Goilalan languages
Language family of New Guinea
title: "Goilalan languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["goilalan-languages", "binanderean–goilalan-languages", "languages-of-central-province-(papua-new-guinea)"] description: "Language family of New Guinea" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goilalan_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Language family of New Guinea ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language family"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Goilalan |
| altname | Wharton Range |
| region | Wharton Range, Central Province, Papua New Guinea |
| familycolor | Papuan |
| fam1 | Binanderean–Goilalan |
| map | Goilalan languages.svg |
| mapcaption | Map: The Goilalan languages of New Guinea |
| :: |
|name=Goilalan |altname=Wharton Range |region=Wharton Range, Central Province, Papua New Guinea |familycolor=Papuan |fam1=Binanderean–Goilalan |map=Goilalan languages.svg |mapcaption=Map: The Goilalan languages of New Guinea |glotto= |glottorefname=
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 (1975), but only tentatively retained there in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005) and removed entirely by Timothy Usher (2020).
Languages
The languages are,
The languages are clearly related, especially northern Biagai, Kunimaipa, and Weri, which might be considered divergent dialects.
Pronouns
Pronouns are:
Tauade also has the possessive pronouns ne-ve, ni-e.
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from SIL field notes (1973, 1975, 1980), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. ʒuvalo, kupal'iai for “two”) or not (e.g. gadolo, kepapaí for “ear”). Notice the very low number of cognate pairs.
:{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Fuyug !! Tauade |- ! head | hul ha; ondobe || kɔrɔtɔ |- ! hair | are; hul haluma || awutu |- ! ear | gadolo || kepapaí |- ! eye | hul li; im || tavai |- ! nose | hul hunga; unge || kiːtʰ |- ! tooth | hul usi || nɔtɔvai |- ! tongue | hul asese || aivi |- ! leg | soga || lɔ'vai |- ! louse | hi || dautʰ |- ! dog | ho; oi || kɔveřa |- ! pig | ovo || pɔřu |- ! bird | nemba; nembe || kide |- ! egg | hulombo || mutuwu |- ! blood | tana || il'iví |- ! bone | hude || keniví |- ! skin | hul hoda; ode || kɔtipai |- ! breast | hul duda || data |- ! tree | i'i || eata |- ! man | a'a; an || baře |- ! woman | amu; amuri || iva |- ! sun | evuli || vatava |- ! moon | hama || ɔne |- ! water | ʒu || ipi |- ! fire | oki || e'na·m |- ! stone | zo || evi'ti |- ! road, path | enamba; inambe || bɔřiƀařa |- ! name | ifa || ape'te |- ! eat | huni nene || ɔmei nai |- ! one | fida || kɔne |- ! two | ʒuvalo || kupal'iai |}
Evolution
Fuyuge reflexes of purported proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:
- baba ‘father’
- sabe ‘saliva’
- magata ‘mouth, jaw’
- mele-pila ‘tongue’
- imu ‘eye’
- ije ‘tree’
References
References
- "New Guinea World, Oro – Wharton Range".
- [https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/oro-wharton-range/wharton-range NewGuineaWorld - Wharton Range]
- Greenhill, Simon. (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea".
- (2018). "The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide". De Gruyter Mouton.
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