Table of Contents

East South Bird's Head

Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute

Situation

The East South Bird's Head family is comprised of six languages spoken along the south coast of New Guinea's Bird's Head peninsula, with one language, Kemberano, also spoken immediately across the Maccluer Gulf on the Bomberai peninsula.

Subclassification

The internal classification of East South Bird's Head is as follows:

East South Bird's Head

Kais

Iwaro (Puragi)

Kaburi

Kokoda-Arandai

Kokoda

Dombano-Kemberano

Dombano

Kemberano

Berry and Berry (1987: 84) provide lexical similarity figures for nine East South Bird's Head villages as follows, with Kokoda represented by Kasuweri, Tarof and Negri Besar villages, Dombano by Tomu and Kemberano by Kalitami and Wariagar:

Kais Puragi Kaburi Kasuweri Tarof Negri B. Tomu Kalitami Wariagar
Kais — 28 32 28 45 30 45 41 41
Puragi 28 — 48 34 50 41 50 30 38
Kaburi 32 48 — 46 48 46 48 38 37
Kasuweri 28 34 46 — 86 77 56 55 53
Tarof 45 50 48 86 — 82 63 70 67
Negri B. 30 41 46 77 82 — 57 71 60
Tomu 45 50 48 56 63 57 — 71 66
Kalitami 41 30 38 55 70 71 71 — 86
Wariagar 41 38 37 53 67 60 66 86 —

Sources

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Historical phonology

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Dombano (Sebyar) forms are drawn from Voorhoeve (1985: 23-38.) All other forms presented below are drawn from Berry and Berry (1987: 99-117) unless otherwise indicated; those drawn from Voorhoeve (1985: 23-38) and de Vries (2004: 130-137) are marked [cv] and [ldv] respectively.

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East SBHKais Kaburi IwaroKokoda DombanoKemberano
*m
nose*mitob mitubumitowi [ldv]miobi
moon*mo[k/q]mokwo mo'ko [cv]
path*aum aumu aumi [ldv] aumi 'amia [ldv] ame [cv]

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East SBH Kais Kaburi Iwaro Kokoda Dombano Kemberano
*n
tongue *nun nuno nuni nuni nini 'nune nune
one *onat onate onasia onate anate
person *danet daneta daneʔi danetia 'danet danetu
bird *kanen karinu konini kaɲiɲi kanenu ka'neno kanine
fog/mist*sap[a/o]n haponi [w]ta'panɔ [ldv]ta'pana [ldv]
sea *s[a]wan sawano tuano tuane
fly (n.)*[k/q]ararenkareinu kararen kara'renokararene
tree *qemin keiminukimini ɛ'mini [ldv] kemini ke'mino kemine
tooth *resin
man *rabin rabine rafini ravini nabini(ja) 'rabini rabine
leaf *ron runu rona roni nonia rone

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East SBHKaisKaburiIwaro Kokoda DombanoKemberano
*p p p
fog/mist*s[a]pan ta'panɔ [ldv]ta'pana [ldv]

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East SBHKais Kaburi Iwaro Kokoda DombanoKemberano
*t t t ʔ [ʔ ø]t t t
sun *teg[ed]tefe egedi
bow/arrow*taur tauru [c&v] taure [cv]
bone *toq toko toʔa toka(ija)to'ke toke
nose *mitob mitubu mitowi [ldv]miobi
four *idat iɟati idaci i'dati idate
one *onat onate onasia onate anate
person *danet daneta daneʔi danetia 'danet danetu

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East SBHKais KaburiIwaro Kokoda Dombano Kemberano
*k k k k k k k
bird *kanen karinukoninikaɲiɲi kanenu ka'neno kanine
body hair/feather*karar kararo kararu ka'ra-umu [ldv]ka'rar ≈ kara'rokararo
louse *kon 'kɔnɔ [ldv]'kɔnɔ [ldv] 'kono ko'no [cv]
smoke *kukub kukubi kukubi kukubi
egg *wuk uku uko vuko ukwo 'kuo oku

