awyu-Dumut switch reference systems. Certainly the two main processesnoted by de Vries (2010) as being responsible for the shaping of Awyu-Dumut switchreference systems, namely coordination reduction and frequency association, cannotbe denied a place in a constant switch reference hypothesis. It is likely that coordi-nation reduction, as described by Haiman & Munro (1983), led to the birth of SS

verb forms, whereas frequency association then allowed those SS non-finite verbsto spread throughout the language system. These processes must, however, havetaken place before Proto Awyu-Dumut split off from its Trans New Guinea sisters,as a switch reference system with SS and DS verb forms is reconstructed for ProtoAwyu-Dumut. Switch reference systems are widespread in Trans New Guinea lan-guages and are often seen as a typical feature of a TNG language. It is unlikelythat (proto) Awyu-Dumut languages developed switch reference systems indepen-dently.

11.6 Summary

Two types of clause linkage exist in Awyu-Dumut languages: coordination and sub-ordination. These are two ends of a continuum. There are multiple types of coor-dination, as well as of subordination. Types of coordination are (a) juxtaposition,(b) the use of a coordinator (-o in DWB and -a in Kombai) and (c) clause chaining.Types of subordination are (a) thematic clauses with demonstrative topic markers,(b) with subordinators ŋŋga (YWB, DWB) or te (Dumut languages), (c) relative clausesand (d) the existential verb ‘to be’ functioning as a subordinator. All of these types ofclause linkage, in most instances with explicit coordinators or subordinators, can bereconstructed for Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut. In addition,tail-head linkage constructions were described.

Awyu-Dumut languages have a rudimentary switch reference system. Non-finite SS verbs occur throughout all types of clauses, whether they are linked throughcoordination or subordination. Semi-finite and finite DS verb forms may also occurwhen the next verb has the same subject, but only if (1) the two verbs describe fullysequential events, or if (2) one clause is a further specification or explanation of theprevious clause. Coordination reduction and frequency association are processesthat can account for the existence of switch reference in Awyu-Dumut languages,although Proto Awyu-Dumut is thought to have already had a switch reference sys-

11.6. Summary 189

tem resembling that of its daughter languages, in which a distinction in verb finite-ness equals a distinction between SS and DS verb forms.

Conclusion

Awyu-Dumut languages had already been spoken by generations of people in theDigul River basin by the time Petrus Drabbe started his study of them in 1940. Thecurrent study, published nearly 75 years later, builds on Drabbe’s rich research andsubsequent research on Awyu-Dumut languages undertaken by Alan Healey (1970),Bert Voorhoeve (2001, 2005) and Lourens de Vries (1992, 1993, 1997).

The proto phonologies reconstructed by Healey (1970) and Voorhoeve (2001)provided the basis for the proto phonology and regular sound changes presented inChapter 2. The same chapter showed that Korowai cannot be considered an Awyu-Dumut language, as it is quite different from the four Awyu languages, the threeDumut languages and Kombai. However, Korowai is still hypothesized to be dis-tantly related to Awyu-Dumut languages; it is not a language isolate. The regularsound changes that were established confirmed the subgrouping of Awyu-Dumutlanguages into four Awyu languages and three Dumut languages, as proposed byboth Healey and Voorhoeve. Furthermore, on the basis of phylogenetic methodsapplied to a 430-item lexical word list, Kombai was subgrouped together with ProtoDumut, although a critical note will be made below concerning this subgrouping.Having a solidly reconstructed proto phonology allowed for the next step in unra-veling Awyu-Dumut’s linguistic past; the reconstruction of its proto morphology.

A rigorous, bottom-up application of the comparative method, while follow-ing the form-function constraint, paradigmaticity constraint and systematicity con-straint, resulted in an extensive proto morphology of Awyu-Dumut languages, pre-sented in chapters 3-11. The table below contains an overview of all the proto mor-phemes reconstructed for Proto Awyu, Proto Dumut and Proto Awyu-Dumut. I willhighlight some of them.

Reconstruction was at times not possible due to the languages having diversifiedgreatly. For example, past tense markers were difficult to reconstruct for Awyu-Dumut languages due to the great variation in number and kind of past tenses inAwyu languages. The four Awyu languages each have two, three or four past tenses,and for none of these tenses was a morpheme reconstructible for Proto Awyu, letalone for Proto Awyu-Dumut. The three Dumut languages each have one past tense,but Digul Wambon has a different past tense marker than Yonggom Wambon andMandobo; Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo reflect the past tense marker found in

192 Conclusion

Awyu-Dumut proto morphology

Proto Awyu Proto Dumut Kombai ProtoAwyu-Dumut

nominalmorphologynominalcoordinator

*ku *kup, *te xu *kup

kinship pluralmarker

*-gi *-Ngu(i) – *NgV

possessivemarker

*-nV *-nV – *-nV

pronouns1SG *nu *nup nu(f) *nup2SG * gu *Ngup gu(f) *Ngup3SG **eke *yup, *eke xe *yup,*eke1PL *nüku *nakup nagu *nakup2PL *güku *Ngakup, *nakip nage *Ngakup, *nakip3PL *yaku *yakup ya *yakup

subjectperson-number1SG *-e(fe) *-ep -e(f) *-epNON1SG *-en *-n -n, -e *-en1PL *-efan *-ewan -efo *-epanNON1PL *-enan *-enan -eno *-enan

deicticsnear deictic *ne *me, *ne me(ne) *me, *nefar deictic *(e)wV *ep mofe(ne) *epdistant deictic *xa/*xo *kop maxo *kop

tense and moodfuture tense *-e *-en/*-in -i, -e *-en/*-inpast tense – *-an – –realis mood *-d (first person),

*-k (non-firstperson)

*-t, *-ken -d (first person),-x (non-firstperson)

*-t

irrealis mood *-∅ *-∅ -∅ *-∅

negationdouble negation *fa/*fe...(*de) – (fe)...do *pa...(*nde)single negation – *ndV –

switch referencesame subjectmarker

*-bu (irrealis),*-di (realis)

– – –

simultaneitymarker

– *-no – –

‘non-close’marker

– *-ro -ra *-rV

193

Proto Dumut, a marker that could not be reconstructed to Proto Awyu-Dumut.Kombai simply has no past tense at all. Although it was not possible to trace how theAwyu languages acquired their multiple past tenses – or perhaps how the Dumutlanguages lost multiple past tenses – they tell an essential part of Awyu-Dumut’s lin-guistic history, as does all other morphological diversity found in these languages.

A diachronic path occurs when various languages are at different stages of agrammaticalization path, and because Awyu-Dumut languages are so close, I ex-pected at the outset of this research project to find quite a few diachronic paths.However, just one diachronic path was discovered, namely the development of dou-ble negation in Awyu languages. Kombai and the four Awyu languages each repre-sent a stage of the Jespersen cycle, which describes how languages develop doublenegation. Depending on which stage of the Jespersen cycle a language is in, it hasobligatory or optional pre-verbal and/or post-verbal negators. The data used byde Vries (2010) to support another diachronic path, namely the emergence of switchreference in Dumut languages, were found to be open to another interpretation,namely that Awyu-Dumut languages have stable switch reference systems. It mustbe noted that both claims about Awyu-Dumut switch reference systems are defend-able using the data available, and further intonational data and research into theoperation of switch reference systems in Papuan languages is needed to determinewhich claim is most valid. Although few diachronic paths across languages werefound, many grammaticalization paths – such as the development of the far deicticep into both a pronoun and a topic marker – were found in individual languages.

Realis mood markers, and their reconstruction, provide yet another intriguinginsight into the shared history of Awyu-Dumut languages, and reveal a shared in-novation between Kombai and Proto Awyu. The fact that Proto Awyu and Kombaiboth have alternating mood markers -d and -k, while Dumut languages have twonon-alternating mood markers -t and -ken, while Proto Awyu-Dumut has one re-alis mood marker *-t, should lead to a subgrouping of Kombai and Proto Awyuversus Proto Dumut. However, in Chapter 2, Kombai was subgrouped togetherwith Dumut languages based on phylogenetic methods applied to Awyu-Dumutlexical data. One way to account for this discrepancy in subgrouping is to say thatKombai’s lexicon followed a different path than its morphology; the Kombai lexiconmight have become more similar to the (Proto) Dumut lexicon through borrowing,or it might differ significantly from the (Proto) Awyu lexicon because Proto Awyurenewed a large part of its vocabulary, again through borrowing. Whether Kom-bai is better subgrouped with the Awyu languages or with the Dumut languages,or better left alone as an ‘in-between’ language, the different results from phyloge-netics and the comparative method show the vital importance of applying multiplemethods in unravelling a language family’s linguistic past, because only then canits full history be discovered.

Appendix A: Word List

The following pages contain a word list of 430 lexical items for all Awyu-Dumutlanguages and Korowai. The sources for this word list are Drabbe (1959) for Shi-axa, Yenimu, Pisa, Aghu, Yonggom Wambon and Mandobo, van Enk & de Vries(1997) for Korowai and personal communication with HongTae Jang for the DigulWambon list, and Sun-Kyu Chi for Kombai. Additionally, the Digul Wambon andKombai word lists given by Lourens de Vries to Voorhoeve for his 2001 Proto Awyu-Dumut phonology were consulted and incorporated.

The word list is nearly complete, but a - indicates a specific lexical item is missingfor a particular language. The word list also contains my cognacy judgments, basedon the regular sound correspondences established in the chapter on phonology, andused for the phylogenetic analyses presented in the same chapter. An ‘L’ instead ofa number indicates that the word is a known borrowing or loan word.

Lastly, the orthography in this word list is different at times from the orthogra-phy found in the sources; in this word list, I follow the orthography as set out inSection 2.2 in the phonology chapter.

