Grime River

Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute

The Grime River family, known in the comparative literature as the Nimboran family, consists of five languages spoken to either side of the Grime (Grimi) river to just inland of New Guinea's north coast west of Lake Sentani in Indonesia's Papuan province. Its nearest linguistic relatives are the Orya-Tor River and Mawes languages to the west.

The internal classification of Grime River is as follows:

Grime River

West Grime River

Namblong

Mlap

East Grime River

Moi

Gresi-Kemtuik

Gresi

Kemtuik

These subgroups are discernible through very salient splits in the basic termlist, with Moi forms drawn from Banundi (2002) and from Anceaux (Smits and Voorhoeve 1994):

[under construction]

Galis (1955) 29 comparative terms for Nimboran

Anceaux (1965) grammar of Nimboran

Voorhoeve (1975: 110) 40 comparative terms for Nimboran after Anceaux (n.d.)

Smits and Voorhoeve eds. (1994: 18-266) comparative vocabulary of Nambrong of Besym/Besum after an unnamed constable and of an unspecified variety of Nambrong after Anceaux (n.d.)

May and May (1981) phonology of Nimboran

May (1981) Nimboran kin terms

May (1997) grammar of Nimboran (Namblong)

Steinhauer (1995) Nimboran verbal morphology (unobtained)

Steinhauer (1998) Nimboran verbal morphology (unobtained)

Swan et al. (2015, 2016) picture dictionary of Namblong

Swan et al. (2015, 2016) Namblong reader

Swan et al. (2019) dictionary of Namblong

Swan et al. (2019) Namblong conjunctions

Swan et al. (2019) Namblong verbal morphology after May (1997)

Galis (1955) 28 comparative terms for Kwangsu

Voorhoeve (1975: 111) 40 comparative terms for Kwansu after Anceaux (n.d.)

Smits and Voorhoeve eds. (1994: 18-266) two comparative vocabularies for Kwansu of Bonggrang village after Anceaux (n.d.)

Althur (1992) phonology of Kwansu (unobtained)

Paidi (1999) morphology of Kwansu (unobtained)

Fakhihuddin (1999) Kwansu syntax (unobtained)

Galis (1955) 28 comparative terms for Demenggong

Voorhoeve (1975: 111) 40 comparative terms for Mekwei after Anceaux (n.d.)

Smits and Voorhoeve eds. (1994: 18-266) unattributed comparative vocabulary of Munggai of Kendate and two of Munggai of Waibron and one of Munggai of Sabron after Anceaux

Banundi (2002) Moi number system

Banundi (2002) dictionary of Moi

Banundi (2003) grammar of Moi

Galis (1955) 28 comparative terms for Kamtuk and 25 for Munggé

Voorhoeve (1975: 111) 40 comparative terms for Kamtuk after Anceaux (n.d.)

Smits and Voorhoeve eds. (1994: 18-266) two comparative vocabularies of Kamtuk of Sekori after unspecified teachers, one of Kamtuk of Sebayap and Aib after Toam, two of Kamtuk of Maikari after Anceaux and one of an unspecified variety after Anceaux

van der Wilden and van der Wilden (1975) phonology of Kemtuk

van der Wilden (1976) Kemtuk kinship terms

van der Wilden (1976) Kemtuk verbs

van der Wilden (1976) Kemtuk clauses (unobtained)

van der Wilden, van der Wilden, Yaboysembut, Marasian, Bemey and Hartzler (2008) dictionary of Kemtuik

Werner (1992) vocabulary of Kemtuik (unobtianed)

Werner and Healey (1993) Kemtuik case markers (unobtianed)

Voorhoeve (1975: 111) 40 comparative terms for Gresi after Anceaux (n.d.)

