| Altname | Grime River |
|---|---|
| Region | Grime-Nawa Valley, Jayapura Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia |
| Familycolor | Papuan |
| Fam 1 | Northwest Papuan? |
| Fam 2 | Foja Range (Tor–Kwerba) |
| Glotto | nimb1257 |
| Glottorefname | Nimboranic |
The Nimboran languages are a small family of Papuan languages, spoken by the Nimboran people in the Grime River and Nawa River watershed in Jayapura Regency, that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal. However, when proto-Nimboran pronouns are reconstructed (*genam "I" and kom or komot "thou"), they have little resemblance to the proto-TNG pronouns *na and *ga. Usher places them in a North Papuan stock that resembles Cowan's proposal.[1]
Foley (2018) classifies the Nimboran languages separately as an independent language family.[2]
Classification
The languages are:[1]
- Nimboran (Grime River)
Proto-language
Pronouns
The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for proto-Nimboran are,
- {| class=wikitable
|- | I || *genam |- | thou || *kom, komot |- | s/he || ? |}
Below are pronouns in the Nimboran languages as given by Foley (2018):[2]
- {|
|+ Nimboran pronouns ! !! Nimboran !! Kemtuik !! Gresi !! Mlap !! Mekwei |- ! 1excl | ngo || gənam || ganam || ngam || kə ~ kat |- ! 1incl | yo || imot || || |- ! 2 | ko || mot || ko || kom || kmot |- ! 3 | no || nemot || || |}
As in Kaure, pronouns are not specified for number in the Nimboran language.[2]
Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[1]
- {| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Proto-Grime River |- | head || *jaŋkaMBʉ |- | leaf/head hair || *ndɜp |- | ear || *kam[a/ɔ]; *kəni[n/ŋ] |- | eye || *namuɔ |- | tooth || *səɺiŋ; *wasəɺa[ŋ] |- | tongue || *anəmbəɺ[i/ɛ]ŋ; *mambəɺ[ɜ/ɔ]p |- | foot/leg || *masi |- | blood/red || *kin |- | seed/bone || *ndɜn |- | skin/bark || *asu[p/k] |- | breast/milk || *min |- | louse || *səna[ŋ] |- | dog || *unduɔ |- | pig || *inəmbuɔ |- | bird || *jʉ |- | egg || *səwip[i] |- | tree/wood || *ndi |- | man/male || *səɺu |- | woman || *kambuŋ; *ki |- | sun || *wɔj |- | moon || *mbanu |- | water/river || *mbu |- | fire || *kip; *kɜj |- | stone || *ndəmuɔ |- | path || *tap |- | name || *sʉ |- | eat || *ndam |- | one || *kapəɺaj[a] |- | two || *namuan |}
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1975),[3] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[4]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. yaŋkabu, iŋkabu for “head”) or not (e.g. kapray, tendu for “one”).
- {| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Gresi !! Kemtuik !! Mekwei !! Mlap !! Nimboran |- ! head | yaŋkabu || iŋkabu || yekembu || yaŋkambu || iŋgiambu |- ! hair | bətə-dop || dop || bəterep || məndü-pra || mendü-pro |- ! eye | nam || nmu-tugon || namo-den || nuŋgroŋ || nuŋgroŋ |- ! tooth | səriŋ || wasraŋ || siŋyaŋ || səriŋ-dowŋ || hriŋ-douŋ |- ! leg | masi || masi || masi || mesi || mesi |- ! louse | səna || səne || səne || səne || hnaŋ |- ! dog | udo || udo || ando || undo || unduo |- ! pig | nəmbu || nəmbo || mbo || ibo || ibwo |- ! bird | iü || iü || ü || iü || iü |- ! egg | si || si || səbi || süp || süp |- ! blood | kiŋ || kiŋ || kiŋ || kiŋ || kiŋ |- ! bone | don || don || den || dowŋ || douŋ |- ! skin | suk || saisuk || asuk || sup || sub |- ! tree | di || di || di || di || di-tim |- ! man | sərə || səruə || si || sru || hru |- ! sun | woy || woy || woy || woy || uai |- ! water | bu || bu || bu || bu || bu |- ! fire | koy || koy || kei-sini || kip || kip |- ! stone | dom || dəmu || dəmo || dəmu || demue |- ! name | sü || siü || siu || sü || sü |- ! eat | dam || dam || anime || dam || dam |- ! one | kray || kraya || kapray || tendu || tendü |- ! two | namon || namon || naman || namoŋ || namuan |}
References
- ^ Grime River[dead link]. New Guinea World.
- ^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. Vol. 4. The World of Linguistics. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- ^ Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-B31
- ^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
External links
- Nimboran word lists from Voorhoeve (1975) (TransNewGuinea.org)
- Grime River[dead link]. New Guinea World.