East Kainantu

Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute

The East Kainantu family is comprised of perhaps five languages spoken in the Kainantu and Okapa subdistricts of Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highland's province and in the Kaiapit subdistrict of Morobe province, just west of the Markham river valley and south of the Markham-Ramu divide.

The internal classification of East Kainantu is as follows:

East Kainantu

Waffa

Afaqina-Tairora

Afaqina (Binumarien)

Tairora

North Tairora

Omwunra

Vinaata

Capell (1948-1949: 350-354) pronouns and 118 comparative terms for Taiora (North Tairora) and pronouns and 90 comparative terms for Binumarian

Vincent and Vincent (1961) (North) Tairora final verbs (unobtained)

Vincent and Vincent (1962) verbal morphology and syntax of (North) Tairora (unobtained)

Vincent and Vincent (1962) phonology of (North) Tairora (unobtained)

Vincent and Vincent (1964) grammar of (North) Tairora

Vincent and Vincent (1968) grammar of (North) Tairora (unobtained)

Vincent (1973: 530-546) nominal morphology of (North) Tairora of Bantura village

Vincent (1973: 561-587) verbal morphology of (North) Tairora

Vincent, compiler (1973: 625-688) (North) Tairora texts

Vincent (1994) dictionary of (North) Tairora

Vincent and Vincent (1994) sketch phonology of Northern Tairora

Vincent and Vincent (1994) sketch phonology of Obura-To'okena

Vincent and Vincent (1994) sketch phonology of Vinata

Vincent (2010) dictionary and grammar of (North) Tairora of Vaantura village, including some forms from Kuvaira (Suwaira) village

McKaughan (1964: 98-121) includes 546 comparative terms for (North) Tairora of Batainabura village, reprinted in McKaughan ed. (1973: 694-738)

McKaughan (1973: 588-597) (North) Tairora sequential clauses

Oatridge and Oatridge (1965) Binumarien final verb morpholoogy

Oatridge (n.d.) Binumarien nominal morphology

Bee (1966) grammar of Binumarien following Oatridge and Oatridge

Oatridge and Oatridge (1967: 13-21) phonology of Binumarien of Oníkurádarannai village, reprinted in McKaughan ed. (1973: 517-522)

Oatridge, Oatridge and Healey (1973: 557-560) Binumarien nominal morphology

Stringer and Hotz (1969) Waffa verbal morphology and verb phrases

Hotz and Stringer (1970) discourse grammar of Waffa

Stringer and Hotz (1971: 42-48) phonology of Waffa of Kusing village, reprinted in McKaughan ed. (1973: 523-529)

Stringer and Hotz (1971: 49-62) Waffa nominal morphology, reprinted in McKaughan ed. (1973: 547-556)

Stringer and Hotz (1971) Waffa clauses

Stringer and Hotz (1979) dictionary of central Waffa

Hotz and Stringer, compilers (n.d.) Waffa texts

Stringer (1992) sketch phonology of Waffa

Bee (1965: 1-37) 58 (North) Tairora and 47 Binumarien reflexes of proto-Kainantu, reprinted in McKaughan ed. (1973: 739-768)

Kerr (1973: 598-624) verbal subjects for Obura (Omwunra)

Kerr (1973: 769-799) 35 (North) Tairora and 32 Binumarien reflexes of proto-Kainantu kin terms

Gajudsek (1980) brief ethnological description and a few words for Pinata (Viinata)

Xiao (1990) comparison of Binumarien with Awa and Hua

[under construction]

Proto-East Kainantu had 8 consonants, 6 simple vowels and 4 diphthongs as follows:

Apical non-stop /*ɾ/ does not occur initially. Otherwise, any consonant can occur initially or medially. Consonants do not occur word-finally.

Vowels /*i *ɐ *u/ are inherently short and /*e: *o: *ɑ:/ are inherently long …. This distinction is explicitly specified for Afaqina (Binumarien) (Oatridge and Oatridge CITE) and evident in Waffa (Stringer and Hotz 1979: ibid.) and is also found in West Kainantu … Diphthongs /*iᵄ *uᵄ *ɐⁱ *ɐᵘ/ group in several phonotactic respects with the simple long vowels against the short vowels … Initial short vowels can be dropped (below) but long vowels and diphthongs are never dropped … conversely, thematic long vowels or diphthongs can induce the loss of initial short vowels in some enviroments … Verb stems must end in short vowels, not long vowels or diphthongs …

…

…

Word-initial consonants correspond as follows:

Intervocalic consonants, whether root-medial or root-initial following a prefix, correspond as follows:

Medial consonant clusters with syllable-final /*N/ correspond as follows:

Medial consonant clusters with syllable-final stop /*ʔ/ correspond as follows:

Vowels and diphthongs correspond as follows:

These correspondences are exemplified as follows, with Waffa attestations drawn from Stringer and Hotz (1973: 523-529, 547-558, 1979: ibid.) North Tairora of Vaantura from Vincent (2010 ibid.) and Afaqina from Oatridge and Oatridge (1973: 517-522, Bee 1973: 745-759, Kerr 776-795, unattributed n.d.) and Capell (1948-1948: 350-354.)

Vaantura rather than Proto-Tairora is presented here because Omwunra and Viinata are very scantily attested, such that most Proto-Tairora forms would be derived from Vaantura and outcomparison alone. Where a Vaantura segment is known to continue a more archaic proto-Tairora value, this is signified.

As data for Afaqina is quite limited, gaps in attestation are not necessarily meaningful and aren't reliable guides for cognate frequencies.

