South Bird's Head languages

Updated on Dec 29, 2024

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Geographicdistribution West Irian Jaya

Linguistic classification Trans–New GuineaSouth Bird's Head Subdivisions South Bird's Head properInanwatanKonda–Yahadian Glottolog Nonesout1516 (South Bird's Head proper)kond1302 (Konda–Yahadian)inan1242 (Inanwatan)

The South Bird's Head or South Doberai languages are three families of Papuan languages. They form part of the Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross.

Languages

Ross reconstructs pronouns *na 1sg and *a 2sg, but otherwise the three families have little in common and are not obviously related:

Inanwatan: Duriankere, Suabo (Inanwatan)

Konda–Yahadian: Konda, Yahadian

South Bird's Head proper (Nuclear South Bird's Head):

Eastern: Weriagar (Kemberano, Barau), Arandai [dialect cluster], Kokoda (Tarof, Kasuweri)

Kais (Kampong Baru)

The pronouns are:

3sg *ni is reconstructable for SBH proper. There appears to be both a plural vowel change from *a to *i, as in proto-TNG, and a plural suffix *-ri.

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