Tirio languages


The Tirio languages are a family of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross. The Tirio languages have about 40% of their lexicon in common.

Languages

Evans lists the Tirio languages as:
Baramu is somewhat more divergent in vocabulary, but this may reflect language contact rather than divergence in its position within the family. Pronouns are only available for Tirio itself.
The moribund language Abom was once classified as a divergent Tirio language, sharing only an eighth of its lexicon with the others, but it turns out to not belong to the family at all, nor to the Anim family that Tirio is a branch of.
A survey of the Tirio languages can be found in Jore and Alemán.

Phonemes

Usher reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:
Vowels are *a *e *i *o *u.

Pronouns

The pronouns are:

Evolution

Lower Fly River reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea etyma:
  • Makayam makoːth, Baramu mangoːt ‘chin’ < *maŋgat ‘mouth, teeth’
  • Makayam Bitur, Baramu moːm ‘seed’ < *maŋgV ‘fruit, seed, round’
  • Makayam sakoa ‘lower arm’, Baramu saga ‘arm’ < *sal ‘hand, claw’