Piawi languages


The Piawi languages are a small family of Papuan languages spoken in the Schraeder Range of the Madang Highlands of Papua New Guinea that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New [Guinea languages|Trans–New Guinea] proposal. They are now connected to the Arafundi and Madang languages.
The name "Piawi" is an acronym of three language varieties: Pinai, Aramo/Aramaue and Wiyaw. Pinai and Hagahai are often classified as a single language.

Classification

Piawi consists of only two languages:Piawi family: Pinai-Hagahai, Haruai
Davies and Comrie noted some pronominal similarities with the Engan languages in Trans–New Guinea, which Ross took into consideration, but no lexical similarities. Comrie believes the family is as isolate. William A. Foley suggested that Piawi and Arafundi may be related, and according to Ross a connection with Arafundi or Ramu appears more promising than Engan. Timothy Usher confirms the link to Arafundi.

Pronouns

Below is a comparison of proto-Piawi, proto-Ramu, Arafundi, and proto-North Engan pronouns, per Ross. Initial nasals are ubiquitous, and indeed are very common throughout New Guinea, so they are in themselves not good evidence of a relationship.
"I""thou""s/he""we two""you two""we""you"
p-Piawi*ni-ga*na-ga*nu-ga*ane-ga-li*ni-ga-li*ane-ga, *nane-ga*ni-ga
p-Ramu*aŋko, *ni*un, *nu*man*a-ŋk-a*o-ŋk-oa*a-ni, *na-ni*u-ni, *nu-ni
Arafundiɲiŋnanndaaciniɲinuŋ
p-N Engan*na-ba*ne-ba*-ba*na-li-ba*ɲa-li-mba*na-ni-ma*ɲa-ma, *ɲa-ka-ma

Both Engan and Piawi have a dual suffix *li.

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Davies & Comrie, as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database. The Haruai data is from Tonson.
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate or not.
glossHaruai
(Wiyaw dial.)
Pinai-Hagahai
(Wakadadap dial.)
Pinai-Hagahai
(Nangenuwetan dial.)
Pinai-Hagahai
(Aramo dial.)
HaruaiPinai-Hagahai
headˈjeʥ̮ᵊˈmat̮ɑɩʥ̮ɩboˈʥ̮ɛidᴶibəˈdᴶəiʥ̮uəˈxəyɛtʸəmatʸɩʥ̮ɩˈboʥ̮ɛ
hairjeʥ̮ᵊˈϕanɩʥ̮ɷmuˈdaidᴶimuˈdaiˌʥ̮iməˈdayɛntʸəᵽanɩʥ̮ɷmɷˈda
earɾ̥ɨmɨnt̮ɕjɛnɷaˈʥ̮əjənˈwadᴶəjɛnˈwaϕejɛnuˈaʥ̮ɩ
eyeˈmomakʰməmɛˈʥ̮imɛmɛˈdᴶimɛmɛʥ̮əˈmagəmɛmaŋkmɛmɛˈʥ̮i
nosehaŋiˈetʰnauˈŋasinamaˈganamaˈgəhaŋantʸnamaˈgə
toothandzᵊmakᵡad̮ʑuaˈbəadᴶuˈabɤˌjɛd̮ʑɩ ˈmagəad̮ʑuaˈβə
tonguealᵊˈbʌɲt̮suˈə; t̮suˈɛsuˈwɔsuˈə; syêsjuˈə
legϕaˈletʰəˈda; həˈdaˌaɤɔjɔˈduhəˈdaməˈsiaˈɽɐd̮ʑə
lousejɩmnəˈmaɭɛˈmaiˈmɤd̮ʑiyɩm
dogwaɲawəˈɲa; wɛˈɲawəˈɲawɛˈɲawañəwɛˈɲa
pighanjɛˈnəjɛˈnɤjɛˈnɤhanjɛˈnə
birdˈjaʷərjauˈr̥ɷ; jauˈtʰɷjauˈt͑ujauˈthəyawʌřjauˈr̥u; jauˈthu
eggjaur mɩntɕˈjautʰumuˈsijauˈt͑umuˈsiməntʸ
bloodhaɲgeˈjaaˈt͑aɤigaˈja
bonejantʰjoˈdujɔˈdujɛˈdə
skinjɩmaɤ wɨɲɽəˈxaɭIˈk͑awɩˈɲiwəñIˈda
breastkauaˈuaˈuaˈhu
treeməˈnamuˈnamɤˈna
manˈnabʌnaˈbanaˈbanaˈbanʌmbəwoˈdu
womanjaˈmajəˈmaməˈgəmʌgjamˈwa
sunnaijʌɽəˈmanuˈmaɽəˈmanaiyə
moonr̥̃ʌntsoxɷˈnosɔkᵡɷˈnəsɔˈkɷnəhřawən
waterɾ̥aˈbʌhřʌmbə
fireɾ̥ᵼnɲabɯ; ɲabuɲaˈbuɲaˈbɤhřən ᵽin
stoneɾ̥ɩgɨɽɩˈgəɭɨˈgəɽɩˈgəhřəŋkɽɩˈgə
road, pathganɨmϕˈsaba ʥɩmur̥əmamˈdᴶɩmɷtʰɩˈdiədəanəmbi
namehʌmpʰmɛˈiaˈt̮ɕaβədenabamɩˈheyɩmpʰ
eatnɨmˈdajaˈd̮ʑija⋅ˈdᴶɩmɩnəˌmoməˈdɛɽə
onewaɲɩŋˈgeϕjoɽoˈdəˈjɔ⋅ɤɔdəaˈgəpaŋɛmp
twojɩˈmag ˈjɩŋgʷʌjanˈdɛɽimiˈjadaɤɩnˌhəgəˈnaβəmaˈɨmʌs