Fas languages

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Language family

title: "Fas languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["fas-languages", "language-families", "northwest-papuan-languages"] description: "Language family" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fas_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Language family ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language family"]

Field	Value
name	Fas
altname	Baibai–Momu
region	Papua New Guinea
familycolor	Papuan
fam1	Kwomtari–Fas?
Northwest Papuan?
child1	Fas (Momu)
child2	Baibai
map	Kwomtari-Fas languages.png
mapcaption	The neighboring Fas and Kwomtari language families
glotto	baib1250
glottorefname	Baibai–Fas
::

The Fas languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea.

Classification

Despite the fact that the family consists of just two closely related languages, Baibai and Fas (40% cognate), there has been considerable confusion over its membership, apparently due to a misalignment in the publication (Loving & Bass 1964) of the data used for the initial classification. (See Baron 1983.) The initial name of the family was Fas, but Laycock (1975) changed it to Baibai when he mistakenly moved the Fas language to the Kwomtari family, an error perpetuated in much of the literature. Baibai (Baibai and Biaka) is therefore not a synonym for the Fas family (Baibai and Fas). See Kwomtari–Fas languages for details.

A few regular sound correspondences are apparent (Baron 1983:21 ff):

::data[format=table] | correspondence || Fas example || Baibai example || Gloss | *mb → ʙ, mb | nd → k, ɾ | k–f metathesis | *k → zero, *k | |---|---|---|---|---| | mɛʙəkɛ | mɛmbəkɛ | "star" | | | | kəmas | ɾəmas | "bow" | | | | kafəki | ɾaɾəfi | "tobacco" | | | | kɛj | ɾɛɡi | "hand" ( | | | ::

The odd change from *nd to /k/ (via *hr) has also occurred in the Bewani languages and some of the Vanimo languages.

metathesis still operates in Fas. and metathesis has been reconstructed.
is lost in some environments. Baibai may be phonemically .

Baron sees no evidence that the similarities between the Fas and Kwomtari families are any greater than with neighboring unrelated families, and thus doubts the validity of the putative Kwomtari–Fas family.

Phonological features

Two papers were published by Wietze Baron (1979, 1983a) on the phonology of Fas. Baron argued that the phonological processes of Fas contradict claims by proponents of Natural Generative Phonology that Paul Kiparsky's Opacity Principle allowed no exceptions. See Optimality theory for later developments in phonological theory. Further papers are posted on his website. Recently an honours thesis by Fiona Blake (University of Sydney) has also been posted on the web; she refers to Fas as Momu.

The Fas language apparently has a seven-vowel system. It also has a bilabial trill (Baron 1979:95), even though Laycock (1975:854) had expressed his doubts about earlier reports of this feature by Capell (1962).

Proto-language

Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Baibai-Momu (i.e., Proto-Fas) by Usher (2020) are:

:{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Proto-Baibai-Momu |- | older brother || *apɛ |- | name || *ambu |- | smoke || *mVsV |- | star || *mɛmbVkɛ |- | mother (addressing) || *mɛ |- | flying fox || *mɛnɛ |- | net bag || *man |- | shoulder || *mandVɸV |- | woman || *mɔŋgɔ |- | water/river || *ɸi |- | salt || *ɸVn[ɛ] |- | breast/milk || *ɸVki |- | house || *ɸVndV |- | axe || *tɔmakɔ |- | liver || *tVtV |- | hand || *ndɛŋgi |- | know || *ndam... |- | tobacco || *ndandVɸi |- | fire || *ndɔa |- | bow || *ndVmas |- | many || *ndɔambɔ |- | fat/grease || *sVmbu |- | black || *sVŋgarɔ |- | bird-of-paradise sp. || *sujakɛ |- | eye || *kVri |- | axe || *ŋgambɛ |- | areca nut || *ŋgVmVsV |- | earth/ground || *ŋgVndV |- | egg || *handɔ |- | 2 sg. || *[h]aŋgi |- | skin || *hVraɔ |- | moon || *wVsi |- | 3 sg. || *wɔ |- | stone || *wɔneŋgrɛ |}

References

, posted at: http://www.kwomtari.net/kwomtari_survey.pdf
Blake, Fiona. 2007. 'Spatial reference in Momu'. Posted at http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1919

References

Usher, Timothy. 2020.[https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/northwest-new-guinea/baibai-momu Baibai-Momu]. ''New Guinea World''.

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