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

1.a

few

togo

1tu

gu1

ago

2to

xopo

mu

1ke

ne3

kena

e3

ŋŋgal

unde

i4(m

o)fo

lum

o5

pol6

2.ab

ove

syir

i1xa

to2

siri

1si

1m

botö

rö3

kotu

re4

tala

xop

5m

a(ku

)run

i6-

3.A

dam

’sap

ple

mux

orob

oge

1m

urox

omab

egi1

mi2

müs

obo

3ka

rom

orop

4og

arur

op-m

it5

kalu

m6

wan

duxl

o7

-4.

afte

rbir

thgu

toxo

1-

togo

ro2

amtü

tüne

3m

untiŋŋ

goro

p4

ŋŋgum

5am

itlo

nap

6go

u7

-5.

alan

gre

edbo

te1

seki

no2

seso

3-

mbö

p4

mbu

p4

mbu

p4

bafo

4fiy

o,ka

mEn

56.

all

mon

oxo

1m

unox

o1

inim

u2

isio

mu

3m

ep4

amuk

mo

5m

itka

p6

imim

o7

xo(l

)fun

E8

7.an

imal

tail

min

i1w

obu

2w

obu

2w

obug

o2

wom

büt2

wam

bit2

wab

it2

min

ü/w

abu

1,2

xend

ep3

8.an

kle

keno

-bog

e1

kino

-beg

i1ki

tokı

2ki

tow

ako

3ko

ndok

kero

p4

wan

wog

oi5

keno

pke

lop

6ku

dokl

o7

-9.

anus

oto

1ot

o1

oto

1o

to1

ten

top

2os

op1

lom

bato

p3

bluk

alu

4-

10.a

rmpi

tto

go1

togo

1to

xõ1

bodo

toŋŋg

õ1

taŋŋg

onto

p1

taŋŋg

oto

p1

taŋŋg

otop

1ro

go1

lena

n2

11.a

rrow

arEb

o1

-ta

min

ı2di

bisi

3ŋŋg

op4

ŋŋgop

4m

esan

5ya

gu6

püx

712

.asc

end

oto-

d1

oto-

1su

-1os

u-k

1tö

rö-2

turu

-2m

atut

-3or

o-1

lu1

13.a

shse

nago

to1

sina

ro1

taki

2si

nako

1ko

tep

2ko

sep

2ŋŋg

ando

p3

rino

xwar

e/bu

ra1,

2bu

lano

m2

14.a

skfo

rro

xo-d

1ro

xo-1

ro-1

o-x

1ke

ŋŋgw

a-2

nam

epm

o-3

nuku

pne

-4lu

ka1

nExm

o5

15.a

skqu

esti

onro

xo-d

1ro

xo-1

ro-1

o-x

1to

mam

o-2

ram

bam

o-3

loxo

-1lu

ka1

laif

o4

16.a

veng

ego

toem

e-d

1gu

tuem

e-1

nasi

emo-

2ku

taga

mu

ame-

3ke

aton

kare

mo-

4ŋŋg

otap

kare

mo-

5m

aton

lap-

6ku

ro1

-17

.axe

gEta

xa1

gita

xa1

yam

a2

--

-ka

mba

k3

koba

3xa

mba

318

.bac

km

u-bo

ge1

mu-

begi

1m

ikı2

müb

ã3

mbü

man

4m

imit

5m

imit

5bu

ma

4ba

nun

619

.bak

e,ro

ast

raru

-d1

yunu

-2du

-3to

mü-

g4

ondü

-5un

do-5

nanu

-6ad

ü5

indo

520

.bal

dxe

iba

puni

1pu

dia

(L)

xaib

ã-ba

gide

2xa

bum

ufe

de3

-ŋŋg

insa

ŋŋnd

eran

4m

ixip

5m

uba

6m

ux7

21.b

ambo

osu

mbE

1su

ba1

fio2

wok

i3nd

üam

4eg

op5

hexo

p5

feyo

2fu

222

.ban

ana

tu1

tu1

su1

syü

1te

tkei

,tyu

t1ti

t1si

t1rü

(l)1

dend

ü2

23.b

ark

yia

xa1

yixa

1w

asok

o2

xa3

kota

3ko

tae

3en

opka

t4m

olal

u5

keyo

624

.bat

piri

ri(L

)pi

riri

(L)

beso

xori

1su

map

io2

mbu

mbw

op3

tom

in4

mbe

t5em

u6

loxe

tix

725

.bat

heox

oki

-nd

1ox

oki

-1e

kı-1

oxo

kı-1

oggi

n-1

okki

m-1

okim

o-1

axim

ofo

1da

dü2

26.b

eaw

ake

wen

de-

d1

wed

e-1

kada

xaig

i-2

xagi

dei-

3ke

tam

om

ba-4

kond

anm

ba-5

mat

utm

o-6

mur

o6

xafe

n7

27.b

eco

oked

ma

ke-d

1pa

xani

ki-(

L)m

ado-

2pa

ni-k

(L)

ando

-3nd

o-3

kitm

o-4

wad

o-/b

oda

3,5

-28

.be

full

toxo

bo-d

1to

kobe

-1ta

rE-m

aba

-2ta

pe-k

i(L)

tom

e-3

koya

ke-4

haya

kde-

5ga

-6-

29.b

ehu

ngry

yeke

-d1

yaki

-1du

yegi

-1od

eki

-k2

met

arep

ke-3

men

kok

ke-4

otw

akm

o-5

dou

finag

e6

-30

.be

preg

nant

amut

um

udu

bo-1

met

exim

odu

bo-2

daso

xo3

kani

keki

-k4

mun

mba

-53

kum

uike

-6ku

tmo-

7ku

gu8

xond

ulm

eŋŋga

9

31.b

esa

tisfi

edm

udu

wu-

d1

mod

uw

u-1

taxa

gi-2

kokü

baki

-k3

wen

din

tim

o-4

wan

din

ke-4

kitk

e-5

furu

rabo

-6-

32.b

esh

yxa

xoxo

mo-

d1

xasi

fugi

-2fo

fagi

-3e

ki-k

4te

reŋŋg

et5

tere

ŋŋget

5aw

oke-

6ad

ura

7-

33.b

esi

ckxa

gore

-d1

xago

re-1

kuxa

gi-2

kum

aŋŋgi

-k3

wat

ekŋŋg

wam

o-4

yayu

yan-

5ya

mbo

loke

-6ya

mbl

o6

lep

7

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

34.b

esi

lent

faga

te-n

d1

bodo

ki-2

faki

ba-1

siŋŋg

i-k

3og

age-

4ir

ukm

o-5

luk

andi

mxe

-6re

aken

eane

na7

pofu

leli

835

.be

slee

pyke

roko

noŋŋg

e-d

1ki

ruku

nugi

-1ku

nugi

-1ku

nuŋŋ

gi-k

1ki

num

eren

ge-2

kinu

mko

kke

-3ki

nim

xexe

-1xu

nu-g

e1

lenu

p4

36.b

esl

ippe

ryw

ofor

o1

tata

furu

2w

ugin

ı3ifi

a4

tend

arak

5nd

arag

ae6

ndal

atke

-7w

eina

gane

8fe

p9

37.b

eth

irst

ym

ubo

-d1

oxo

yaki

-2e

yegi

-3ox

oya

ki-d

2ok

kuru

tmo-

4ok

yere

pke

-2ok

taxe

-5ok

ofin

age

6-

38.b

eun

will

ing

mo-

nd1

mu-

1ga

mu-

2m

u-1

mbo

nem

o/a-

3ay

ukm

o-4

soek

e-5

bido

ge6

-39

.bea

rdga

ndo-

boge

-m

oxo

1te

re-b

egi-

mo

2m

asi-

rõ3

mas

ü3

mat

it3

mat

it3

maŋŋ

gotl

on4

mar

u3

-

40.b

elly

mud

u1

mod

u1

kaku

2ko

kü2

wen

din

3w

andi

n3

ot4

a4

xond

ul5

41.b

elow

mok

a1

mok

a1

fu2

mak

a1

mbo

gorü

3ko

rire

4hi

ptop

5m

akal

uni1

-42

.big

bini

gE1

bini

gE1

tEŋŋg

axai

2ta

di3

kone

ni4

kam

ae5

hiw

in/i

ndip

6m

uyan

o7

tale

843

.bile

etim

u1

etim

u1

isim

u1

isim

u1

men

2m

en2

mes

en2

gabu

gi3

mel

un2

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gui4

tuxu

t4xi

a5

yabe

n6

137.

fath

eray

E1

ayE

1bo

2et

o3

neti

4na

ti4

mba

p5

nare

/are

3,4

ate

313

8.fe

athe

rsyi

mox

o1

yim

o1

rõ2

xaxõ

3ro

n4

ron

4lo

n4

ruw

o5

daya

613

9.fe

min

ine

su1

si1

rã2

syü

1ro

ŋŋgu

2ra

ŋŋgui

2la

ŋŋgui

2ku

ri3

-14

0.fe

nce

xEit

i1xE

isi1

xais

i1bo

xi2

ndar

a3

kuk

4al

un5

ba6

-14

1.fin

dfe

te-d

1fit

e-1

feto

-1a-

x2

tim

o/a-

3ra

p-2

ŋŋgal

umo-

4ko

lom

a5

-14

2.fin

ger

bedo

toro

1to

ro2

bidE

-tor

õ1

bodo

butõ

3it

kuru

gut4

wit

keto

p5

mbi

sit-

talo

n6

ilo7

mel

ol8

143.

fire

yind

o1

yido

1yı

2yã

2in

ndum

but3

enop

-ten

op4

enop

5e

6m

elil

714

4.fir

efly

se1

si1

mı2

mı2

min

ap2

min

dui3

min

op2

mi2

belil

414

5.fir

ewoo

dyi

1yi

1yi

kadE

1yã

1in

2en

opko

k3

enop

4ew

odo

5m

elil

614

6.fis

hax

ae1

axae

1ax

ae1

axe

1ro

goa

2ra

gae

2la

xai2

duw

o3

xele

414

7.fiv

ebe

d-afi

-bum

o1

bed-

afi-k

omE

2be

daxa

fimã

3bi

diku

mu

4oŋŋ

gugu

p5

aŋŋgu

(kup

)5am

balo

p6

abal

o6

way

o7

148.

