Teberan languages

Teberan
Dadibi–Folopa
Geographic
distribution		Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classificationPapuan Gulf?
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologtebe1251
Map: The Teberan languages of New Guinea
  The Teberan languages
  Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The Teberan languages are a well established family of Papuan languages that Stephen Wurm (1975) grouped with the Pawaia language as a branch of the Trans–New Guinea phylum.

There are two Teberan languages, Dadibi and Folopa (Podopa). They are spoken in Southern Highlands Province and in adjoining provinces.

Classification

Malcolm Ross (2005) tentatively retains both Teberan and Pawaia within TNG, but sees no other connection between them. Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) tentatively leave Teberan as unclassified rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea.[2]

Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Teberan to be classified as part of Trans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between the Teberan languages and proto-Trans-New Guinea.[2]

Dadibi:

  • ami ‘breast’ < *amu

Folopa:

  • kabu ‘stone’ < *ka(mb,m)u[CV]
  • kolemane ‘star’ < *kala(a,i)m ‘moon’
  • kile ‘eye’ < *(ŋg,k)iti

According to Dryer (2022), based on a preliminary quantitative analysis of data from the ASJP database, Teberan is likely to be a subgroup of Trans–New Guinea.[3]

Vocabulary comparison

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[4]

gloss Proto-Dadibi-Folopa Dadibi Folopa
head *tobo tobo-lu tobo
hair/feather *ni[g]i nisi niki
ear/hear *[w]odzo olo ~ odo- woso 'hear'; woseni 'ear'
eye *ge[…] ge-du kele
nose *gun… guni gunumu; kurumu
tongue *kamina hamina
bone *di[l/r]i dili diri
skin/bark *wadz[i/e] wali wase
breast *ame ame ame
dog *j[o]wi jowi ~ juwi juwi
pig *kibu kibu hupu
bird *ba ba ba
egg/seed *ge ge ke
tree/wood *ni ni ni
woman/female *so so so
sun/day *s[u]g[a] sogo suka
water *wẽi wẽ wẽi
fire/sun *si[a] sia si
path/door *tũ tũ tũ ~ tu
eat/drink *nV- n-/nuku- (present)
one/another *me me me

References

  1. ^ New Guinea World, Tua River
  2. ^ a b Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  3. ^ Dryer, Matthew S. (2022). Trans-New Guinea IV.2: Evaluating Membership in Trans-New Guinea.
  4. ^ Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Dadibi–Folopa
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.