Smits and Voorhoeve eds. (1994: 18-266) comparative vocabulary of Gresik of Ibub and of two unspecified varieties after Anceaux

Purba, Paidi and Karoba (2002) grammar of Gresi

[under construction]

Proto-Grime River had 12 or 13 consonants and 7 or 8 vowels as follows:

In addition to the simple vowels given above, at least three diphthongs are found as follows:

With only two probably latter-day exceptions, velar nasal /*ŋ/ is found only finally. Thus it would be straightforward to consider in the final allophone of prenasalized voiced stop /*ŋg/ which like /*mb *nd/ does not otherwise occur finally; this is for example the solution which has been adopted for the Ok and Mek families to the south. However final /*ŋ/ is significantly more common than are initial and medial /*ŋg/, and unlike in Ok the dispositions of erstwhile finals /*mb *nd/ is not known; additionally there are a number of instances in which [ŋ] irregularly alternates with /*m/. We use <*ŋ> then in order to avoid committing to a solution which may not be historically accurate.

The vowel shown here as high-mid central <*ə> is better viewed as a schwa as it occurs only in destressed positions and thus cannot occur initially, finally or in monosyllables. As the only other vowel that occurs in these positions is /*a/, it is probable that [*ə] reflects the conflation of vowels other than /*a/ which have been destressed, and is thus not a real phoneme. However, it may not not possible in all instances to determine what the underlying vowel is or was and so <*ə> has been provisionally adopted.

Any consonant besides velar nasal /*ŋ/ can occur initially or medially. Only a restricted subset of consonants occurs finally:

Final /*s/ is found only in loans, where it becomes /si/ in Mekwei and Kemtuik but is droppped in Namblong

All Grime River languages have initial clusters synchronically, the most common being those of the form /Cɺ/, but these do not contrast with /*Cəɺ/ which otherwise would not exist and hence are reconstructed as such. Similarly, apparent clusters /*sm *sn/ can be reduced to /*səm *sən/ which become bonafide clusters only in Namblong.

There are a however a small number of clusters with reflexes that do contrast with those of their /*CəC/ counterparts. The following consonant clusters have been reconstructed for proto-Grime River:

Initial vowels are uncommon and in multisyllabic roots are often dropped. Only high vowels /*i *u/ and low central *a/ have been found initially. Generally speaking, medial and final vowels other than /*a/ occur only as the last vowel of the root and can be preceded only by initial vowels, destressed vowel [*ə] or /*a/; this is likely because all vowels besides /*a/ are neutralized to [*ə] in destressed positions. Thus four vowel position classes can be discerned: 1) stressed initial vowels /*i *u *a/, which occur only in monosyllables 2) destressed initial vowels /*i *u *a/ 3) medial vowels /*ə *a/ followed by another syllable and 4) medial and final vowels and diphthongs /*i *ʉ *u *ɛ *ɜ *ɔ *a *uɛ *uɔ *ua/ in the last syllable of the root.

This situation strongly suggests that diphthongs /*uɛ *uɔ *ua/ result from the metathesis of a back rounded vowel in a preceding syllable which has been reduced to [*ə], and indeed that probably is their origin in many to most instances. Van der Wilden (CITE) considers high central rounded /ʉ/ to be underlyingly a diphthonng /ui/, the distribution of which would work well with this hnypothesis. However, each of these occurs also in monosyllables and following /*a/ in a preceding syllable. This would seem to require that some examples of /*a/ were really low-mid back rounded /*ɔ/ which added an onglide [*ᵘ] to the vowel in the following syllable before being neutralized to /*a/ just as /*u/ was neutralized to [*ə]. This would not contradict the fact that /*uV/ diphthongs occur in monosyllables as /*ɔ/ does not otherwise occur initially, perhaps because it was dropped. This system as hypothethized is outlined as follows:

Roots have one to three syllables. Stress is contrastive in roots with two or three syllables and is among the most obvious features of Grtme River phonology.