flat,

even

tete

de1

fira

2im

ufer

ã3

tã4

met

ap5

man

don

6ku

kmo

7-

-14

9.flo

wer

kete

1ki

1ki

1ki

1ke

t1ke

t1ke

tek

2xe

1xe

l115

0.fly

(ins

ect)

obus

iri1

obos

e1

ebu

2ob

eka

3um

onop

4im

onop

4m

bulu

k5

luru

6lo

tup

615

1.fly

(ver

b)bo

ro-n

d1

buru

-1bu

ru-1

buxo

-x2

mbe

rene

go3

urur

ukko

-4m

bulu

kko

-/-n

da5

buxa

6be

di(f

o)7

152.

flyin

gfo

xxo

nge

1xo

ge1

ŋŋgoŋŋ

gi2

xoŋŋg

i2ya

yap

3to

woi

4ta

wot

5em

u6

yem

ül7

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

153.

foot

,leg

kitu

1ki

to1

kito

1ki

to1

kond

ok2

kond

ok/w

an2,

3ke

nop

4xu

do/x

ino

2,4

bel5

154.

foot

prin

tski

a1

kia

1ki

tobu

2ku

tois

ipom

o-3

ot4

yugu

t5ix

un6

kudo

bobo

u7

beto

m8

155.

fore

head

mi-

boge

1m

ika-

begi

2ki

roba

gi3

mik

a1

kim

bin

4ko

mbi

sop

5ki

mbi

n4

kum

iri6

loxu

l715

6.fo

rest

ado

1ad

o1

gasi

2-

toŋŋg

wap

3ya

gok

4ta

mot

5xu

ro6

lop

715

7.fo

rget

goba

-nd

1ga

ba-1

fimom

o-2

omum

u3

koŋŋg

omo-

4ka

toni

ke-5

amok

mo-

6em

u7

enon

telo

815

8.fo

urok

om-o

kom

o1

okum

-oku

m1

soxo

ndem

ã2

sigi

ane

3ku

rugu

tköp

4ku

rugu

t(ku

p)4

hitu

lop

5w

orom

ibog

o6

way

afül

715

9.fr

iend

xabe

1xa

be1

buri

2ap

ofe

3na

mon

op4

kae

5ya

xe6

na7

noxo

816

0.fr

ogbo

no1

bono

1ko

koxo

2na

ŋŋge

3ko

ak4

kak

4w

aknu

p5

--

161.

frui

tro

1ro

1yi

nder

o2

edek

o3

rop

1ro

p1

lop

1do

do-l

o1

op1

162.

gaba

-gab

aya

rEs

1ta

gia

2ta

wox

o3

dita

ŋŋge

4m

beŋŋg

i5m

baŋŋg

i5to

mak

6du

buga

7iŋŋ

genu

n8

163.

gard

enm

atox

o1

gia

2gi

õ2

xü2

yogü

p3

yagi

p3

laxo

p4

yari

mo

5ya

sim

516

4.ga

ther

gigi

ko-n

d1

gigi

ku-1

gigi

oku

-1m

umu-

2ru

rukm

o/a-

3ya

ŋŋgum

o-4

yaŋŋg

umo-

4ya

dem

ano

5ke

lioxm

o6

165.

getu

pda

to-d

1da

te-1

doto

-1do

to-x

1m

ater

e-2

mat

igo-

2m

atut

ke-3

mar

ule

2m

elu

416

6.gh

ost,

soul

bona

1ba

na1

bana

1bo

no1

ater

op2

ndim

ndop

3hi

nop

4kw

ai5

lale

o6

167.

ghos

t,sp

irit

xogo

i1xo

xEi1

xoxo

i1xo

xi1

kugu

1ka

gui1

kaxu

i1xa

ixw

o,xw

ai1

xaya

n1

168.

give

ede-

d1

ede-

1ed

o-1

ede-

ox1

ndig

io-2

yo-3

ndak

-4ad

ia1

fedo

516

9.gi

vebi

rth

xeir

e-d

1xe

i-1

xai-

1xa

ifi-o

x1

kap-

2ŋŋg

amo-

3ha

lo-4

rim

ofa

5fu

617

0.go

away

ago-

d1

age-

1xo

-2xo

-x2

ko-2

ko-2

ko-2

ka2

gelil

fo3

171.

goge

tag

odre

-d1

-xo

dira

-2xo

d’ab

uda

-x3

koti

mo/

a-4

kora

p-5

kola

p-5

--

172.

good

xago

to1

max

eya

2po

pora

(L)

yafi

3w

onde

n4

wag

ae5

mat

et6

yafe

3m

anop

717

3.gr

andc

hild

toto

xo1

toto

xo1

xabı

2an

isi3

mag

op4

mag

op4

max

op4

lono

5xa

fun

217

4.gr

andf

athe

rni

mu

1ye

neti

2si

3an

isi4

amba

i5m

bae

5am

bai5

aduw

y6

andü

op6

175.

gran

dmot

her

anE

1an

E1

wi2

itim

e3

aye

4no

mbe

n5

asek

6am

a7

max

817

6.gr

assh

oppe

rw

oto

1pe

su(L

)ba

giso

ro2

boki

3te

re4

tetk

ondo

k5

wam

uyop

6ro

le7

daŋŋg

up8

177.

grat

edco

conu

tpa

yo(L

)pe

(L)

peyo

(L)

peyo

bigi

(L)

mbi

an1

mbi

an1

mon

2bi

yo1

mbi

yon

1

178.

grou

ndso

xo1

soxo

1so

xo1

soxo

1it

iwa

2it

op2

ip2

i(f)

2fiu

m3

179.

guar

ded

ind

e-d

1-

xaib

ãri

-2ki

axai

me-

3w

omo-

4w

omo-

4w

ambe

mo-

5w

abeb

a6

-18

0.ha

ir(o

nbo

dy)

noxo

1m

o2

rõ3

xaxõ

4ro

n2

ron

2lo

n/m

uk2,

5xa

lo2

mux

5

181.

hair

(on

head

)m

oxo

1m

o2

xabi

-ro

3xa

bum

u4

mög

ö-ro

n5

ŋŋgi-

ron

6am

ba-l

on7

xabi

alo

3m

ux1

182.

hand

,arm

bedo

1bi

do1

bidE

1be

do1

it2

wit

2m

bisi

t3il

2m

el4

183.

hard

tetE

rabo

ge1

boge

yEfe

2xa

xarE

3bu

to4

-so

ndot

5m

bato

p6

awag

e7

xoxu

x8

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

184.

head

xEib

a1

xEib

a1

xaib

ã1

xabã

1ke

mbi

an1

ŋŋgin

2am

bat3

xabi

a1

xabe

an1

185.

hear

da-d

1da

-1da

-1da

-k1

ndot

-1nd

at-1

ndat

-1xa

xe2

dai1

186.

hear

tdi

bo1

dibo

1du

buro

2dü

bo1

ndüm

arop

3nd

imnd

op3

dim

lop

3dü

mo

3de

bop

118

7.he

avy

bodi

ke-d

1bo

dugi

-1ya

ndox

u2

bodü

3ka

gön

4ka

gun

4ku

xun

4in

uxe

5ba

ul6

188.

heel

bo1

bu1

kito

mu

2ki

tobu

3w

andu

nu4

wan

ŋŋgam

bui5

keno

pm

um6

kudo

ram

u7

-18

9.hi

dero

tom

o-d

1at

orom

o-2

asur

umo-

2ak

osu-

3tö

rökm

o-4

turu

kmo-

4su

lukm

o-4

yeru

ma

5ba

i(l)

mo

619

0.hi

ghsy

iri1

arum

E2

siri

1si

si1

ŋŋgur

uop

3nd

awan

4ku

kulo

p5

muk

u6

ilax

719

1.hi

tw

iE-1

wur

e-2

ufur

o-3

üfü-

ox3

ü-4

in-4

in-4

oruw

o5

ülm

exo

619

2.ho

use

afox

o1

afox

ei1

xaı2

büsh

ü3

mbu

tüp

3m

biti

p3

ap1

a(f)

1xa

ü4

193.

hum

anno

xo1

noxo

1yu

xu2

axu

2kü

ap3

kagu

p4

kap

5xo

6ya

nop

719

4.hu

rtxa

xafE

ke-d

1xa

xafi

gi-1

xari

mo-

2xa

ime-

2ko

e-3

katk

okm

o-4

koxe

-3ufl

a5

-19

5.hu

sban

dxo

go1

xago

1nu

xu2

amo

3an

ogom

beri

4ko

ppa

ri5

nom

ok/k

ap6,

7ya

le8

yale

n8

196.

insi

dew

umu

1w

omu

1w

omu

1w

omu

1ko

rup

2ko

p3

wam

ip1

xalü

2-

197.

inte

stin

esyi

ro1

iro

1o

2o

mut

u3

omun

op4

oi2

otm

in5

akuk

layo

6xu

l719

8.is

land

mu

1m

u1

dubi

2dü

bi2

ognd

un3

oŋŋnd

um3

oknd

um3

iduw

a4

xand

ul5

199.

jum

pko

xoso

mo-

1do

ged

oto-

2bu

noxo

ru-3

pino

xoü-

k4

mbo

rorü

kne-

5so

ke-6

seŋŋg

amo-

7bo

blag

ama

8-

200.

kang

aroo

koso

war

e1

kiso

wer

i1si

baxa

i2ku

soba

xi3

--

ŋŋget

op4

roba

i5-

201.

kill

wu-

d1

wu-

1w

u-1

-u-

1ir

our

u-2

in-1

bogi

3xe

di4

202.

knee

boki

n1

bu-b

egi2

bagi

bu3

büm

o4

wam

büon

5ko

ndok

wer

op6

ŋŋgot

kelo

p7

bouk

lo8

gabü

n9

203.

knif

eso

goda

m1

sugu

dam

1w

aki2

wok

i2w

egi2

wag

i2w

axi2

wax

i2fix

220

4.kn

owfim

i-d

1fim

i-1

nafã

gi-2

dafa

ŋŋgi

-3no

amge

-4ŋŋg

orop

mo-

5ka

tke-

6xu

mim

a7

daib

o9

205.

