Asmat–Kamrau languages

The Asmat – Kamrau Bay languages are a family of a dozen Trans–New Guinea languages spoken by the Asmat and related peoples in southern Western New Guinea. They are believed to be a recent expansion along the south coast, as they are all closely related, and there is little differentiation in their pronouns.

Asmat–Kamrau
Geographic distribution	southern coast and Kamrau Bay of Indonesian New Guinea
Ethnicity	Asmat people etc.
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea Asmat–Mombum Asmat–Kamrau
Subdivisions	Kamrau (Sabakor) Asmat–Kamoro
Language codes
Glottolog	asma1256
Map: The Asmat–Kamrau languages of New Guinea   The Asmat–Kamrau languages   Other Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Uninhabited

Languages

The languages are:^[1][2]

• Kamrau Bay (Sabakor):^[3]
  • Buruwai (Sabakor)
  • Kamrau
    • North Kamberau (Iria)
    • South Kamberau (Asienara)
• Asmat–Kamoro^[4]
  • Kamoro
  • Sempan
  • Asmat languages

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:^[5]

m	n
p	[t]		k
b	[d]	ɟ	ɡ
[ɸ]	s
w	r	j

There is near complementary distribution between *p and *ɸ. *t and *d are marginal, appearing in only a few words. *r does not occur initially. There are no consonant clusters.

Vowels are *a *e *i *o *u.

Pronouns

Ross (2005) reconstructs the proto-Asmat–Kamoro pronouns as:

	sg	pl
1	*no[ro]	*na[re]
2	*o[ro]/we[rV]	*ca[re]
3	*a[re]

Usher (2020) reconstructs the free proto–Asmat–Kamrau Bay pronouns as:^[5]

Proto-Asmat–Kamrau sg pl 1 *no-rV *na-rV 2 *o-rV *ɟa-rV 3 *a-rV

Proto-Kamrau sg pl 1 *nor *nar 2 *or-or *er-er 3 *ar-ar

Proto-Asmat–Kamoro sg pl 1 *no-ro *na-rV 2 *o-ro *ca-rV 3 *a-rV

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:^[5]

gloss	Proto-Asmat-Kamrau	Proto-Kamrau Bay	Proto-Asmat-Kamoro	Proto-Asmat	Proto-Muli Strait
head	*uɸu	*jebin	*ufu	*kowisi 'head/skull'	*ɣo̝p 'head/hair'; *uɔndVro̝m 'head/skull'
hair	*ɸini	*ɸin	*fini	*ɸinV 'hair/feather(s)'	*sin
ear	*jiɸ[a/o]ne	*jaɸ[a/o]m	*jafane	*jaɸane	*ie̝pær
eye	*manaN	*manam	*mana	*mana	*musiɣ
nose	*miC	*mik	*mi	*mi	*mæne̝ɣ 'nose/tip'
tooth	*siC	*sik	*sisi	*sisV	*ziɣ
tongue	*komane	*[a]mam	*komane	*komVne	*ndupæn
foot/leg	*mawu	*mawu	*mawu	*mawi	*kaŋg 'leg'
blood/red	*ese	*et	*ese		*ir 'blood'
fruit/seed/bone	*eake	*eke	*eake
skin/bark		*ɸu	*pitini	*pitʲini	*par
breast	*awo	*awo	*awo		*abuɣ
louse	*amo	*om	*amo		*am
dog	*juwuɾi	*iwuɾ	*juwuri	*juwVɾi	*i[u]bui
pig	*oɸo	*ok	*ofo		*up
bird		*geɟ		*sakV
egg	*[a]sa	*asa	*sa	*sa
tree/wood	*ose	*o	*ose		*to̝ 'tree'
man/male		*bewu			*nam 'man/person'
woman	*ɟawoɟa	*jawoɟa	*cawoca	*jipitʲi	*ie̝t 'woman/wife'
sun	*jawu	*asi 'sun/day'	*jawu	*jawi	*zaua
moon	*buɾa	*buɾa	*pura	*piɾa	*irind
water	*m[oi/ui]	*moɟ	*mui	*mui	*mo̝i
fire/firewood	*usa	*usa	*usa	*jusa	*ua[nd/r] 'fire'
stone	*jeta	*eta	*j[e]ka		*mæte̝
path		*matoC; *mak	*mato
name	*uwase	*u	*uwase	*juwase	*ur
eat/drink	*n[a]-	*n[a]-	*n[e/a]	*ne-	*no̝ku
one	*ɟawa[kV]	*-ɟawa	*cawak[e/a]	*tʲawaka
two	*kaboma	*aboma	*kapoma; *jam[i/u]nV

Evolution

See also: Asmat language § Evolution

Proto-Asmat-Kamoro reflexes (Voorhoeve 2005)^[6] of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma, as listed in Pawley & Hammarström (2018):^[7]

• *fiti ‘fingernail’ < pTNG *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C
• *isi ‘mosquito’ < *kasin
• *ese ‘blood’ < *kenja
• *masap or *masip ‘saliva’ < *si(mb,p)atV
• *yi ‘urine’ < *[si]si
• *asa ‘excrement’ < *asa
• *manaka ‘eye’ < *mun(a,e,i)ka
• *sisi ‘tooth’ < *(t,s)i(t,s)i
• *yirama ‘night’ < *k(i,u)tama
• *tama ‘morning’ < *k(i,u)tama
• *na- ‘eat’ < *na-