Kaure language

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title: "Kaure language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["kaure–kosare-languages", "languages-of-western-new-guinea", "language-isolates-of-new-guinea", "tonal-languages"] description: "Language in Indonesia" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaure_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Language in Indonesia ::

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

Field	Value
name	Kaure
states	Indonesia
region	Papua: Aurina, Harna, Lereh, Masta, and Wes villages on the Nawa River
speakers	450
date	1995
ref	e18
familycolor	Papuan
fam1	Kaure–Kosare
dia1	Narau
iso3	bpp
glotto	kaur1271
glottorefname	Kaure–Narau
map	Kaure-Kapori languages.svg
mapcaption	Map: The Kaure, Kapori, and Kosare languages of New Guinea
::

|name=Kaure |states=Indonesia |region=Papua: Aurina, Harna, Lereh, Masta, and Wes villages on the Nawa River |speakers=450 |date=1995 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Papuan |fam1=Kaure–Kosare |dia1=Narau |iso3=bpp |glotto=kaur1271 |glottorefname=Kaure–Narau |map=Kaure-Kapori languages.svg |mapcaption=Map: The Kaure, Kapori, and Kosare languages of New Guinea

Kaure is a Papuan language of West Papua. It is spoken in the villages of Lereh, Harna, Wes, Masta, and Aurina.

Narau is either a dialect or a closely related language. It is known from a short word list in Giël (1959). Texts include Auri et al. (1991).

Phonology

Consonants

The Kaure consonants are:

::data[format=table]

Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal	Nasal	Plosive	voiceless	voiced	Fricative	Liquid	Semivowel
::

Vowels

The Kaure vowels are:

::data[format=table] | || Front|| Back | Close | Mid | Open | |---|---|---|---| | , | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Tone

Like the Lakes Plain languages, Kaure is a tonal language. There are two tones, namely high and low.

Monosyllabic minimal pairs showing phonemic tone contrast include:

• tái ‘footprint’, tài ‘sago’
• pí ‘boil’, pì ‘pig’
• hín ‘limbum wood’, hìn ‘blood’
• héik ‘flower’, hèik ‘snake’

In multisyllabic words, only one stressed syllable carries full tone contrasts, while the other syllables are "neutral" or toneless.

Multisyllabic minimal sets include:

• káteil ‘toss it’, katéil ‘dry’, katèil ‘dry’
• nálain ‘female animal’, naláin ‘kind of root’, nalàin ‘to run off’

Pronouns

Attested pronouns are 1sg wẽ, 2sg hane, 1pl nene. The 2sg form resembles Mek *ka-n, and 1pl resembles Pauwasi numu~nin, but apart from that little can be said.

Kaure pronouns listed by Foley (2018) are:

:{| ! !! Independent !! Possessive prefixes |- ! 1excl | wen || na- |- ! 1incl | nene || nene- |- ! 2 | hane || ha- |- ! 3 | nene || ne- |}

Kaure pronouns are not specified for number, just like in Nimboran.

Kaure–Kapori hypothesis

Voorhoeve (1975) suggested that Kaure was related to Kapori and Kosare, two otherwise unclassified languages. However, subsequent evaluations have not found any significant connections (Rumaropen 2006, Wambaliau 2006).

References

References

1. van Voskuylen, E.. "Kaure". Kaure.
2. "Kaure {{!".
3. Giël, R. 1959. ''Exploratie Oost-Meervlakte'' [Exploration of the Eastern Lakes Plain Area]. Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Ministerie van Koloniën: Kantoor Bevolkingszaken Nieuw-Guinea te Hollandia: Rapportenarchief, 1950–1962, nummer toegang 2.10.25, inventarisnummer 13.
4. Auri, Piter, Peter R. Dommel and Markus Pokoko. 1991. ''Kaureki a Opoksel (Percakapan-percakapan Dalam Bahasa Kaure: Kaure Conversations)''. Jayapura: University of Cenderawasih and Summer Institute of Linguistics.
5. Foley, William A.. (2018). "The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide". De Gruyter Mouton.

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