Initial consonants correspond as follows:

Initial consonant clusters correspond as follows:

Medial consonants corespond as follows:

Final consonants correspond as follows:

Vowels and diphthongs correspond as follows:

There correspondences are exemplified as follows, with Namblong attestations drawn from Swan et al. (2019,) Kunagsu (Mlap) from Smits and Voorhoeve (1994 following Anceaux n.d.,) Moi from Banundi (2002,) Kemtuik from van der Wilden, van der Wilden, Yaboysembut, Marasian, Bemey and Hartzler (2008) and Gresi from Purba, Paidi and Karoba (2002) unless otherwise indicated. A minority of Namblong (Nimboran,) Moi (Mekwei,) Kemtuik (Kemtuk) and Gresi (Gresik) forms are drawn from Smits and Voorhoeve (1994 following Anceaux n.d.,) and are indicated by the notation [JA].

Any consonant excepting velar nasal /*ŋ/ can occur initially.

Initial bilabial nasal /*m/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

When initial /*m/ is followed by a destressed vowel [*ə] and then an apical non-stop /ɺ/ it is dropped in Namblong:

… /*m/ …:

One apparently irregular initial nasal is ambiguous between bilabial /*m/ and apical /*n/ (below):

Initial apical nasal /*n/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

… initial /*n/ …:

There is only one known example of apparent initial velar nasal /*ŋ/, which is probably a loan from Kwansu (where final /*k/ is not dropped) into Kemtuik. It is reflected as prenasalized voiced stop /ŋg/ in Namblong and as /ŋ/ in Kemtuik:

Initial bilabial voiceless stop /*p/ is retained as such in all descendants:

Initial apical voiceless stop /*t/ is retained as such in all descendants:

Initial laminal voiceless /*s/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

When intiial /*s/ is followed by a destressed vowel [ə] and then a nasal /*m *n/ or an apical non-stop /*ɺ/, it is deoccluded to [h] in alternation with zero [ø] in Namblong. As the segment /*səɺ/ is unexpectedly common and there are no segments of the form /*sət *sənd/, it seems probable that /*t *nd/ have merged with /*ɺ/ in this environment:

When intiial /*s/ is followed by low central vowel /*a/ in a multisyllabic root it is deoccluded to [h] in alternation with zero [ø] in Namblong (q.v. also Smits and Voorhoeve 1994: 135-136 Nimboran [haŋguo ~ haŋggu] “fly”):

When initial /*s/ is followed by destressed high front vowel /*i/ then prenasalized voiced velar stop /*ŋg/, /*ŋg/ becomes apical /*nd/ in languages other than Moi, forming a cluster with initial /*s/. In Namblong, /*s/ is then dropped, presumably after having been deoccluded to [h] (above,):

Initial velar voiceless stop /*k/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

Initial bilabial prenasalized voiced stop /*mb/ is realized as plain voiced [b] in all descendants:

Initial apical prenasalized voiced stop /*nd/ is realized as plain voiced [d] in all descendants:

Initial velar prenasailzed voiced stop /*ŋg/ is merged with voiceless /k/ in Moi and realized as plain voiced [g] in Kemtuik and Gresi:

Initial bilabial non-stop /*w/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

When initial segment /*wa/ is followed by low-mid back rounded vowel /*ɔ/ in the next syllable, it is reduced to /u/ in Namblong:

When intiial /*w/ is immediately followed by /*ɔ/ it is typically though not invariably dropped in Moi:

Initial apical non-stop /*ɺ/ is uncommon. It is merged with apical nasal /n/ in Moi:

Initial palatal non-stop /*j/ in monosyllabic roots is retained as such in all descendants:

In roots with more than one syllable, the initial sequence /*jV/ is usually though not invariably reduced to high front vowel /i/ in Gresi:

One example in which initial sequence /*ja/ is retained as such in Gresi is probably mandatorily a compound as evidenced by medial sequence [ŋk], though Anceaux also gives Gresik initial [i] (Smits and Voorhoeve 1994: 18-19):

Only one example of initial /*j/ followed by high central rounded vowel /*ʉ/ has been found, with idiosyncratic variations in several descendants. The originality of /*jʉ/ is supported by outcomparison to Tor River /*dzu/:

