Karami language

Karami is an extinct and unclassified Papuan language of southern Papua New Guinea. It is attested from only a short word list, which include many loans from Foia Foia.^[3]

Geographical distribution

According to Flint (1919: 96), from which the only existing word list of Karami is available, Karami was spoken in the villages of Kikimairi and Aduahai, both located near Daru Station, "on the right-hand side (in the bush) of left branch of the Turama River, Western Division, Papua."^[4]

Classification

Although Franklin (1968; 1973: 269-273) classifies Karami as an Inland Gulf language,^[5][6] Usher and Suter (2015: 125) do not consider it to be part of the Anim languages, noting that there are many loanwords from Foia Foia.^[7]

Pawley and Hammarström (2018) treat Karami as a 'language isolate', though this is the wording used for languages that are not easily classified.^[8]

Vocabulary

Below is the word list of Karami from Flint (1919), which was recorded on October 12, 1917.^[4]

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! gloss !! Karami |- | sun || aimea |- | moon || kuwiri |- | star || bube |- | wind || urama |- | rain || darepu |- | night || duruki |- | land || borti |- | stone || agabu |- | hill || darai |- | water || auwo |- | river || dupa |- | fire || mavio |- | woman || kipa |- | man || sor |- | child || kikiwea |- | father || tore |- | mother || tukini |- | wife || kipa |- | friend || mabukari |- | chief || naramuabera |- | sorcerer || adura |- | blood || toki |- | bone || goni |- | skin || kebora |- | hair || epurupa |- | face || osomi |- | ear || kuse |- | eye || epegu |- | lip || magita |- | mouth || magetia |- | nose || wodi |- | tongue || muta |- | neck || dogodi |- | tooth || saku |- | arm || sibu |- | shoulder || binahiwe |- | elbow || po |- | finger || kimarari |- | thumb || tugeti |- | finger (1st-4th) || kimarari |- | hand || simai-a |- | leg || auni |- | foot || mea |- | belly || niro |- | breast || bodoro |- | nipple || kino |- | navel || dumu |- | pig || giromoi |- | dog || kso |- | wallaby || teberi |- | rat || suma |- | bird || kaimo |- | cassowary || koibo |- | fowl || beia |- | crocodile || ibirai |- | hornbill || kube-i |- | snake || wositari |- | fish || mini |- | louse || sugani |- | mosquito || kieono |- | forest || gamai-i |- | tree || sumari |- | sago || asiba |- | banana || imara |- | sugarcane || amoro |- | yam || kusu |- | sweet potato || ori |- | taro || orpuo |- | bamboo || bira |- | tobacco || warariga |- | village || kuni |- | house || ogota |- | path || ige |- | canoe || gipainoe |- | paddle || sitara |- | bow || tiri |- | arrow || bira |- | shield || siwi |- | no || wote |- | two || kipainoe |- | one || botie |- | three || kipai-ia |- | four || mosokoto |- | five || tuporo |- | seven || diri |- | eight || ma |- | nine || ta-o |- | ten || taura |- | twenty || magagai |- | I || torgue |- | thou || kuria |}

References

1. ^ Moseley, Christopher (ed.) (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-56331-4. OCLC ocm47983733
2. ^
3. ^ Usher, Timothy. Inland Gulf family^{[dead link]}. New Guinea World.
4. ^ Flint, L. A. 1919. Vocabularies: Daru station, Western Division. Papua. Annual Report for the Year 1917‒18, 96. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.
5. ^ Franklin, Karl J. 1968. Languages of the Gulf District: A preview. Papers in New Guinea Linguistics 8:17‒44. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
6. ^ Franklin, Karl J. 1973. Other language groups in the Gulf District and adjacent areas. In The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea, ed. by Karl J. Franklin, 263‒77. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
7. ^ Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter (2015) "The Anim Languages of Southern New Guinea". Oceanic Linguistics 54:110–142
8. ^ Pawley, Andrew & Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. Vol. 4. The World of Linguistics. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.