Mek languages

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Wikipedia

Mek
Goliath
Geographic
distribution		Yahukimo and Pegunungan Bintang, Highland Papua
EthnicityMek people and Yali people
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Language codes
Glottologmekk1240
Map: The Mek languages of New Guinea
  The Mek languages
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The Mek languages are a well established family of Papuan languages spoken by the Mek people and Yali people. They form a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005).

Mek, then called Goliath, was identified by M. Bromley in 1967. It was placed in TNG by Wurm (1975).

Languages

The Mek languages form three dialect chains (Heeschen 1998):

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as 'perhaps' as follows:[2]

*m*n*ŋ
*p*t*k*kʷ
*(m)b*(n)d*(ŋ)g*(ŋ)gʷ
*s
*w*l*j
iu
eo
ɛɔ
aɒ
eiou
ɛiɔu
aiau
aɛaɔ

Pronouns

Pronouns are:[2]

sgpl
1 *na*nu[n]
2 *kan*kun (?)
3 *ɛl *tun, *[t/s]ig

The difference between the two 3pl forms is not known. 2pl and 3pl have parallels in Momuna /kun tun/.

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[2]

glossProto-MekProto-East MekKimyalProto-Northwest MekProto-Momuna-MekMomuna
hair/feather *p[ɔ]t[ɔ]ŋ*pɔtɔŋosoŋ*hɔŋ
ear/twelve *aᵓɔ*aᵓ
eye *atiŋ*asiŋisiŋ*haⁱŋ*ɒtigɒtù
tooth/sharp *jo̝*jo̝jó
tongue *se̝l[ija]mu*[se̝]l[ija]muselamu*se̝l[i]mu
foot/leg *jan*janjan*jan*j[a/ɒ]n
blood *e̝ne̝ŋ*ɪnɪŋeneŋ*e̝ne̝ŋ*jo̝ne̝g
bone *jɔk*jɔkjw-aʔ*jɔʔ[ɔ]
breast *mɔᵘm*mɔᵘmmoᵘm*mɔᵘm*mɔᵘmmɒ̃ᵘ
louse *ami*amiimi*ami*amiami
dog *gam*[k/g]amgam*gam*gɒmkɒ̀
pig *be̝sam*bɪsam*bhamwɒ́
bird *mak, *mag*mak-ma (?)*-ma (?)*makmá
egg/fruit/seed *do̝[k]*dʊkdo*do̝[k]dɒko ~ dɒku
tree/wood *galgal*gal*gɒlkɒ̀
woman/wife *ge̝l*[k/g]ɪlgel*ge̝l
sun *k[ɛ]t[e̝]ŋ*k[ɛ]t[ɪ]ŋisiŋ*he̝ŋ
moon *wal*walwal*wal
water/river *m[ɛ/a]g*mɛkmag*m[ɛ/a]g
fire *o̝ᵘg*ʊᵘkug*[u]g
stone *gɛⁱl; *gidig*[k/g]ɛⁱlgirig*gidigkè
path/way *bi[t/s]ig*bi[t/s]ikbisig*bhig
name *si*sisi*si*sisi
eat/drink *de̝-(b)*dɪ-(b)de-*de̝-(b)de-
one *[na]tɔn*tɔnnason*nhɔn
two/ring finger *b[e̝/ɛ]te̝ne̝*b[ɪ/ɛ]tɪnɪbesene*bhe̝ne̝

Modern reflexes

Mek reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[3]

Eipo language:

  • mun ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
  • kuna ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
  • saŋ ‘dancing song’ < *saŋ
  • getane ‘sun’ < *kVtane

Bime language:

  • mundo ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’

Kosarek language:

  • ami ‘louse’ < *niman
  • si ‘tooth’ < *(s,t)i(s,t)i
  • tomo < *k(i,u)tuma ‘night’

Yale language:

  • de ‘to burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)
  • mon ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
  • xau ‘ashes’ < *kambu

Further reading

  • Heeschen, Volker. 1978. The Mek languages of Irian Jaya with special reference to the Eipo language. Irian 7(2): 3–46.
  • Heeschen, Volker. 1992. The position of the Mek languages of Irian Jaya among the Papuan languages: History, typology and speech. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 148(3/4): 465–488.

References

  1. ↑ Momuna–Mek, New Guinea World
  2. 1 2 3 New Guinea World
  3. ↑ 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.
  • 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. doi:10.15144/PL-572. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.