Initial bilabial nasal /*m/ …:

Two verbs … /*m/ …:

… /*m/ … /*m₂/:

… /*m/ …:

Initial apical nasal /*n/ is lenited to nasal flap /ᵰ/ in Waffa:

In the Waffa form of the first person singular, initial /*n/ is not lenited:

In Waffa kin terms … /*n/ … Note suppletion in the terms for “older sister”:

One example … /*n/ …:

One example … /*n/ …:

Initial bilabial stop /*p/ …:

In Waffa kin terms … /*p/ … the regular reflex of cluster /*Np/ (below) when formerly preceded by a dropped initial /*i/ (below):

… /*p/ … /*p₂/ …:

… /*p/ … /*p₃/ …:

… /*p/ … /*p₄/ …:

… /*p/ … /*p₅/ … It seems very likely that these are loans …:

…:

Initial apical stop /*t/ …:

In a minority of examples, /*t/ is unexpectedly reflected as glottal stop /ʔ/ in Tairora, a change which characterizes not only Afaqina but also Kambaira immediately to the northeast. It's not clear whether these should be viewed as loans from these relatively poorly documented languages into Tairora, or as an affectation introduced by their speakers. This correspondence is shown as /*t₂/ since its historic identity with /*t/ is not in question:

… /*t/ … /*t₃/ …:

… /*t/ …:

… special case … /*t/ … when followed by nasal cluster /*Np/ is reflected as velar /k/ in all descendants:

Initial laminal /*s/ is deoccluded to /h/ in Vaantura, reflecting Proto-Tairora /*s/:

Initial bilabial non-stop /*w/ is occluded to [β] in Waffa and in Tairora, and fricated to [ɸ] in Binumarien in parallel with the reflexes of palatal /*j/ (below):

… /*w/ … /*w₂/ …:

Apical non-stop /*ɾ/ does not occur initially.

Initial palatal non-stop /*j/ is occluded to velar stop /k/ in Vaantura, reflecting Proto-Tairora /*j/, and fricated to laminal /s/ in Afaqina:

In Waffa kin terms … /*j/ … the regular reflex of cluster /*Nj/ (below):

… /*j/ … /*j₂/ … :

… /*j/ …:

In addition to these, there are several correspondences which cannot be traced back to proto-Eastern Highlands. They have so far been identified only initially, but that does not preclude them from having occurred medially, though it is doubtful that they would been affected by or support the medial cluster rules which govern native words.

… /*h/ …:

…:

…:

Intervocalic bilabial nasal /*m/ …:

… /*m/ …:

… /*m/ …:

…:

Intervocalic apical nasal /*n/ …:

… /*n/ …:

… /*n/ …:

… /*n/ …:

… /*n/ …:

Intervocalic bilabial stop /*p/ …:

In one example …:

… /*p/ … /*p₂/ …:

… /*p/ … /*p₅/ …:

Intervocalic apical stop /*t/ …:

… /*t/ … /*t₂/ …:

… /*t/ … /*t₃/ …:

Intervocalic laminal /*s/ …:

Intervocalic bilabial non-stop /*w/ …:

… /*w/ …:

Intervocalic apical non-stop /*ɾ/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

… /*ɾ/ …:

Intervocalic palatal non-stop /*j/ …:

… /*j/ …:

… /*j/ … /j₂/ …:

… medial consonant clusters with syllable-final /*N/ …:

… /*Nm/ …:

… /*Nm/ …:

… /*Nn/ …:

… /*Np/ … The Kuvaira dialect of North Tairora merges Tairora prenasalized /*ŋk/ with plain stop /k/ as does Omwunra (not shown here;) since these Kuvaira variants are generally given in Vincent (2010 ibid.) where they are known, they are presented here in their own column:

… /*Nt/ … The Kuvaira dialect of North Tairora merges Tairora prenasalized /*nt/ with plain stop /t/ as does Omwunra (not shown here;) since these Kuvaira variants are generally given in Vincent (2010 ibid.) where they are known, they are presented here in their own column. This does not occur with the reflexes of /*ʔn/ (above) which remain /nt/ in Kuvaira:

… /*Nt/ …:

… /*Ns/ …:

… /*Nw/ …:

… /*Nj/ …:

… medial consonant clusters with syllable-final /*ʔ/ …:

There has not yet been found direct confirmation of the quality of … /*ʔm/ …:

… /*ʔn/ …:

… /*ʔp/ …:

… /*ʔt/ …:

… /*ʔs/ …:

… /*ʔw/ …:

… /*ʔj/ …:

… /*ʔj/ …:

While the realizations of consonants (above) vary a great deal, the vowels, three short vowels /*i *u *ɐ/, three long vowels /*e: *o: *ɑ:/ and four diphthongs /*iᵄ *uᵄ *ɐⁱ *ɐᵘ/, are carried forward with very little modification in all descendants. The most significant change is the loss of unstressed initial short vowels in Waffa and Tairora (below.)

High front vowel /*i/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

Unstressed initial /*i/ …:

… /*i/ …:

… /*i/ …:

In a number of examples, final /*i/ is neutralized to /ɐ/ in Afaqina and Tairora:

There are many more examples in which final /*i/ is retained in this position …:

High back vowel /*u/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

… unstressed initial /*u/ …:

In one example, …:

Mid central vowel /*ɐ/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

Unstressed initial /*ɐ/ …:

… initial /*ɐ/ …:

Long mid front vowel /*e:/ is retained as such in all descendants:

Long mid back vowel /*o:/ is retained as such in all descendants:

Long low central vowel /*ɑ:/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

… /*ɑ:/ …:

Diphthong /*iᵄ/ is fronted to [ie:] in Waffa and to [ia] in Afaqina:

Diphthong /*uᵄ/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

Diphthong /*ɐⁱ/ is retained as such in all descendants:

Diphthong /*ɐᵘ/ is generally retained as such in all descendants: