Goilalan languages


The Goilalan or Wharton Range languages are a language family spoken around the Wharton Range in the "Bird's Tail" of New Guinea. They were classified as a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages by Stephen Wurm, but only tentatively retained there in the classification of Malcolm Ross and removed entirely by Timothy Usher.

Languages

The languages are,
The languages are clearly related, especially northern Biagai, Kunimaipa, and Weri, which might be considered divergent dialects.

Pronouns

Pronouns are:
  • Northern: ne, ni, pi
  • Tauade/Fuyug: na, nu
Tauade also has the possessive pronouns ne-ve, ni-e.

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from SIL field notes, as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate or not. Notice the very low number of cognate pairs.

Evolution

reflexes of purported proto-Trans-New Guinea etyma are:
  • baba ‘father’ < *mbapa
  • sabe ‘saliva’ < *siat
  • magata ‘mouth, jaw’ < *maŋgat
  • mele-pila ‘tongue’ < *mele-mbilaŋ
  • imu ‘eye’ < *amu
  • ije ‘tree’ < *inda