lam

eta

xas

1-

bagi

buru

dı2

kuto

wa

3ko

ndok

wa

4w

anm

beta

t5ka

tkut

6-

-20

6.la

nce

xati

1xe

iti1

xasi

1xa

si1

kiat

ö1

arat

2ya

ŋŋai3

yogu

i4m

al5

207.

laug

hm

eaxa

som

o-d

1m

ew

u-2

abgi

-3ab

egi

-k3

kan-

4ar

itow

in-5

ambe

nla

p-6

giam

a7

lesi

fu8

208.

leaf

anam

o1

anam

o1

rõ2

õ2

ron

2ro

n2

enop

-lon

2en

owal

o2

mux

320

9.le

ech

tese

1ti

si1

kari

a2

sisi

2te

ren

2te

ren

2se

len

2re

yo3

layo

321

0.lie

dow

nre

-d1

ri-1

ri-1

i-g

1ra

n-1

yan-

2la

-/le

-1le

/lei

1ib

o-3

211.

light

(bri

ght)

ara

1-

kaw

a2

keni

3or

at1

rat1

wes

at1

kwan

i3da

lun

4

212.

light

(not

heav

y)ko

ne-d

1ka

kani

-2w

ofot

a3

ta4

taŋŋg

ande

n5

rat4

waw

ut3

waf

uke

5da

lun

6

213.

light

enba

wu-

d1

baw

u-1

bã1

wim

i-2

mbo

mba

3w

araw

ae4

wat

woe

lap-

5bo

ba1

faxb

eax

621

4.lip

bond

umu

1bo

naxa

di2

buna

xa-m

e2

bom

ga2

mba

ŋŋga

2m

bara

ŋŋgat

3m

baŋŋg

at2

mog

oro

4-

215.

live

kada

xae

ke-d

1ke

dige

gi-1

kada

xaib

a-1

xagi

deki

-k1

are

mba

-2ar

iok

mba

-2m

ba-3

ba3

bo3

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

216.

liver

toro

1w

u2

wu

2u

2nd

ugon

3ah

um4

ndim

lop

5afi

na6

üm7

217.

long

pere

(L)

piri

(L)

kow

E1

pi(L

)ŋŋg

uruo

p2

ŋŋgur

up2

kola

mop

3re

yo4

dal5

218.

lous

ego

1gu

1aŋŋ

gu1

aŋŋgu

1ŋŋg

ut1

ŋŋgut

1ŋŋg

ut1

gu1

mel

i221

9.lo

veya

ke-d

1ya

ki-1

yegi

-1m

umuŋŋ

gi-k

2ŋŋg

amen

ge-3

wag

aend

e-4

kunu

mo-

5-

-22

0.lo

wm

okan

1m

oka

1ba

go2

mak

ã1

oŋŋgo

k3

kutu

k4

kutk

utdo

e4

bobo

go5

-22

1.lu

ngxa

teta

1xa

tipa

2-

nom

ügo

3ka

natö

t4uk

5hu

lopl

on6

fufu

7fa

lip8

222.

mac

hete

pata

k(L

)ba

gisi

1fa

rŋŋga

2-

kara

ran

3ka

rara

m3

kala

nam

3gl

ona

4pa

l22

3.m

ake

war

wuk

iko-

nd1

wEk

iku-

1ik

u-2

koto

mü-

k3

taŋŋg

atke

-4up

-5aw

imo-

6-

afü

722

4.m

anxo

-but

u1

xo-b

axat

i2xo

bisı

1xo

bası

1kü

ap3

kagu

p4

kap

5w

afi6

abül

722

5.m

arry

rare

-d1

rare

-1du

nı2

ãa-

x1

tim

o-3

sum

o-4

(lan

/kap

)lap

-1la

fa5

defo

lfo

622

6.m

arsu

pial

koso

1ki

so1

kiso

1ku

soba

xi1

ndao

2ku

nop

3am

itlo

nap

4-

füon

522

7.m

ascu

line

xo1

xo1

xobi

sı1

xoba

sı1

mbe

tin

2ko

mba

tim

2m

basi

n2

mal

ea3

-22

8.m

atka

pi1

kapt

e2

kiri

pã3

bigi

o4

yom

5yo

m5

-lik

a6

-22

9.m

eat

(on

body

)ko

do1

kodo

1ka

du1

kudu

1ka

ndö

1yo

m2

kand

u1

xudo

1xa

l1

230.

med

icin

em

amuk

e1

mum

u1

yixa

2-

innd

umbu

t4iŋŋ

gam

aŋŋga

t5-

--

231.

milk

o-xo

ŋŋ1

ome-

xu1

õ-xu

1nõ

-xu

2am

kun

1om

kun

1om

1a

1am

gü1

232.

mol

arto

oth

ta-k

eko

1ki

ke2

mag

a3

mag

a-gu

xa4

imba

n-ya

riw

a5

tene

p6

esop

taŋŋg

ue7

--

233.

moo

naf

E1

arE

2bi

dı3

bidı

3og

o4

wog

oi4

wax

ot4

mag

a5

wax

ol4

234.

mor

ning

mim

i1m

imi1

mim

ı1m

imı1

aget

köp

2ar

iwam

in3

awae

ktop

4re

kudo

5-

235.

mos

quit

osy

impe

re1

negi

2is

e3

isin

igi4

taen

op5

sow

en6

eten

op5

gege

mo

6le

tün

723

6.m

othe

rw

ini1

win

i1ni

2ap

i3no

u2

noi2

ni2

nani

2ni

223

7.m

ount

ain

abiE

1ab

ugE

2xa

bE3

xaib

ie3

mbu

ründ

ün4

amgo

n5

halim

6fa

ni7

fani

p7

238.

mou

sete

ma

1-

sem

ese

2ku

sona

ŋŋge

3tu

guna

p4

sogo

nap

4am

un5

fira

6du

o7

239.

mou

th(i

nsid

e)xa

te-t

o1

xate

-to

1xa

tE1

xato

1m

aŋŋgo

t2m

aŋŋgo

t2m

aŋŋgo

top

2m

ogor

o2

bong

gol3

240.

mou

th(o

utsi

de)

bona

xa1

bona

xa1

buna

xa1

bom

ga1

mba

ŋŋga

1m

bono

p2

mbo

nop/

esop

maŋŋ

got2

,3xa

na4

bong

gol1

241.

muc

h,m

any

naxa

ba1

naxa

ba1

wem

ã2

wea

xa2

agöp

3ku

tok

4nd

axit

5bi

dum

a6

fiüm

7

242.

muc

ussy

i-ni

fu1

si-n

ifo

1si

nifo

1si

-nif

o1

wog

üra

2w

arig

ae3

wal

iok

4-

xim

524

3.m

ute

roxo

boxo

da1

-m

imi2

ude

3ar

eknd

ap4

ruk

ndoi

owop

5ŋŋg

ilek

6-

dofu

724

4.na

ildo

xo1

dosE

2ki

a3

bedi

mox

o4

mbe

tit5

muk

6bi

sit5

idod

o7

-24

5.na

me

fi1

fi1

fi1

fi1

üp1

ip1

(k)h

it2

fi1

fi1

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

246.

nave

lm

udu-

gu1

guro

2og

u3

mod

übo

go4

aŋŋgu

n5

oiŋŋg

um5

ŋŋgam

bin

6go

umur

o7

man

ütul

824

7.ne

arka

taxa

ya1

kExe

ya2

kina

xã3

akiã

4ki

rop

5si

ndik

6si

nim

7de

ima

8xa

lu9

248.

neck

mu-

boge

1tu

-beg

i2gu

bı3

ekõ

4ŋŋg

embe

n5

awut

-mit

6ŋŋg

ait/

ŋŋgip

7gu

bi8

bale

bol9

249.

neck

(thr

oat)

mu

1m

u-to

1m

uto

1ad

ena

2ko

man

3ŋŋg

ombe

n4

ŋŋgai

p5

xum

a3

xom

ofex

olol

3

250.

nest

yira

1-

yia

1a

2ŋŋg

erim

3ap

4el

ap1

gogl

o5

amül

625

1.ne

tya

xam

a1

yaxa

pa1

inı2

kapü

o3

mbe

ŋŋgia

t4ok

kit5

umap

6en

o7

-25

2.ne

wno

xoŋŋg

o1

-ka

daxa

i2xa

gide

3ar

e4

ario

k4

aluy

ok4

alu

4so

l525

3.ni

ght

asyu

1as

u1

asu

1w

omı2

wem

in2

mit

ik3

kiti

p4

fim2

güln

angg

aup

525

4.ni

ppa

palm

ku1

ku1

-se

di2

--

--

lam

bil3

255.

nipp

leo-

tebo

1om

E-to

bo2

õ-su

bu1

nõsu

bu3

amto

ŋŋgut

4om

muk

5om

lolo

p6

amol

ei7

ante

nül8

256.

nose

syi1

si1

sint

o1

si-p

ayo

1to

ŋŋgut

2am

boto

p3

kalit

4ra

nggü

5ge

lip6

257.

nost

ril

syi-

to1

si-t

o1

sint

o-to

1si

mto

-to

1to

ŋŋgut

-top

2ŋŋg

irit

op3

kalit

op4

ragu

ro5

gelit

op6

258.

noth

ing

boxo

da1

bEig

ida

1ka

rE2

fede

3nd

a4

ndoi

4te

mbe

t5do

mo

6m

afem

725

9.no

wne

ke1

nogo

ki1

togo

ro2

sow

one

go3

koan

dep

4ko

wan

dut5

ndo

nom

bo6

men

eman

aru

7im

onE

826

0.ol

dm

anya

xa1

yaxo

1yu

xuxa

2xu

iwi3

kom

beri

4ko

ppa

ri4

kap

yale

n5

yale

6ya

len

626

1.ol

d(a

ge)

yaxa

1ya

xo1

yoxo

xoro

2iw

i3m

beri

4m

bari

4ya

len

5ya

le5

ngge

l626

2.ol

d(d

urat

ion)

pusu

(L)

patu

(L)

sem

ebe

1po

syü

(L)

wan

dop

2w

oŋŋgo

pon

3si

nop

4m

uno

5-

263.

