Gogodala–Suki languages


The Gogodala–Suki or Suki – Aramia River languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea, spoken in the region of the Aramia River.

Languages

The languages are:
Gogodala–Suki languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans are provided below.

Proto-language

Phonology

The reconstructed sound system is,
It is unclear if there were phonemes *w or *j distinct from *u and *i.

Pronouns

Lexicon

Proto-Suki–Aramia lexical reconstructions by Usher are:

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve, Voorhoeve, and Reesink, as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate or not.

Evolution

Gogodalic-Suki formed a branch of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross. Possible reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea etyma are:
Gogodala language:
  • omo ‘breast’ < *amu
  • magata ‘mouth, jaw’ < *maŋgat
  • mele-pila ‘tongue’ < *mele-mbilaŋ
  • imu ‘eye’ < *amu
  • mi ‘louse’ < *iman, *niman
  • kadepa ‘sun’ < *kandpa
  • ila ‘tree, fire’ < *inda
  • na- ‘eat’ < *na-
  • mana- ‘sit, stay’ < *mVna-
Suki language:
  • gigoa ‘cassowary’ < *kua
  • na- ‘eat’ < *na-