… initial consonant clusters …

Initial cluster /*km/ is reduced to /m/ in Kemtuik and to /h/ in Gresi, presumably via [hm] (cf. /*kn/ below;) the expected reflexes in Namblong and Kwansu are not known:

Initial cluster /*kn/ is reduced to /ŋ/ in Namblong and probably also in Kwansu (cf. /*ŋgn/ below,) to /n/ in Kemtuik and to /h/ in Gresi, presumably via [hn] (cf. /*km/ above):

Initial cluster /*ŋgn/ has been found only in the first person singular pronoun:

\Initial cluster /*ks/ is reduced to /s/ in all languages save Moi:

Any consonant besides velar nasal /*ŋ/ can occur medially.

Medial bilabial nasal /*m/ is retained as such in all descendants:

Medial apical nasal /*n/ is retained as such in all descendants:

…/*n/…:

There is only one known example of apparent medial velar nasal /*ŋ/, evidently a regional loan as may be seen in Anceaux (Smits and Voorhoeve 1994: 196-197) from Oceanic /*jaŋo/ (Ross CITE):

Medial bilabial voiceless stop /*p/ … With only one known exeption (below,) medial /*p/ is not found following nasalized segments /*mV *nV/:

… /*p/ …:

When preceded by initial segment /*kə/, medial /*p/ becomes /w/ in Namblong as well as in Kwansu, Kentuik and Gresi:

Another example in which medial /*p/ becomes /w/ in Namblong is probably a loan from Kemtuik or Gresi into Namblong:

…/*p/ …:

Three apparently irregular examples in which the Kemtuik medial is not lenited may be compounds or loans from Namblong and Moi into Kemtuik, or in the case of “metal” from some third source:

Besides the defective “day after tomorrow” (above,) there is only one known example in which medial /*p/ follows a nasalized segment, in this instance /*nə/. Here medial /*p/ becomes prenasalized voiced /mb/ in all descendants save Moi under the influence of initial /*n/, while Anceaux (Smits and Voorhoeve 1994: 154) gives Mekwei [nembit] alongside several variants with unvoiced [p]:

Medial apical voiceless stop /*t/ is retained as such in all descendants. It has not been found following nasalized segments /*mV nV/:

Medial laminal voiceless /*s/ is generally retained as such in all decsendants.. Unlike voiceless stops /*p *t *k/, it appears following nasalized segments /*mV *nV/ unchanged:

… /*s/ …:

Medial velar voiceless stop /*k/ when preceded by a strssed vowel is generally retained as such in all descendants, though sporadic lenitiion to [g] occurs in Kemtuik and probably also in .Gresi. With few exceptions (below,) medial /*k/ is not found following nasalized segments /*mV *nV/:

When preceded by a destressed vowel [*ə], medial /*k/ is lenited to [g] in Kwansu and in Kemtuik and Gresi, whezre it merges with the denasalized reflexes of /*ŋg/ (below):

One exception seems to arise because Gresi-Kemtuik /*k/ has formed a cluster with preceding apical voiceless /t/:

There are only two known examples of /*k/ following a nasalized segment which in both examples is /*na/. Here the Kemtuik reflex is unlenited as expected, while the Moi medial becomes prenasalized /ŋg/ under the influence of initial /*n/:

Medial bilabial prenasalized voiced stop /*mb/ when preceded by a nasalized segment /*mV *nV/ is retained as such in all descendants:

When medial /*mb/ follows a stop or fricative /*p *t *s *k *mb *nd *ŋg/ in the preceding syllable, it is realized as plain voiced /b/ in all descendants save Moi where it remains prenasalized:

Two seeming exceptions in which Namblong retains /*mb/ as such are perhaps expicable by to the loss of initial /*s/, although “claw(s) of crab” (above) is not affected. Alternately, they are loans into Namblong from Moi:

