Kainantu–Goroka languages

The Kainantu–Goroka languages are a family of Papuan languages established by Arthur Capell in 1948 under the name East Highlands. They formed the core of Stephen Wurm's 1960 East New Guinea Highlands family (the precursor of Trans–New Guinea), and are one of the larger branches of Trans–New Guinea in the 2005 classification of Malcolm Ross.

Languages

The constituent Kainantu and Goroka families are clearly valid groups, and both William A. Foley and Timothy Usher consider their TNG identity to be established. The languages are:

• Goroka family
• Daulo
• Siane, Yaweyuha
• Gahuku: Alekano (Gahuku), Asaro River: Dano (Upper Asaro), Tokano (Lower Asaro)
• Benabena
• South Goroka: Fore, Gimi
• Isabi, Gende
• Henganofi
• Abaga
• Kamono (Kamano)
• Fayatina River
• Kanite, Inoke-Yate
• Yagaria
• (?Ke’yagana) [subsumed under another language by Usher]
• Kainantu family
• Kenati
• Tairoric (East Kainantu): Binumarien (Afaqina), Tairoa (North Tairora, Omwunra, Vinaata), Waffa
• Gauwa (West Kainantu)
• Gadsup (Oyana, Akuna, Ontenu), Agarabi, Kambaira
• Awa, Oweina
• Auyana: Awiyaana (incl. Kosena), Usarufa

Pronouns

The pronouns reconstructed by Ross (2005) for proto-Kainantu–Goroka, proto-Kainantu, and proto-Goroka are as follows:

The possessive forms are:

Modern reflexes

Kainantu–Goroka reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:

Awa language:

• are 'ear' < *kand(e,i)k(V]
• nu 'louse' < *niman

Tairora language:

• ato 'ear' < *kand(e,i)k(V]
• ir 'tree' < *inda
• (n)am 'breast' < *amu
• nume 'louse' < *niman
• kubu 'short' < *k(a,u)tu(p,mb)aC
• mi- 'give' < *mV-

Fore language:

• na- 'eat' < *na-
• numaa 'louse' < *niman
• mi- 'give' < *mV-
• amune 'egg' < *mun(a,i,u)ka
• kasa 'new' < *kVndak
• mone 'nose' < *mundu

Gende language:

• ami 'breast' < *amu
• mut 'belly' < *mundun 'internal organs'
• mina- 'stay' < *mVna-
• nogoi 'water < *[n]ok
• (tu)nima 'louse' < *niman
• me- 'give' < *mV-

Innovations in proto-Kainantu-Goroka replacing proto-Trans-New Guinea forms:

• *tá[za] '1pl' replaces pTNG *ni, *nu
• *tá-na '2pl' replaces pTNG *ŋgi, *ja
• genitive forms ending in *-i

Vocabulary comparison

Gorokan basic vocabulary from William A. Foley (1986).

Despite the presence of reconstructions in the left column, the words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. ya, yafa, yava for “tree”) or not (e.g. tuva, logo, hali for “fire”).

Kainantu basic vocabulary from William A. Foley (1986):

Proto-languages

Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-East Kainantu and Proto-North Kainantu by Usher (2020) are:

See also

• East New Guinea Highlands languages, an expansion of Kainantu–Goroka in Wurm 1975, which was later abandoned by Ross due to a lack of unifying morphological data.

Bibliography

• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Kainantu-Goroka. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Goroka. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Kainantu. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Proto-Eastern Kainantu-Goroka. TransNewGuinea.org. From Scott, G. 1978. The Fore language of Papua New Guinea. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
• Proto-Eastern-Central Gorokan. TransNewGuinea.org. From Scott, G. 1978. The Fore language of Papua New Guinea. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

References

External links

• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Kainantu