old

wom

anna

yo1

nayo

1yo

xoxo

ro2

aniw

i3ra

nŋŋg

eŋŋge

t4ra

mba

ri5

lan

yale

n6

yale

6le

baxo

p7

264.

olde

rbr

othe

rya

xa1

yaxo

1ka

pu2

exo

1an

et3

net3

net3

nai3

afe

426

5.ol

der

sist

erni

1ne

ni1

de2

eni1

neni

1na

ni1

non

1na

ni1

aw3

266.

one

esya

1is

yo1

siki

rE2

fasi

ke3

ome

4om

ae4

sano

p5

ragl

a6

lidop

726

7.ou

tsid

ebE

taxa

1bi

taxa

1bu

taxa

1be

taxa

1ka

t2ka

t2m

besa

n3

axu

xuni

4-

268.

padd

le,o

arka

fe1

kefi

1ka

fi1

kefi

1ig

io2

sugu

yaŋŋ

3nd

ayoŋŋ

4ik

o5

igo

526

9.pa

late

xoko

ro1

inig

o-be

gi2

xoso

pa3

xaŋŋg

adu

4ka

nan

5ka

naŋŋg

it6

maŋŋ

giŋŋ

7-

-27

0.pe

nis

tege

1ti

gi1

sigi

1se

gi1

teŋŋg

et1

teŋŋg

et1

tege

t1re

ŋŋge

1du

l227

1.ph

legm

owur

u1

-Es

ogu

2ad

imo

3ŋŋg

onöm

4ay

ak5

kayo

m6

irim

u7

-27

2.pi

gw

i1w

i1ui

1w

i1u

1ui

1oi

1ai

1go

l227

3.pi

nkie

,sm

allt

oese

1ri

sa2

sio

3si

giã

4ke

tege

t5se

get6

keno

pta

lon

7ku

dolo

lo8

sena

n9

274.

plan

tko

-nd

1ku

-1ko

xõ-2

soxo

ku-3

ro-4

ro-4

halo

-5lo

4ao

627

5.pl

ayxa

xafe

re-d

1xa

fere

-2xa

fera

-2xa

bax’

a-x

4ku

kmo/

a-5

wor

owin

-6hi

likla

p-7

yam

a8

güm

o8

276.

rain

a1

a1

aa1

a1

mur

üp2

mir

ip2

kaip

3m

ulü/

mlü

2m

aun

427

7.ra

inbo

wpi

ris

(L)

o1

irı2

wis

iai3

regu

gut4

eren

ayop

5w

anda

k6

kwar

ilrei

7an

ol8

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

278.

rat

otor

u1

-xa

yo2

kuso

yow

õ3

tom

on4

tem

on4

koso

t3fir

a5

duo

627

9.ra

ttan

yoro

1ab

uno

2yo

xom

o3

yoxu

3ti

k4

tik

4si

k4

ri4

yebu

n2

280.

red

kaŋŋg

o1

gofo

2ka

ŋŋgo

1ka

ŋŋgõ

1te

nop

2te

nop

2xe

liop

3re

-rab

o4

xafü

men

gga

528

1.ri

bri

-mbo

ge2

ri-b

egi2

rim

bigi

2in

i-bi

gi2

erim

an3

rin

4lin

4lin

a4

men

axol

ol5

282.

ripe

wax

ama

1be

di2

wax

amã

1yo

mu

3om

u3

amui

3hi

liop

4ya

mu

3xa

yo5

283.

rive

rox

o1

ui2

wad

i3w

idi3

ok1

ok1

ok1

wod

ei3

ax1

284.

root

yite

1yi

taga

e2

tatE

3te

te3

igum

büt4

ndit

5ŋŋg

elek

6ku

bu7

dedi

l828

5.ro

pete

re1

tiri

kodo

2ki

kı3

kikı

3ti

k4

tik

4si

k4

ri4

nan

528

6.sa

godo

1du

1du

1dü

1nd

u1

ndun

1nd

u1

doü

1da

ü1

287.

saliv

axa

te1

xati

pa2

mas

e3

xasi

1ka

tet1

kate

t1w

alok

4be

do,l

ua5

mex

esim

628

8.sa

ndgE

tepo

poro

(L)

popo

ro(L

)gi

rı1

giŋŋg

e2

ŋŋgir

im3

okya

man

4ok

sena

p5

abü

6ne

nim

728

9.sa

yro

xo-d

1ro

xo-1

ro-1

o-x

1ar

ekta

gam

o-2

rogo

-1lo

xo-/

ne-1

uma

3di

429

0.sc

abie

sxa

koko

1-

yam

ı2yo

mı2

imbu

t3ir

ombu

t4ay

ek5

liubu

6xa

mba

p7

291.

scar

oru

1uw

2pE

soru

3u

2ko

guut

4at

eram

5at

et5

firo

6-

292.

scol

dot

o-nd

1ot

u-1

kEse

ma

ro-2

bobo

mo

3ei

kmo/

a-4

taga

pmo-

5ot

ixop

mo-

6lu

ka7

lebi

di8

293.

see

fete

-d1

fite-

1fe

to-1

ete-

ox2

itig

io-1

eto-

1he

tak-

1fe

ra1

imo

329

4.se

eked

idim

i-1

-ag

u2

agu-

k2

kato

mo’

/a3

kaga

ende

-4m

bulu

mo-

5xl

oma

6bi

-729

5.sh

allo

was

a1

sa1

aseg

e1

gono

2m

bara

p3

tut4

ndin

doe

5fe

wak

eram

bodo

6-

296.

shar

pta

reba

1-

kisı

2ki

sı2

ŋŋget

en3

ŋŋget

3ke

ten

3ge

rege

4fü

l529

7.sh

inbi

-mbo

ge1

bi-b

Egi1

bini

ro2

bino

2m

bito

n2

wan

mbi

n3

mbi

mit

4w

ago

fiya

5-

298.

shiv

erxa

bobo

-nd

1xa

bobo

-1bo

bı-2

kudu

itim

i-3

mbo

mba

nden

ge-4

mba

mba

riri

ke-5

sam

o-6

rora

lima

7-

299.

shoo

tpi

emo

(L)

-pe

mo

(L)

tı-1

teen

-1ta

em-1

tam

ya-1

rabi

ye-n

e2

ülm

exo

330

0.sh

ort

xoro

1ba

gedi

2ba

go3

bago

3oŋŋ

gok

4ku

tuk

5at

uk6

bogo

3ge

mbe

nul7

301.

shou

lder

yake

re-b

oge

1ye

kero

begi

1m

akiE

2ge

bigi

3m

ak4

wit

mak

5m

alin

6do

dou

7m

ain

830

2.si

deke

ŋŋge-

puru

1w

oro

2ki

kı3

mod

iti4

aua

5m

ereŋŋ

6se

lem

7-

leam

830

3.si

ngyi

ri-d

1ye

riri

-1it

iro

ri-2

ada

i-k

3ŋŋg

omor

ü-4

ŋŋgom

ri-4

ŋŋgom

ali-

4go

bolü

5Ep

o-6

304.

sit

bo-d

1be

-1ba

-1ba

-x1

mba

-1m

ba-1

ba-1

ba1

bo1

305.

skin

xa1

xa1

xa1

xa1

kota

1ko

tae

1ko

tai1

xa1

xal1

306.

skul

log

o-bo

ge1

afu-

begi

2xa

ibã-

bagi

3m

ika-

bigi

4ke

mbi

an-m

irap

5ŋŋg

in-m

it6

amba

tmit

7m

uko

fiya

8-

307.

sky

xotu

1xu

to1

xou

2xu

ito

1ku

t1ku

mut

3ku

t1ra

mo-

xoü

1da

li4

308.

slee

pko

nore

-d1

kunu

re-1

kunu

ri-1

kum

uni-

g1

kinu

mra

n-1

kinu

mya

n-1

kinu

m(r

an)-

1xü

nule

i1ib

o2

309.

slow

soxo

mo

1su

kum

1su

kum

ã1

tete

me-

2nd

ügüm

an3

mbo

nmo-

4m

enop

mo-

5ag

umo

6aŋŋ

gox

731

0.sm

all

kase

de1

kase

de1

mon

oxo

2pa

toxo

3m

bero

n4

mbe

ron

4am

buno

p5

mur

agay

a6

hiEn

7

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

311.

smel

lfu

gu-n

d1

fugu

-1fi

mi-

2fu

mi-

k3

umo-

4ip

mo-

5hi

p-5

mo-

foru

ma

6su

mo

731

2.sm

oke

oru

1af

uwo

2ak

u3

yãn

üku

4in

oruk

5en

owur

uk6

iruk

7em

arü

8le

mül

931

3.sn

ake

wut

i1w

iti1

was

i1w

isi1

ŋŋgw

eti1

aŋŋgu

n2

ŋŋgus

in1

guar

i,gw

ari1

anol

331

4.sn

eeze

syit

i-d

1si

ti-1

asıs

i-1

asin

aŋŋgi

-k2

tata

nan

tü-3

asig

anae

ti-4

asiŋŋ

mo-

5re

na6

lam

bim

atim

o7

315.

soft

foxo

tena

1xa

xuw

o2

paxa

dı3

puxu

4m

enap

5aw

oi6

aŋŋgo

nom

7go

uke

8-

316.

sole

offo

otki

tu-x

ato

1-

kito

atã

2ki

toba

bu3

kond

oga

4w

an-t

at5

keno

pat

at6

kudo

ako

7-

317.

son

amut

u1

amu

2m

u3

amok

o4

man

dep

5m

andu

p5

tum

6m

iyo

7ab

ül8

318.

sour

tato

ŋŋgi1

tetu

gi1

xae

2xo

ŋŋge

3ru

gup

4ro

wot

5es

opnd

om6

roug

i4-

319.