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East SBHKais KaburiIwaro Kokoda DombanoKemberano
*q k k ø k k k
house*qein keini eino keni(a) keine
ear *qer[aw]kidabu kerawaerawa kera ke'ra kera
tree *qemin keiminukiminiɛ'mini [ldv]kemini ke'minokemine
bone *toq toko toʔa toka(ija)to'ke toke

Voiced bilabial stop /*b/ is fricated and aspirated to /f/ in Kais. This probably followed a previous stage in which it was realized as [β], as in Kemberano:

East SBHKais Kaburi Iwaro Kokoda DombanoKemberano
*b f b b […]b […] b b […]
heart *birad firare biraiɟi biradi(a) birare
new *bo-is bohi boisija 'bojti boite
flesh *ebuk fuko -bu'ke ovuke
fruit *ebuk fuko -fui vavuki bu'ko ovuku
thorn *bib fifo
bamboo*sobar sofaru [s&v]
black *ribin rififine rivi-riviniri'bi-

Loans from Malay are likewise affected:

PatipiKais KaburiIwaroKokodaDombanoKemberano
b f
stone'bati faitu

Apical voiced stop /*d/ is reflected as /r/ in Kais:

East SBHKais KaburiIwaro Kokoda DombanoKemberano
*d r d ʔ
free augment*-di -ri -ri -di; -ʔi [ldv] -di -ndi -di ≈ -ri; -ði [cv]
breast *did riro ɟizo diʔi; 'didɔ [ldv]didu du'do dido
person *danet danetadaneʔi danetia'danet danetu
four *idat iɟati idaci i'dati idate
heart *birad

Initial voiced velar stop /*g/ is preserved as such in all descendants:

East SBHKais KaburiIwaro Kokoda DombanoKemberano
*g g g g g
snake *ged gidu geidi
fat/grease*gew 'gewa [ldv]'gɛwa [ldv] ge'we [cv]

Medial /*g/ is reflected as /f/ in Kais. This probably followed a previous stage in which it was realized as [ɣ], as in Kemberano:

East SBH Kais KaburiIwaroKokodaDombanoKemberano
*g f gg g […]
sun*teg[ed] tefe egedi
dogropo [sic] erogaroga rokei

Loans from Malay are likewise affected:

PatipiKais KaburiIwaroKokodaDombanoKemberano
*gf
bigma'gɛnmafado maga

Compare Grass Koiari and Humene or the westernmost Oro languages for analagous mergers of peripheral non-stops.

Final /*g/ …:

East SBHKaisKaburiIwaroKokodaDombanoKemberano
*-g
two*[ou]g uge uge oge ogia o'gi oge

Fricative /*s/ is merged with /*t/ in Kokoda-Arandai:

East SBH Kais KaburiIwaro Kokoda Dombano Kemberano
*s s t [t s] t t
wipe/rub *si
lightning *sika ti'ka [cv]
wet *siriri hiriri tiriri-a ≈ siriri-jati'riri-etiriri
bird of paradise*sijaŋga tiaŋg-e [cv]
fog/mist *s[a]pan ta'panɔ [ldv]ta'pana [ldv]
water *sai sau taii ta'je taii
sea *sawan sawano tuano tuane
foot/leg *sor
sago palm *sowo(-mo) to'wo-mo to'wo  [cv]
wash
nail
foot/leg
vein
count
thorn
tooth
*-s-
new *(bo-)is iso bohi ito boisija 'bojti boite
nail *asi
count *mesi
same *resa
*-s
new *is
blood *a[m/p]as

Loans from Patipi are likewise affected:

PatipiKaisIwaroKaburiKokodaDombanoKemberano
s
salt
rattan/ropewaras wa'ratewa'rato [cv]

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East SBHKaisKaburiIwaroKokodaDombanoKemberano
*ts
die
vein
horn
tooth
smoke
hair

Bilabial fricative /ɸ/ in Patipi loans is reflected as /*w/ in Kokoda-Arandai, or dropped before /*u/:

Patipi KaisKaburiIwaro KokodaDombano Kemberano
*ɸ
stingray 'waido 'wajo
mosquito'kiɸen kivinokiki'binokivino
*ɸ/_u ø ø
banana 'ɸudi udi(a) u'ndi

Pronouns

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Nominal gender

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Verbal morphology

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