Mek languages

Mek
Goliath
Geographic
distribution		Yahukimo and Pegunungan Bintang, Highland Papua
EthnicityMek people and Yali people
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Language codes
Glottologmekk1240
Map: The Mek languages of New Guinea
  The Mek languages
  Other Trans–New Guinea languages
  Other Papuan languages
  Austronesian languages
  Uninhabited

The Mek languages are a well established family of Papuan languages spoken by the Mek people and Yali people. They form a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005).

Mek, then called Goliath, was identified by M. Bromley in 1967. It was placed in TNG by Wurm (1975).

Languages

The Mek languages form three dialect chains (Heeschen 1998):

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as 'perhaps' as follows:[2]

*m *n *ŋ
*p *t *k *kʷ
*(m)b *(n)d *(ŋ)g *(ŋ)gʷ
*s
*w *l *j
i u
e o
ɛ ɔ
a ɒ
ei ou
ɛi ɔu
ai au
aɛ aɔ

Pronouns

Pronouns are:[2]

sg pl
1 *na *nu[n]
2 *kan *kun (?)
3 *ɛl *tun, *[t/s]ig

The difference between the two 3pl forms is not known. 2pl and 3pl have parallels in Momuna /kun tun/.

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[2]

gloss Proto-Mek Proto-East Mek Kimyal Proto-Northwest Mek Proto-Momuna-Mek Momuna
hair/feather *p[ɔ]t[ɔ]ŋ *pɔtɔŋ osoŋ *hɔŋ
ear/twelve *aᵓ ɔ *aᵓ
eye *atiŋ *asiŋ isiŋ *haⁱŋ *ɒtig ɒtù
tooth/sharp *jo̝ *jo̝ jó
tongue *se̝l[ija]mu *[se̝]l[ija]mu selamu *se̝l[i]mu
foot/leg *jan *jan jan *jan *j[a/ɒ]n
blood *e̝ne̝ŋ *ɪnɪŋ eneŋ *e̝ne̝ŋ *jo̝ne̝g
bone *jɔk *jɔk jw-aʔ *jɔʔ[ɔ]
breast *mɔᵘm *mɔᵘm moᵘm *mɔᵘm *mɔᵘm mɒ̃ᵘ
louse *ami *ami imi *ami *ami ami
dog *gam *[k/g]am gam *gam *gɒm kɒ̀
pig *be̝sam *bɪsam *bham wɒ́
bird *mak, *mag *mak -ma (?) *-ma (?) *mak má
egg/fruit/seed *do̝[k] *dʊk do *do̝[k] dɒko ~ dɒku
tree/wood *gal gal *gal *gɒl kɒ̀
woman/wife *ge̝l *[k/g]ɪl gel *ge̝l
sun *k[ɛ]t[e̝]ŋ *k[ɛ]t[ɪ]ŋ isiŋ *he̝ŋ
moon *wal *wal wal *wal
water/river *m[ɛ/a]g *mɛk mag *m[ɛ/a]g
fire *o̝ᵘg *ʊᵘk ug *[u]g
stone *gɛⁱl; *gidig *[k/g]ɛⁱl girig *gidig kè
path/way *bi[t/s]ig *bi[t/s]ik bisig *bhig
name *si *si si *si *si si
eat/drink *de̝-(b) *dɪ-(b) de- *de̝-(b) de-
one *[na]tɔn *tɔn nason *nhɔn
two/ring finger *b[e̝/ɛ]te̝ne̝ *b[ɪ/ɛ]tɪnɪ besene *bhe̝ne̝

Modern reflexes

Mek reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[3]

Eipo language:

  • mun ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
  • kuna ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
  • saŋ ‘dancing song’ < *saŋ
  • getane ‘sun’ < *kVtane

Bime language:

  • mundo ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’

Kosarek language:

  • ami ‘louse’ < *niman
  • si ‘tooth’ < *(s,t)i(s,t)i
  • tomo < *k(i,u)tuma ‘night’

Yale language:

  • de ‘to burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)
  • mon ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
  • xau ‘ashes’ < *kambu

Further reading

  • Heeschen, Volker. 1978. The Mek languages of Irian Jaya with special reference to the Eipo language. Irian 7(2): 3–46.
  • Heeschen, Volker. 1992. The position of the Mek languages of Irian Jaya among the Papuan languages: History, typology and speech. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 148(3/4): 465–488.

References

  1. ^ Momuna–Mek, New Guinea World
  2. ^ a b c New Guinea World
  3. ^ Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.