When following a non-stop /*w *j/ in the preceding syllable, the reflexes of /*mb/ are inconsistent. Based upon comparison with the reflexes of /*nd/ in the same environment (below,) the most likely rule is that prenasalization is retained in Namblong and lost in Kemtuik and Gresi and the two exceptions, Namblong /wabʉ/ and Kemtuik /jambi/, are loans from Kemtuik and Moi respectively:

In one example, medial /*mb/ becomes [b] in Moi because initial /*i/ was lost, though Anceaux gives Mekwei [mbiam] for the same root (Smits and Voorhoeve 1994: 264.) It's not cl;ear why prenasaliztion is lost also in Namblong and Kwansu:

In one puzzling example the reflexes of /*mb/ look to be inexplicably irregular …:

Medial apical prenasalized voiced stop /*nd/ …

… /*nd/ …:

One exception in which /*nd/ preceded by /*tV/ is retained as /*nd/ in Namblong and Kwansu is probably a compound or a loan:

When preceded by an initial vowel or a syllable beginning with initial non-stop /*w *j/, medial /*nd/ …

One exception may be a loan into Kemtuik and Gresi from Moi or Namblong:

Medial velar prenasalized voiced stop /*ŋg/ …:

… /*ŋg/ …:

… /*ŋg/ …:

One exception is probably a loan into Gresi from Moi:

… /*ŋg/ …:

…:

… /*ŋg/ … Anceaux gives both [ndʒe] and [iŋgjɛ] for Mekwei “this” (Smits and Voorhoeve 1994: 233-234):

… /*ŋg/ …:

Medial bilabial non-stop /*w/ …:

… /*w/ …

… /*w/ …:

In the sequence /*əwi/, medial /*w/ is dropped but affects the quality of the following vowel in Namblong and in Kwansu:

Between destressed [*ə] and high rounded vowels /*u *ʉ/, medial /*w/ is not discernible at all and is posited only to explain Namblong vowel length:

Medial apical non-stop /*ɺ/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

When medial /*ɺ/ is preceded by destressed vowel [*ə], [*ə] is elided and :/*ɺ/ forms a cluster with the preceding consonant. When this consonant is … [r d]:

When medial /*ɺ/ follows initial high front vowel /*i/ it is realized as [r] in Moi and as [d r] in Kemtuik:

Medial palatal non-stop /*j/ …:

… /*j/ …:

… /*j/ …:

Only a restricted subset of consonants occurs finally.

Final bilabial nasal /*m/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

… /*m/… /ŋ/ …:

Final apical nasal /*n/ is merged with velar /ŋ/ in Namblong and Kwansu:

One seeming exeeptions is probably a loan into Namblong from Gresi:

Another seeming exception arises from Swan's notation of a root which is usually followed by various suffixes, the counterpart of which in Tor River is /*nan/:

Final velar nasal /*ŋ/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

A small number of words have a final /ŋ/ in Namblong which is not present in the other languages:

Final bilabial voiceless stop /*p/ is retained as such in all descendants. It is sometimes realized as voiced [b]:

Final apical voicless stop /*t/ is replaced in Namblong by a centralizing offglide [ᵌ] which might be viewed as the final allophone of /t/. The precise quality of this offglide as it is represented in Swan's dictionary is determined by the quality of the preceding vowel or diphthong:

Voiceless laminal /*s/ does not occur finally.

Final velar voiceless stop /*k/ is dropped in Namblong and the vowel which precedes it is lengthened:

Prenasalized voiced stops /*mb *nd/ do not occur finally.

Final bilabial non-stop /*w/ …:

Final palatal non-stop /*j/ … :

… vowels and diphthongs … Only high vowels /*i *u/ and low central /*a/ have been found initially. As these develop rather differently from their medial and final equivalents, they are presenteed first as a class.

