====== West Kainantu ======

Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute

===== Situation =====
The West Kainantu family is comprised of perhaps nine languages spoken in the Kainantu, Okapa and Obura-Wonenara subdistricts of Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highlands province.

===== Subclassification =====
The internal classification of West Kainantu is as follows:\\
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West Kainantu

North Kainantu

Agarabi

Kambaira

Gadsup

Oyana

Ontena

Akuna-Tompena

Central and South Kainantu

Central Kainantu

Awiyaana

Usarufa

South Kainantu

Awa

Oweina\\
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The placement of Oyana above is based upon McKaughan (1964: 99-101, 1973: xvi, 403, 695-698, 699) and Frantz (1976: 75,) as no Oyana data is available to us at this time.\\
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Wurm (q.v. McKaughan 1973: 698) …:

|< - 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px >|
|      |  Gadsup  |  Oyana  |  Auyana  |  Awa  |
|Gadsup|   ---    |   69    |    46    |   ?   |
|Oyana |    69    |   ---   |    53    |   ?   |
|Auyana|    46    |   53    |   ---    |  46   |
|Awa   |    ?     |    ?    |    46    |  ---  |

(Gadsup i.e. Akuna)\\
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McKaughan (1964: 99-101, 1973: 695-698) calculates lexicostatistical resemblances between nine West Kainantu villages as follows:

|< - 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px 60px >|
|      |       |  Gadsup  |         |           |  Auyana   |          |          |   Awa   |          |          |
|      |       |  Oyana   |  Akuna  |  Tompena  |  Kawaina  |  Kosena  |  Asempa  |  Tauna  |  Ilakia  |  Mobuta  |
|Gadsup|Oyana  |   ---    |  85.7   |   84.7    |   70.4    |   72.2   |   71.4   |  66.7   |   63.5   |   63.5   |
|      |Akuna  |   85.7   |   ---   |   97.9    |   65.6    |   66.3   |   67.7   |  66.0   |   63.9   |   63.3   |
|      |Tomp.  |   84.7   |  97.9   |    ---    |   64.6    |   65.3   |   69.4   |  64.6   |   63.5   |   61.8   |
|Auyana|Kawaina|   70.4   |  65.6   |   64.6    |    ---    |   93.9   |   91.9   |  76.3   |   73.2   |   72.4   |
|      |Kosena |   72.2   |  66.3   |   65.3    |   93.9    |   ---    |   97.9   |  76.0   |   73.9   |   71.9   |
|      |Asempa |   71.4   |  67.7   |   69.4    |   91.9    |   97.9   |   ---    |  78.3   |   75.2   |   74.2   |
|Awa   |Tauna  |   66.7   |  66.0   |   64.6    |   76.3    |   76.0   |   78.3   |   ---   |   82.6   |   86.3   |
|      |Ilakia |   63.5   |  63.9   |   63.5    |   73.2    |   73.9   |   75.2   |  92.6   |   ---    |   88.4   |
|      |Mobuta |   63.5   |  63.3   |   61.8    |   72.4    |   71.9   |   74.2   |  86.3   |   88.4   |   ---    |

===== Sources =====
**[under construction]**\\
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…

===== Historical phonology =====
**[under construction]**\\
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Proto-West Kainantu had 8 consonants and 6 vowels as follows:

|< - 60px 60px 60px >|
|  *m  |  *n  |      |
|  *p  |  *t  |  *s  |
|  *w  |  *ɾ  |  *j  |


|< - 60px 60px 60px >|
|  *i   |       |  *u   |
|  *e:  |  *ɐ   |  *o:  |
|       |  *ɑ:  |       |

In addition to the simple vowels above, four diphthongs occur:

|< - 60px 60px >|
|  *ɐⁱ   |  *ɐᵘ  |
|  *o:ⁱ  |       |
|  *ɑ:ⁱ  |       |

…\\
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Only a restricted set of consonants occurs finally. Finals /*N/ and /*ʔ/ are archiphonemes resulting from the conflation of nasals and stops respectively in final position:

|< - 60px 60px >|
|  *N  |      |
|  *ʔ  |      |
|  *ɾ  |  *j  |

…\\
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Bee's (1965: 1-37, 1973: 739-768) reconstruction of Eastern Family, while formally including Tairora and Afaqina (Binumarien,) is in most respects a reconstruction of West Kainantu. Bee's values are not unreasonable, but are not entirely consistent, and are based upon too few (60) comparative terms to support a reliable system. Equivalences between the values adopted here and those of Bee are as follows:

|< - 60px 60px >|
|  Usher  |   Bee   |
|   *m    |  *m *b  |
|   *n    |   *n    |
|   *p    |   *p    |
|   *t-   |   *k    |
|  *-t-   |  *r *d  |
|   *s    |   *t    |
|   *s    |   *h    |
|   *w-   |   *kw   |
|  *-w-   |   *w    |
|   *ɾ    |   *d    |
|   *j    |   *j    |
|   *-ø   |   *-V   |
|   *-N   |   *-N   |
|   *-ʔ   |   *-Q   |
|   *-ɾ   |   *-V   |
|   *-j   |   *-V   |
|   *i    |   *i    |
|   *u    |   *u    |
|   *ɐ    |  *ə *a  |
|   *e:   |   *e    |
|   *o:   |   *o    |
|   *ɑ:   |   *ɔ    |
|   *ɐⁱ   |   ---   |
|   *ɐᵘ   |   *au   |
|  *o:ⁱ   |   *oi   |
|  *ɑ:ⁱ   |   ---   |

…\\
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…

===== Pronouns =====
**[under construction]**\\
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…

===== Verbal morphology =====
**[under construction]**\\
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…\\
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