spea

kro

xoro

xo-d

1ro

roxo

-1ru

ro-1

uo-

x1

arek

taga

mo-

2ru

gin

-3lo

xo-4

uma

5u(

mo)

532

0.sp

ider

abus

E1

obos

e1

abus

ã1

süã

2ot

ugan

3su

wan

2as

owan

2ga

mu,

bulu

ko3

-32

1.sp

ine

se-b

oge

1si

-beg

i1si

-beg

i1m

ü-bi

gi2

mbü

man

mir

ap3

mim

itke

top

4m

imit

mit

4bu

ma

fiya

5m

üfex

olol

632

2.sp

itxa

teso

mo-

d1

me

wu-

2m

ase

si-3

xasi

si-k

4ka

tett

ü-5

kate

ttio

mo-

5w

alok

si-6

bedo

7-

323.

stai

rsfu

ri1

atik

o2

afirı

1fik

e3

wer

ik1

ŋŋgw

erop

4ha

lik1

fali

1ya

fin5

324.

stan

de-

d1

e-1

mas

eri-

2e-

k1

ri-3

re-3

la-,

lo-3

le-,

la-3

alo

432

5.st

arm

i1m

i1m

ı1m

ı1m

inap

1m

indu

i3m

inop

1m

i1be

lil4

326.

stea

lku

ire-

d1

kire

-1ki

ra-1

kia-

x1

kuro

pti

mo-

2ka

mbi

rra

p-3

kam

bitl

ap-3

xwui

fa-4

-32

7.st

ink

foxo

mo-

d1

foxo

mo-

1pa

xafu

foxo

mo-

1pa

fum

e-2

ŋŋgen

enge

-3ko

sip

ke-4

hipk

e-5

furu

ma-

6-

328.

stom

ach

ache

mud

ugo

wu-

d1

mod

ugo

wu-

1ka

kuxa

rim

o-2

okia

me-

3a

gogo

pto

mo-

4oi

rew

erep

ke-5

otŋŋg

amek

6id

ikaf

eke

7-

329.

ston

esE

ŋŋge

boge

1eg

iro

2ir

o3

io3

iwan

4ir

op3

ŋŋgai

5ri

ga6

ilol3

330.

ston

eax

eko

si1

kose

1xa

bu2

xabu

2ku

rü1

kori

1ko

wei

3fa

fi4

xul1

331.

stra

ight

mod

e1

yo2

imid

iı3

kidı

4nd

indi

p5

yani

6ku

k7

bum

io8

goda

x9

332.

stro

ngbi

ni1

begi

2xa

iku

3bu

to4

eŋŋgo

an5

mba

rew

en6

met

7w

ale

8be

ben

933

3.su

ckm

i-nd

1m

i-1

soxõ

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u-1

emi-

1m

i-1

mes

epm

o-3

fuam

o-fo

4de

po5

334.

suck

atbr

east

ome

min

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1om

em

i-1

õm

i-1

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mi-

1om

mi-

1am

ibom

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gü3

335.

suck

leom

ede-

d1

omed

e-1

õed

o-1

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e-ox

2am

ndig

io-3

omyo

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ndak

-5ad

i6-

336.

suga

rcan

eku

mbo

ge1

ku1

ge1

ku1

küm

1ki

n1

wam

boi2

kum

o1

bahü

om,b

alia

m3

337.

sun

sera

1se

ra1

saw

E2

sow

o2

teet

3sa

t3sa

t3re

i(l)

3lu

p4

338.

swal

low

mik

o-nd

1m

iko-

1m

uku-

1m

iku-

1m

inkö

n-1

mi-

agum

o-2

mix

opm

o-2

rum

ogeo

ma

3-

339.

swea

tko

te1

kuti

1ka

sı1

kesı

1ko

ten

1ko

ten

1se

tele

p2

kwar

e1

xelü

nax,

xün

334

0.sw

eety

amdu

bisi

1go

2ka

bubu

ra3

kina

be4

tom

boro

p5

mbo

ndeŋŋ

6m

bond

eŋŋ6

lebl

u7

dolu

m8

341.

swim

oxo

riki

-nd

1ox

ori

ki-1

kıxo

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om

üa-x

3ög

öuŋŋ

gu-4

kim

rako

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mo-

6fu

ku7

dadü

8

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

342.

take

alon

gre

dag

o-d

1-

radi

xo1

ade

xo-x

1ti

mo

go-2

rap

ko-3

lap-

3le

fa-4

-34

3.ta

ke,g

rab

re-d

1re

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x1

tim

o-1

rap-

1la

p-1

lofa

3at

i(lo

)434

4.ta

roxo

rifi

1m

adi2

wi3

fike

4ir

andö

p5

wir

op6

luk

7lu

di8

sim

belu

934

5.te

ars

efe

ken-

oxo

1ef

eki

no1

kin-

E2

kin’

oxo

3ke

row

-ok

3ke

row

-ok

3ke

lop

ok3

okor

ofon

o4

-34

6.te

llte

ga-n

d1

taga

-1ki

rusi

-2si

asi

-k3

mat

onto

kmo-

4m

atom

tokm

o-4

loxo

-5um

a6

u(m

o)6

347.

tell

alie

yaxa

mo

sem

ewu-

d1

weg

ero

xo-2

yaxa

ma

ro-3

fimb’

o-x

4ar

ekpo

nge

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yapm

o-6

koya

pmo-

6ba

like

7-

348.

tend

onm

e1

me

1af

usu

2m

e1

tem

et3

met

1m

et-m

et1

mel

o1

-34

9.te

stic

lexa

xa-r

o1

xoxo

-ro

1w

obu-

ro2

wob

io2

wam

bira

p2

noro

p3

wam

bilin

2w

ablo

2lo

xesu

xop

435

0.th

ick

flat

obje

cts

kudu

wug

u1

kadu

wug

u1

wom

ukum

ã2

wog

ide

3m

botü

t4ig

it5

hini

m6

fini6

fani

p7

351.

thig

hm

idi1

mid

i1m

idı1

mid

ibig

i1eŋŋ

gin

2ki

tup

3m

indi

n1

kino

mid

i4-

352.

thin

paŋŋg

e(L

)pa

gi(L

)se

skad

i1bi

gida

2er

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wag

uwop

4he

lew

et5

max

o6

afop

735

3.th

infla

tob

ject

sas

eke

1as

ka1

asex

e1

asig

a1

mba

rap

2ah

ak3

hini

ndoe

4lo

lake

5af

op6

354.

thin

kfim

i-d

1fim

i-1

fimo-

1fim

i-1

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mo-

2op

kon

ke-3

hino

pko

halo

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ima

5xu

lduo

635

5.th

orn

kom

o1

yom

o2

yam

oxõ

3yo

mo

2or

ün4

arin

4al

in4

alü

4aü

n4

356.

thre

eok

om-e

sya

1ok

um-i

syo

1ku

man

dim

ã2

okuo

m-a

sike

3it

itm

o4

itip

mo

5ta

xem

6w

orom

i7pi

ŋŋgup

835

7.th

roat

roxo

di-b

oge

1m

u-ro

xom

a-be

gi2

mus

ubo

3u-

müt

o4

togo

rop

5og

arur

op6

okka

lum

7w

anik

lo8

-

358.

thro

waw

ayra

som

o-d

1ra

sum

u1

koso

mo-

2ku

sum

u-2

ta-3

som

o-3

sam

o-3

fiam

one

4pü

xmo

5

359.

thum

b,la

rge

toe

or1

u1

wad

o2

wod

o2

oŋŋgu

3aŋŋ

gu3

keno

pam

balo

p4

ilolo

5w

ayo

6

360.

thun

der

xoru

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uru

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ü-k

1ko

möt

2ku

mut

2ku

mut

2xu

mü

2ba

lalm

o3

361.

tire

dfin

u1

fino

1ta

xã2

taxã

2ke

tew

a3

tet4

soe

5bu

6bu

636

2.to

brai

dti

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ti-1

si-1

si-1

ti-1

ti-1

ipke

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blom

a3

-36

3.to

com

man

dro

xo-d

1ro

xo-1

ro-1

o-x

1ta

gan-

2ro

go-1

loxo

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ka1

-

364.

tocr

yef

ero

-nd

1ef

ero

-1if

Eru

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õ-1

run-

2ro

m-2

lom

o-2

lo2

Exm

o3

365.

toha

vese

xyo

-nd

1yo

-1yõ

-1yõ

-1re

ŋŋgen

dem

o-2

mba

rok

rap-

3ye

nem

mo-

4ga

won

o5

gom

o6

366.

toba

cco

som

gE1

nom

oxo

2sa

mka

xae

1su

mke

1og

oyap

3sa

puk

(L)

saw

uk(L

)w

ania

4de

pon

536

7.to

eki

tuto

ro1

toro

2ki

toto

rõ1

kuto

butõ

1ko

ndok

kuru

gut3

wan

keto

p4

tilin

2ku

dolo

5-

368.

tom

orro

wsy

efE

1od

ofE

2ri

giro

3ba

gidi

4ya

nen

do5

yan

ŋŋga

6w

amot

7be

reki

na8

wal

elel

exu

936

9.to

ngue

fagE

1fa

gE1

fagE

1fa

ge1

oŋŋga

t1an

op2

hano

p/ha

t-ga

t1,

2fa

ŋŋga

1le

f3

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

iK

orow

ai

370.

toot

hta

re1

mag

a2

mag

a2

mag

a2

imba

n3

inim

4es

op5

imba

3le

bil6

371.

torc

hxE

ino

1si

a2

sia

2xa

sisi

a3

eŋŋgo

t4ya

ŋŋgot

4ya

ŋŋgot

4kw

aiye

ria

5w

el6

372.

tree

,woo

dyi

1yi

1ka

sero

2ke

saxe

3in

4en

op5

enop

5do

do6

du7

373.