Initial high front vowel /*i/ in monosyllables is retained as such in all descendants:

Initial high front vowel /*i/ …:

In one example, initial /*i/ has been dropped in all descendants and is discernable only through its effect upon following velar prenasalized voiced stop /*ŋg/, though Anceaux gives Mekwei [iŋgjɛ] and Kemtuk [iŋge iŋgiɛ] in addition to forms without initial [i] (Smits and Voorhoeve 1994: 233-234):

Initial high back rounded vowel /*u/ in monosyllables is retinaed as such in all descendants:

Initial /*u/ in disyllables is lowered to merge with low central /a/ in Moi:

In one example, initial /*u/ …:

Initial low central vowel /*a/ …:

Any vowel can occur medially or finally.

Medial and final high front vowel /*i/ in stressed positions is generally retained as such in all descendants:

The sequence /*əwi/ becomes /ʉ/ in Namblong and probably in Kwansu (though Anceaux's trnascriptions are inconsistent in this respect) and is reduced to /i/ in Moi, Kemtuik and Gresi:

The seqence /*awi/ …:

The sequence /*əji/ is realized as long /ii/ in Namblong and is reduced to /i/ in Moi, Kemtuik and Gresi:

Generally speaking, high front /*i/ is not not found in destressed positions, where it like high back rounded /*u/ (below) has been neutralized to [ə]. There are however a few situations in which its underlying presence is discernible through its effects upon following segments. …:

… /*i/ … This correspondence is strikingly different from that in which /*ŋg/ is preceded by [*ə]:

… /*i/ …:

Medial and final high central rounded vowel /*ʉ/ …:

While Banundi's Moi reflex of /*ʉ/ is generally indistinguishable from that of /*u/, a trace of the difference is found when /*ʉ/ follows laminal voiceless /*s/ and is realized as palatalized [ju]:

Only one example is known of /*ʉ/ following palatal non-stop /*j/; here Kemtuik has metathesized /*jʉ/ to /wi/:

…:

Medial and final high back rounded /*u/ is found in only four contexts: in monosyllabes /*Cu(C)/, as the last vowel in a root with an initial vowel in the previous syllable, as the last vowel in a root with destressed vowel [*ə] in the previous syllable and as the last vowel in a root with low central /*a/ in the previous syllable:

… /*u/ …:

Low-mid front vowel /*ɛ/ is uncommon. Like medial and final /*u/ above, it is found in only four contexts: in monosyllabes /*Cu(C)/, as the last vowel in a root with an initial vowel in the previous syllable, as the last vowel in a root with destressed vowel [*ə] in the previous syllable and as the last vowel in a root with low central /*a/ in the previous syllable:

Low-mid central vowel /*ɜ/ is backed to /o/ in West Grime River and Gresi-Kemtuik and fronted to /e/ in Moi:

Several seemingly irregular examples may be loans into Namblong and Kemtuik from Moi:

Low-mid back rounded vowel /*ɔ/ …:

When preceded by initial bilabial non-stop /*w/, /*ɔ/ is merged with low central /a/ in Namblong:

This does not occur if /*ɔ/ is final or becomes final in Namblong due to the loss of final /*k/:

When preceded by initial bilabial non-stop /*w/, /*ɔ/ is merged with low central /a/ in Namblong:

Final /*ɔ/ is merged with low central /*a/ in all descendants save Namblong:

One example follows this pattern but has an unexplained final /i/ in the eastern languages:

Seeming exceptions to this rule follow non-stops /*w *j/:

…:

Seeming exceptions to this rule follow non-stops /*w *j/:

Medial and final low central vowel /*a/ is generally retained as such in all descendants:

…:

…:

… /*a/ …:

… /*a/ …:

… diphthongs… /*uɛ *uɔ *ua/ …

… /*uɛ/ …:

… /*uɛ/ …:

… /*uɛ/ … /*uɔ/ …:

… /*uɛ/ … /*ua/ …:

…/*uɔ/ …:

When final /*uɔ/ follows bilabial nasal /*m/, it is reduced to /u/ in Kemtuik and lost in Gresi::

… /*ua/ …: