Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
The Mount Sisa family consists of two closely-related languages, Bedamuni (Bedamini, Beami, Biami) and Edolo (Etolo, Etoro,) spoken on the Papuan Plateau to the west and south of Mount Haliago (Mount Sisa) on either side of the border between Papua New Guinea's Western and Hela (formerly Southern Highlands) provinces.
The internal classification of Mount Sisa is as follows:
Mount Sisa
Bedamuni
Edolo
Shaw (1986: 53) counts a lexicostastical resemblance of 67% between Bedamini and Etoro.
McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970) includes Bedamini comparisons as well as some Etoro examples
Franklin and Voorhoeve (1973: 176-181) 81 comparative terms for Beami including some Etoro examples
Franklin ed. (1973: 561-562) 97 comparative terms for Biami
Voorhoeve (1975: 393) grammar sketch of Beami
Shaw (1986: 64, 65) 100 comparative terms for Bedamini and Etoro
Purnell (1988) sociolinguistic survey of Etoro (unobtained)
Rule and Rule (1989) phonology and grammar sketch of of Edolo (unobtained)
Gossner (1992) sketch phonology of Edolo (unobtained)
Gossner (1993) underspecification in Edolo (unobtained)
Gossner (1993) vowel epenthesis in Edolo (unobtained)
Gossner (1994) grammar of eastern Edolo of Aya village
Gossner (1995) addenda to grammar of Edolo
Gossner (1998) phonology of eastern Edolo of Aya and Emelefo villages
Gossner and Rule (2004) sketch phonology of eastern Edolo
Gossner (2016) 2,489 terms for eastern Edolo
Hoey and Hoey (1998) dictionary of Bedamuni
Hoey and Hoey (1998) grammar of Be'damuni
[under construction]
Proto-Mount Sisa had 11 consonants and … vowels as follows:
| *m | *n | |||
| *p | *t | *k | ||
| *f | *s | *h | ||
| *w | *ɺ | *j |
| *i | *u | |
| *e̝ | *o̝ | |
| *ɛ | *ɔ | |
| *a |
Vowels are further distinguished by the presence vs. absence of nasalization:
| *i | *ĩ |
| *u | *ũ |
| *e̝ | *ẽ̝ |
| *o̝ | *õ̝ |
| *ɛ | *ɛ̃ |
| *ɔ | *ɔ̃ |
| *a | *ã |
…
…
… correspond as follows:
| Mount Sisa | Bedamuni | Edolo |
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… |
… correspond as follows:
| Mount Sisa | Bedamuni | Edolo |
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… | ||
| *… |
These correspondences are exemplified as follows, with Bedamuni attestations drawn from Hoey and Hoey (1998) and Edolo from Gossner (2016.)
…
…:
| Mount Sisa | Bedamuni | Edolo | |
| *… | |||
| *… |
[under construction]
… with Bedamuni attestations drawn from Hoey and Hoey (1998: 31, q.v. Voorhoeve 1975: 393) and Edolo from Gossner (1994: 66-70):
| Mount Sisa | Bedamuni | Edolo | |
| 1 sg. | *… | ni; na | nɛ |
| 2 sg. | *ti | ti | ti |
| 3 sg. | *ɛ | ɛ | ɛ |
| 1 pl. | *nĩ-ɺi | ni-ni | ni-ɺĩ |
| 2 pl. | *ti-ɺi | ti-ɺi | ti-ɺi |
| 3 pl. | *i-ɺi | i-ɺi | i-ɺi |
| 1 dl. | *ã-ɺi | a-ni | a-ɺĩ |
| 2 dl. | *a-ɺi | a-ɺi | a-ɺi |
| 3 dl. | *ɛ-ɺɛ | ɛ-ɺɛ | ɛ-ɺɛ |
…
| Mount Sisa | Bedamuni | Edolo | |
| 1 sg. | *nV-a | n-a | n-a |
| 2 sg. | *ti-a | ti-a | ti-a |
| 3 sg. | *ɛ-a | ɛ-a | ɛ-a |
| 1 pl. | *nĩ-ɺi-a | ni-ni-a | ni-ɺĩ-a |
| 2 pl. | *ti-ɺi-a | ti-ɺi-a | ti-ɺi-a |
| 3 pl. | *i-ɺi-a | i-ɺi-a | i-ɺi-a |
| 1 dl. | *ã-ɺi-a | a-ni-a | a-ɺĩ-a |
| 2 dl. | *a-ɺi-a | a-ɺi-a | a-ɺi-a |
| 3 dl. | *ɛ-ɺɛ-a | ɛ-ɺɛ-a | ɛ-ɺɛ-a |
…
[under construction]
…
[under construction]
…