Finisterre–Huon languages

Finisterre–Huon
Geographic distribution	Finisterre Range and Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea Morobe – Eastern Highlands Finisterre–Huon
Subdivisions	Finisterre Huon
Glottolog	fini1244
Map: The Finisterre–Huon languages of New Guinea   The Finisterre–Huon languages   Other Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Uninhabited

The Finisterre–Huon languages comprise the largest family within the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classification of Malcolm Ross. They were part of the original TNG proposal, and William A. Foley considers their TNG identity to be established. The languages share a small closed class of verbs taking pronominal object prefixes some of which are cognate (Suter 2012), strong morphological evidence that they are related.

History of classification

Huon and Finisterre, and then the connection between them, were identified by Kenneth McElhanon (1967, 1970). When McElhanon compared notes with his colleague Clemens Voorhoeve, who was working on the languages of southern Irian Jaya, they developed the concept of Trans–New Guinea. Apart from the evidence which unites them, the Finisterre and Huon families are clearly valid language families in their own right, each consisting of several fairly-well defined branches.

Pronouns

Ross (2005) reconstructs the pronouns as follows:

	sg	du	pl
1	*na	*na-t, *ni-t	*na-n, *n-in
2	*ga	*ja-ł, *ji-ł, *gi-ł	*ja-n, *ji-n, *gi-n
3	*[y]a, *wa, *i	*ya-ł, *i-ł	*ya-n, *i-n

These are not all coherent: 3sg *ya and *i are found in Huon, for example, while 3sg *wa is found in Finisterre. In other cases, however, the multiple forms are found in both branches.

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970)^[1] and McElhanon (1967),^[2] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:^[3]

gloss	Kâte	Kovai	Selepet
head	kpitsec-	buno	kun; kun-
hair	dzâwâ-		somot; somot-
ear	hatsec-	ano	âdâp-; ɔndɔp
eye	dzâŋe-	dziŋo	sen; sen-
nose	sâke-	samo	hâme-; hɔme
tooth	mic-	dzɔŋɔ	sât-; sot
tongue	nameŋ-	biŋio	nibilam-; nimbilam
louse	imeŋ	apalau	imen
dog	kpâto	goun	soso
bird	wipe	naŋ	nâi; nɔi
blood	soc-		hep-
bone	siec-	yo	haǥit; hahit-
skin	sahac-	siŋlo	hâk-; hɔk
breast	moŋ-	suyo	nam; nam-
tree	yâc		nak
man	ŋic		lok
woman	ŋokac		apet; ibi
sky	sambâŋ		hibim
sun	dzoaŋ	sual	dewutâ; dewutɔ
moon	mosa		emesenŋe
water	opâ	lap	to
fire		puŋ	kɔlɔp
stone	kpânâ		kât; kɔt
road, path	hata	atam	giop
name	dzâne-		kut; kut-
eat	nâ-		ne; ni-
one	mocyaha		konok
two	yayahec		yâhâp

Evolution

Finisterre-Huon reflexes of

Kâte language:

• bɔruŋ ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ ‘flame’
• butoŋ ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C
• bekɔ ‘orphan’ < *mbVŋga(-masi)
• masiŋ ‘widow’ < *masi
• sambɔŋ ‘sky’ < *sambV ‘cloud’
• tofeʔ ‘saliva’ < *si(mb,p)atV
• lo- ‘take’ < *(nd,t)a-
• munduŋ ‘inner yolk of egg’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
• go ‘2sg’ < *ŋga
• hɔmo- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• bɔriʔ ‘glitter, flash of lightning’ < *(m,mb)elak ‘light, lightning’
• mi ‘not’ < *ma- ‘not’
• maŋu(zo) ‘to vomit’ < *mV(k,ŋ)V t(e,i)-
• ame(ʔ) ‘breast’ < *amu
• tsimin(uŋ) ‘stiff coarse hair’ < *[nd,s]umu[n,t]V ‘hair’
• imeŋ ‘louse’ < *iman ‘louse’
• no ‘1sg’ < *na ‘1sg’
• nɔ- ‘eat’ < *na-

Selepet language:

• balam ‘flame’ < *mbalaŋ
• (ni)bilim ‘tongue’ < *mbilaŋ
• kɔlɔp ‘fire’ < *kend(o,u)p
• kɔlip ‘long’ < *kuta(mb,p)(a,u)
• irak ‘new’ < *kVtak
• sak ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asin
• somot ‘hair’ < *(s,nd)umu(n,t)[V]
• madu ‘orphan’ < *masi
• si- ‘burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)- ‘burn’
• ga ‘2sg’ < *ŋga
• kaku- ‘carry on shoulder’ < *kakV-
• kɔu ‘ashes’ < *kambu ‘ashes’
• belek ‘lightning’ < *(m,mb)elak
• ibi ‘name’ < *imbi
• mete ‘forehead’ < *me(n,t)e ‘head’
• man- ‘live, dwell’ < *mVn[a]-
• imen ‘louse’ < *iman ‘louse’
• (n)am ‘breast, milk’ < *amu ‘breast’

References