Not to be confused with the Maiduan languages.
Mailuan
AltnameCloudy Bay
RegionSoutheastern peninsula of Papua New Guinea:
Central Province
FamilycolorPapuan
Fam 1Trans–New Guinea
Fam 2Papuan Peninsula
Fam 3Owen Stanley Range[1]
Fam 4Mailu–Yareban
Glottomail1249
GlottorefnameMailuan

The Mailuan or Cloudy Bay languages are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken around Cloudy Bay in the "Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea.

Languages

The languages, which all share about half of their vocabulary, are,

Bauwaki–O'oku is closely related to the Mailuan languages.

Classification

Dutton (1971) said Bauwaki was a link to the Yareban languages. It has greater lexical similarity with Aneme Wake (Yareban) than the closest Mailuan language, Domu. Usher (2020) classifies Mailuan, Bauwaki and Yareban together.[1]

Magi shows evidence of language shift from an Oceanic language in many Oceanic words.

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the proto-Mailuan–Yareban pronouns as:[1]

{|

! !!sg!!du!!pl |- !1excl |rowspan=2|*na || ||*ge |- !1incl |*gu||*i |- !2 |*ga|| ||*ja |- !3 |*e|| ||*ema |}

Ross (1995) reconstructs the Mailuan pronouns as:

{|

! !!sg!!du!!pl |- !1 |*i||*gu-||*ge |- !2 |*ga||*[j]a||*[j]a, *mee |- !3 | ||*emu |}

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Thomson (1975)[2] and various SIL field notes, as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[3]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. kuma, uma, tuma for “louse”) or not (e.g. baka, ulim, muruu for “egg”).

glossBauwakiBinahariMailu[4]Mailu
(Delebai d.)		Mailu
(Asiaoro d.)		Mailu
(Baibara d.)		Mailu
(Geagea d.)		Mailu
(Ilai d.)		Mailu
(Domara d.)		Morawa
headawarasolmoru; urumorumorumoruioruilolomorudin
hairi'irigitlimuuʔuruliʔimulimuʔuʔuruliʔimuʔurubo
earomeofiopeʔopeʔopeʔopeʔopeʔopeʔopeope
eyeni'abaniiniiniiniiniiniiniininikaba
noseirulilimdurumudurumudurumudurumudurumudurumudurumudunun
toothni'omaʔagagina; maamaʔamaʔamaʔamaʔamaʔamaʔama'akisa
tonguemeanakobagobagobagobagobagobagobagobagoba
legdoboroaᵘʔauʔauʔauʔauʔauʔauau
lousekumaumatumatumatumatumatumatumatumatuma
dogwa'aiwaʔaⁱwaaiwaʔaidariwaʔaidaridaridariva'ai
pigboroboroboraʔaboraʔaboraʔaboraʔatalaenatu
birdadauadaᵘmanumanumanumanumanumanumanuadau
eggbakaulimmuruumuruʔumuruʔumuruʔumuruʔumuruʔumuruʔuunimi
blooddanalalalalalalalalalalalala
bonei sagisakisakisatarakisakisakisairiga
skinofeofiopiʔopiʔopiʔopiʔopiʔopiʔopiubu
breastamaⁱamahamaamaamaamaamaamaamaama
treeanaʔanaanaanaanaanaanaanaana
manemeɛmɛkʰegiegiegiegiegiegiegiemegi
womanavekaavehaavesaavesaavesaavesaavesaavesaaveha
skynogaranogaranogaranogaranogaranogaranogara
sunevakabudiwaninaninaninaninaninaninarina
moonmanabedebaʔaʰdoveledoveledoveledoveledoveledeveni
waterya'ayaʔahaʔaʔma; mamiʔaʔamaʔaʔamaʔaʔamaʔaʔamaʔaʔamaʔaʔamaya'ama
fireyokɛueueueueueueubadaueu
stoneomabagᵃbudi; nabua;
gomagomana		gomanagomanagomanagomanakoraukorao
road, pathda'abalegaʰlaealaealaealaealaealaealaeanara
nameibiimomuomuomuomuomuomuomu
eatisikihiisiisiisiisiisiisiisiisiisiisiisiisiʔiʔaisi
onedim daiopmigauomuʔomuʔomuʔomuʔomuʔomuʔomuobumiya
twoyarahaᵘřaavaʔavaʔavaʔavaʔavaʔavaʔavahauna

Additional word lists can be found in Ray (1938).[5]

Evolution

Mailuan reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[6]

Mailu language:

  • ama ‘breast’ < *amu
  • maa ‘mouth’ < *maŋgat[a]
  • kisa ‘bone’ < *kondaC
  • tupa ‘short’ < *tu(p,mb)a(C)
  • guia ‘cassowary’ < *ku(y)a

Bauwaki language:

  • baba ‘father’ < *mbapa
  • idi ‘hair’ < *iti[C]
  • (ine) ibi ‘name’ < *imbi
  • iini- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)-

References

Notes

  1. ^ New Guinea World, Owen Stanley Range[dead link]
  2. ^ Thomson, N.P. "The Dialects of Magi". In Conrad, R., Dye, W., Thomson, N. and Bruce Jr., L. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 18. A-40:37-90. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-A40.37
  3. ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  4. ^ Saville, W. J. V. 1912. A Grammar of the Mailu Language, Papua. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 42: 397-436.
  5. ^ Ray, Sidney H. 1938. The languages of the Eastern and South-Eastern Division of Papua. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 68: 153–208.
  6. ^ 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.