turt

lesa

to1

sabu

2w

axab

i3m

ügo

4m

biri

p5

ambu

m6

mbi

lip5

falu

7ab

eap

837

4.tw

ins

koro

xo1

kuro

xo1

--

-m

unko

yop

2m

nyep

3-

-37

5.tw

istr

ope

ebi-

nd1

ebi-

1rı

-2ı-

2m

bio-

3ip

-4la

wa

lilim

o-5

gobo

-6-

376.

two

okom

o1

okum

1ku

rum

ã2

okuo

mu

1ru

mo

3ir

umo

3ilu

mo

3ra

gla

ragu

4po

l537

7.ul

cer

ruŋŋ

1-

ru1

üne

1or

ün1

yun

2yu

nop

3lü

1gu

n4

378.

umbi

lical

cord

gu1

gu1

ogu

2am

oko

gu3

aŋŋgu

n4

oiŋŋg

um4

otŋŋg

ambi

ŋŋ5

gou

1-

379.

unco

oked

kada

xae

ke-d

1ke

dige

2ka

daxa

i2xa

gide

3ar

e4

ario

k5

alun

6w

afed

ado

7-

380.

unri

peka

daxa

e1

kedi

ge1

kuw

o2

kaxi

3ke

tot4

mba

top

5al

un6

feda

do7

-38

1.up

per

arm

bedo

mid

i1bi

dom

idi1

bidE

bagi

2bo

dobi

gi2

taet

top

3w

ittu

n4

yaw

et5

imid

i6la

bul7

382.

urin

ate

yiti

ti-1

yitu

-1yi

su-1

isifi

-ox

2er

oktü

-2ye

tok

ti-2

etok

si-2

beru

3da

lalü

438

3.ur

ine

yiti

ti-1

yitu

1yi

su-1

isi1

erok

1ye

tok

1et

ok1

eron

o2

dula

x3

384.

vagi

naat

o1

ato

1at

o1

ato

1at

op1

atop

1at

op1

aro

1lil

238

5.vo

ice

roxo

1ro

1ru

1u

1ar

ek2

ruk

1lu

k1

lu1

aup

338

6.vo

mit

koes

eme-

d1

kodi

kefs

omo-

2ka

ndig

i-3

kum

ukan

ıgi-

k4

agön

-5ae

rap-

6w

ayun

lap-

7ba

xugi

/ba-

xu-

ge8

wax

alim

o9

387.

wai

tko

de-d

1ku

de-1

dari

-2de

-k3

ŋŋgir

okri

-4ir

ukm

ore

-5m

in-6

fake

le7

imba

838

8.w

alk

xo-d

1xo

-1xo

-1xo

-x1

ko-1

ko-1

ko-,

ka-1

xa1

xai1

389.

wal

lxE

iri1

rifa

2ri

kirE

3ki

ko4

kök

5nd

ayaŋŋ

6ki

m7

ba8

dam

on9

390.

war

map

ato

(L)

apa

(L)

apa

(L)

apuf

o(L

)nd

am1

mam

in2

mam

in2

mam

ü-ge

3xo

x4

391.

was

hox

oko

-d1

oxo

ku-1

eku

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oxo

ku-3

tom

büm

o-4

agum

mbi

amo-

5m

butm

o-6

rünü

7da

dü8

392.

wat

erox

o1

oxo

1e

2ox

o1

ok1

ok1

ok1

o(x)

1ax

139

3.w

eak

ma

ke-d

1m

ake

-d1

xaik

arE-

2pu

xu3

köm

böt4

awoi

5ka

tkut

6fa

loni

7-

394.

wet

oxo

da1

-ka

ke2

paxa

(L)

tögö

p3

ŋŋgae

nak

4ox

oyak

5gu

xe6

fex

739

5.w

hite

xayo

1ar

a2

xaya

1bo

3ko

at4

kuk

5ko

wal

op6

xwal

u/xu

war

u7

xoxo

lun

839

6.w

hite

ant

tom

ogax

a1

efige

2ka

ribu

bu3

doxo

si4

tom

a5

tom

ae5

tom

ae5

duar

i6ke

mba

xi7

397.

wid

owxa

mos

e1

xam

sE1

xam

E2

ãse

3ra

nka

mok

4ra

nsa

rip

5la

nsa

lip5

kam

o1

-39

8.w

idow

erxo

sE1

xosE

1sE

ŋŋgo

2xu

se3

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kam

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kagu

psa

rip

5ka

psa

lip5

kam

o6

-39

9.w

ife

ra1

ra1

rapa

su2

agã

3aŋŋ

gen

3sa

rip

4sa

lip4

la1

defo

l540

0.w

ind

kifi

1ki

fi1

kifi

1ki

fi1

kiou

1ki

wui

1ki

win

1xi

fei1

fup

240

1.w

ing

yaxa

boge

1ya

xabe

gi1

ba2

tefio

3m

borõ

4m

buru

i4m

bulu

n4

yagi

ya5

baul

4

Shia

xaYe

nim

uPi

saA

ghu

Man

dobo

Yong

gom

Wam

bon

Dig

ulW

ambo

nK

omba

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orow

ai

402.

wom

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finig

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2ã

2ra

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ran

2la

n2

la(n

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l240

3.w

ork

toto

re-d

1to

tore

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ioem

o-2

fiko

a-x

3ra

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oŋŋra

p-5

kele

pmo-

6ay

a7

kela

yaat

i-8

404.

wor

thle

ssye

fe1

yefe

1bE

tero

2w

a3

wag

arep

4m

beta

t5as

at6

-xa

lox

740

5.w

ound

kEw

i1ke

fi1

pEso

(L)

peso

(L)

kogu

2m

bom

3hi

top

4ru

ruko

5ya

xese

l640

6.w

rong

goba

1ga

ba1

bEte

ro2

omum

u3

ŋŋgom

ban

4ŋŋg

amba

n4

ŋŋgom

bam

4go

bage

1le

mbu

l540

7.ya

wn

boru

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tere

atox

omo-

2xu

fam

o-3

xufa

me-

3m

bana

nto

kmo-

4an

duno

win

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aŋŋgo

lam

lalo

-6br

abum

a7

-40

8.ye

ster

day

syef

E1

odof

E2

asüw

e3

bagi

di4

orüw

a3

wam

in4

alip

3ka

klo

5xa

xul6

409.

youn

gaf

o1

afo

1ka

daxa

i2xa

gide

3m

oŋŋgo

p4

mam

ae5

keto

t6m

uno

7da

x8

410.

youn

gpe

rson

syib

oŋŋ1

siba

1su

bã1

xosü

bã1

moŋŋ

gop

2m

amae

3ka

pke

wet

4lü

wob

adi5

xofe

l6

411.

youn

gw

oman

rara

mo

1ra

rom

o1

amgi

2am

igi2

meŋŋ

geet

3m

aŋŋga

t3la

nm

aŋŋga

t3ya

mon

deiy

om

ongo

4m

enel

5

412.

youn

ger

brot

her

kuda

1ku

da1

kudE

1kü

da1

anet

2ne

t2na

na(n

)3w

abü

4m

ofex

a5

413.

youn

ger

sist

erne

me

1ku

da2

kudE

2kü

da2

embi

at3

mbi

at3

lan

aŋŋgo

t4w

abü

5m

odol

6

414.

1SG

no1

nu1

nu1

nu1

nöp

1nu

p1

nuk

1nu

f1ne

,nu(

p)1

415.

2SG

go1

gu1

gu1

gu1

ŋŋgöp

1ŋŋg

up1

ŋŋgup

1gu

1gu

(p)1

416.

3SG

ewe,

ege

1,2

ewi,

egi1

,2ek

i2ef

e1

ege

2yu

p3

nexe

p2

xe2

ye,y

u(p)

341

7.1P

Lno

xo1

nugu

1nu

gu1

nügu

1no

ŋŋgüp

1na

ŋŋgup

1no

xop

1na

gu1

noxu

(p)1

418.

2PL

goxo

1gu

gu1

gugu

1gü

gu1

neŋŋg

ip2

ŋŋgaŋŋ

gup

1ŋŋg

oxop

1na

ge2

naŋŋg

e2

419.

3PL

yoxo

1yo

xo1

yoxo

1yo

xo1

yeŋŋg

ip1

yaŋŋg

up1

yaŋŋg

up1

yaxo

p1

yexe

ne-1

420.

1SG

.PO

SSna

1na

1na

1na

1ne

ne1

na1

na1

na-1

n,nV

142

1.2S

G.P

OSS

ga1

ga1

ga1

ga1

ŋŋgon

e1

ŋŋgo

1ŋŋg

a1

gu1

g-,g

V-1

422.

3SG

.PO

SSw

a1

wa

1en

a,ew

a1,

2ef

e2

ene

1ya

3ne

xo4

xe5

y-,y

V-3

423.

1PL

.PO

SSna

xa1

niga

1nu

na2

nügu

1no

ŋŋgün

e1

naŋŋg

o1

noxo

1na

gu1

noxu

-142

4.2P

L.P

OSS

gaxa

1gi

ga1

guna

2gü

gu1

neŋŋg

ine

3ŋŋg

aŋŋgo

1ŋŋg

oxo

1na

ge3

gexe

ne-1

425.

3PL

.PO

SSya

xa1

yaxa

1yo

xona

2yo

xo1

yeŋŋg

ine

3ya

ŋŋgo

1ya

xo1

yaxo

p-1

yexe

ne-1

426.

near

kata

xaya

1kE

xeya

2ki

naxã

3ak

iã4

kirp

5si

ndik

6-

-xa

lu7

427.

far

off

xaxa

1xa

xa1

xam

ã2

mek

ese

3ko

man

2ka

mam

2ko

mam

op2

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9

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Samenvatting

Een linguïstische geschiedenis van Awyu-Dumut –morfologische studie en reconstructie van een Papoease taalfamilie

Alles heeft een geschiedenis, een verhaal over waar het vandaan komt en hoe hetgeworden is wat het is. Elke taal, gesproken van generatie op generatie, heeft eengeschiedenis. Dit boek is een weergave van de linguïstische geschiedenis van deAwyu-Dumut taalfamilie. Deze Papoease taalfamilie bestaat, zover nu bekend, uitacht talen, en wordt gesproken in West-Papoea, Indonesië. De Awyu-Dumut taal-familie behoort tot de grotere Trans New Guinea taalfamilie.

De focus van dit boek ligt op de herkomst van de morfologie van de Awyu-Dumut talen aangezien morfologie één van de meest stabiele factoren in een taalis, en daarmee zeer bruikbaar om de geschiedenis van niet-geschreven talen te tra-ceren. Door een strikte toepassing van de comparatieve methode worden proto-morfemen gereconstrueerd waardoor een beeld ontstaat van de proto-taal waarAwyu-Dumut talen van afstammen. Met het reconstrueren van proto-vormen isechter nog niet de hele linguïstische geschiedenis van een taal verteld. Om inzichtte krijgen in hoe Awyu-Dumut talen door de tijd heen zijn veranderd, traceer ik ookdiachrone en grammaticale paden. Hoewel de focus ligt op de gedeelde geschiede-nis van Awyu-Dumut talen is er in dit boek ook aandacht voor morfologische diver-siteit en het eigen verhaal van elke taal. Zodoende is het ook een naslagwerk voorwie meer wil weten over de morfologie en syntaxis van individuele Awyu-Dumuttalen.

Hoofdstuk 1 geeft zowel achtergrondinformatie over de verschillende Awyu-Dumut talen als over de databronnen die geraadpleegd zijn. Voor Awyu-Dumuttalen zijn rijke descriptieve data beschikbaar, grotendeels te danken aan het werkvan Petrus Drabbe, een katholiek priester die werkzaam was als missielinguïst inNieuw Guinea van 1935 tot 1960. Voor vijf van de acht Awyu-Dumut talen is eenvolledige grammatica met teksten beschikbaar, terwijl Drabbe voor nog drie andereAwyu-Dumut talen een grammaticaschets heeft gepubliceerd. Daarnaast is er eenwoordenlijst van 430 woorden beschikbaar in alle Awyu-Dumut talen. Hoofdstuk 1gaat ook in op de methodologie die gebruikt is om Awyu-Dumut proto-morfologiete reconstrueren.

220 Samenvatting (Dutch Summary)

Hoofdstuk 2 richt zich op de proto-fonologie van Awyu-Dumut talen. EerdereAwyu-Dumut proto-fonologieën gereconstrueerd door Alan Healey (1970) en BertVoorhoeve (2001) vormen de basis voor de hernieuwde proto-fonologie die in hoofd-stuk twee gepresenteerd wordt. De comparatieve methode wordt toegepast oplexicale data. Aan de hand van de klankovereenkomsten en klankverschillen kangeconcludeerd worden dat het Korowai geen Awyu-Dumut taal is, maar wel eenaanverwante taal. Een toepassing van fylogenetische methodes bevestigt de interneverdeling van de taalfamilie in vier Awyu-talen en drie Dumut-talen. De Kombai-taal wordt door fylogenetische methodes ingedeeld bij Dumut-talen, maar door decomparatieve methode bij Awyu-talen. Dit conflict is in dit boek opgelost doorKombai te behandelen als een eigen subgroep. Het hebben van een solide gere-construeerde proto-fonologie, evenals een interne subgroepering van de taalfamilie,maakt de reconstructie van Awyu-Dumut proto-morfologie mogelijk.

Alhoewel Awyu-Dumut talen weinig nominale morfologie hebben, wordt erin hoofdstuk 3 toch een kleine hoeveelheid nominale proto-morfologie gerecon-strueerd. In alle acht Awyu-Dumut talen volgt het adjectief het naamwoord, en driestrategieën om samengestelde naamwoorden te vormen worden door alle Awyu-Dumut talen gedeeld. Juxtapositie is de meest voorkomende manier om bezit uit tedrukken, terwijl alle Awyu-Dumut talen ook gebruik kunnen maken van bezittelijkevoornaamwoorden. Het meervoud van naamwoorden wordt in Awyu-Dumut talengerealiseerd door het redupliceren van (de eerste syllabe van) het naamwoord. Daar-naast hebben verwantschapstermen hun eigen meervoudsmarkeerder, gereconstrueerdals *-gi voor Proto Awyu, *-ŋŋgu(i) voor Proto Dumut and *-ŋŋgV voor Proto Awyu-Dumut. Het hoofdstuk sluit af met een omschrijving van de coördinatie van naam-woorden in Awyu-Dumut talen, en de twee nominale coördinatoren *ku(p) en *tewerden gereconstrueerd.

In hoofdstuk 4 komen Awyu-Dumut pronomina aan de orde. Zowel persoonli-jke als bezittelijke voornaamwoorden worden gereconstrueerd. De bezittelijke voor-naamwoorden staan dichterbij de voornaamwoorden die voor het Proto Trans NewGuinea zijn gereconstrueerd, en zijn daarmee ouder. Daarnaast is aangetoond dathet derde persoon enkelvoudig voornaamwoord in de meeste Awyu-Dumut talen isafgeleid van het demonstratieve element ep, wat ‘daar’ betekent. Als laatste wordtin dit hoofdstuk geïllustreerd dat persoonlijke voornaamwoorden weinig frequentzijn in Awyu-Dumut talen, en dat als ze voorkomen, ze hun nadrukleggende vormaannemen.

Hoofdstuk 5 behandeld de vier persoons- en getalsmarkeerders die Awyu-Dumuttalen rijk zijn. De persoons- en getalsmarkeerders zijn onderdeel van het werkwo-ord. In Awyu-Dumut talen zijn de tweede en derde persoonsmarkeerders hetzelfde,zowel in het enkelvoud als in het meervoud, een samenvoeging die typologischgezien niet vaak voorkomt. De vier persoons- en getalsmarkeerders die gerecon-strueerd zijn voor Proto Awyu-Dumut zijn *-ep (1SG), *-en (NON1SG), *-epan (1PL)en *-enan. Dezelfde vormen worden gereconstrueerd als *-e(fe), *-en, *-efan en *-enanvoor Proto Awyu, terwijl de corresponderende Proto Dumut vormen *-ep, *-n, *-ewanen *-enan zijn.

221

In de hoofdstukken 6 tot en met 8 komt het zogenaamde TAM (Tense AspectMood) systeem van de Awyu-Dumut talen aan bod. Hoofdstuk 6 gaat in op mood inAwyu-Dumut talen, waarbij de focus ligt op de vele verschillende manieren omrealis mood te realiseren. In hoofdstuk 7 komen alle Awyu-Dumut tijdsvormenaan de orde, en wederom is er sprake van grote diversiteit. Twee van de vierAwyu-talen kennen vier verschillende verleden tijden, de zogenaamde historicumhodiernum, historicum hesternum, historicum distans en de historisch verledentijd. De andere twee Awyu-talen hebben drie verleden tijden, terwijl Dumut-talenéén verleden tijdsvorm kennen, en de Kombai-taal zelfs geen. Hoofdstuk 8 belichtde aspectuele betekenissen die door Awyu-Dumut werkwoorden uitgedrukt kun-nen worden, zoals duratieve, habituele en voltooide acties. In Awyu-Dumut talenwordt net als in het Nederlands een positiewerkwoord gebruikt om aan te gevendat een actie over een langere tijd plaatsvindt, zoals in bijvoorbeeld ‘zij staat koffiete drinken’ of ‘hij ligt een boek te lezen.’ Andere Awyu-Dumut aspecten zijn al eventypologisch wijdverbreid of semantisch voor de hand liggend, en zijn daarmee geenindicatie van genealogische verwantschap.

Hoofdstuk 9 behandelt Awyu-Dumut negatie. Een uitgebreid diachroon pad iszichtbaar in Awyu talen dat illustreert hoe dubbele negatie tot stand kan komen.Elk van de vier Awyu talen, evenals Kombai, representeren ieder een fase van deJespersen cyclus; afhankelijk van de fase van de Jespersen cyclus waarbinnen eentaal zich bevindt heeft het optionele of verplichte pre-verbale en/of post-verbalenegatiemarkeerders. Dumut talen hebben heel andere negatiestrategieën dan Awyu-talen en Kombai, en daarom is het reconstrueren van negatie op het niveau vanProto Awyu-Dumut niet mogelijk.

In hoofdstuk 10 wordt de morfologie die de plaats van objecten en acties aan-duidt besproken. Deze deiktische elementen, die vertaald kunnen worden met‘hier’, ‘daar’ en ‘ginds’, evolueren in Awyu-Dumut talen tot aanwijswoorden dievertaald kunnen worden met ‘deze’, ‘die’ en ‘die gindse’. Op hun beurt evoluerendeze aanwijswoorden door tot markeerders van topicaliteit.

Hoofstuk 11 bespreekt hoe Awyu-Dumut talen zinsdelen aan elkaar verbinden,namelijk door nevenschikking of onderschikking. Nevenschikking en onderschik-king zijn twee uiteinden van een continuüm, en meerdere typen nevenschikkingen onderschikking komen voor in Awyu-Dumut talen. De meest karakteristiekemanier om zinsdelen aan elkaar te verbinden is clause chaining, waarbij het eerstezinsdeel deels afhankelijk is van het tweede zinsdeel. Ook komt switch reference indit hoofdstuk aan bod. Awyu-Dumut talen hebben een rudimentair switch referencesysteem, waarbij een onderscheid in de finietheid van werkwoordsvormen groten-deels overeenkomt met een onderscheid in werkwoordsvormen die aangeven of heteerstvolgende werkwoord eenzelfde of een ander subject heeft.

Het boek sluit af met een terugblik op alle gereconstrueerde vormen, conclude-rend dat de geschiedenis van een taalfamilie het beste ontrafeld kan worden doorhet combineren van verschillende methodes en invalshoeken, en dat ook onderde-len van de morfologie die niet reconstrueerbaar zijn een essentieel onderdeel zijnvan het van verhaal van een taalfamilie.

a linguistic history of awyu-dumut...section. i would also like to thank my friend and fellow...

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