Cenderawasih languages

Not to be confused with the East Cenderawasih Bay languages.

The Cenderawasih languages, also known as Nuclear Cenderawasih Bay languages and approximately synonymous with West New Guinea languages, are a branch of Austronesian languages of Indonesia, found in the islands and shoreline of Cenderawasih Bay in the provinces of West Papua, Central Papua and Papua.

Cenderawasih Bay
Nuclear Cenderawasih Bay, West New Guinea
Geographic distribution	Cenderawasih Bay, Western New Guinea, Indonesia
Linguistic classification	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian Eastern Malayo-Polynesian South Halmahera–West New Guinea Cenderawasih Bay
Proto-language	Proto-Cenderawasih Bay
Subdivisions	Biakic Yapen Southwestern
Language codes
Glottolog	cend1238

Most of the languages are only known from short word lists, but Biak and Wandamen are fairly well attested.

Historical morphology

Reconstructions of subject markers and inalienable possessive markers for Cenderawasih Bay proto-languages according to Kamholz (2015). Note that V = vocalic conjugation, C = consonantal conjugation:

Proto-Cenderawasih Bay:

1sg.	*y- (V), *ya- (C)	1pl.	*t- (incl.), *am- (excl.)
2sg.	*aw- (V), *-u- (C)	2pl.	*m-
3sg.	*dy- (V), *-i- (C)	3pl.	*si-

1sg.	*-ku?	1pl.	*ta-? (incl.), *-mi? (excl.)
2sg.	*-mu	2pl.	*-mu?
3sg.	*-∅?	3pl.	*si-

Proto-Biakic:

1sg.	*y- (V), *ya- (C)	1pl.	*t-, *to- (incl.), *nd-, *ndo- (excl.)
2sg.	*w- (V), *wa-, *-w- (C)	2pl.	*mt-, *mto-
3sg.	*d- (V), *i-, *-y- (C)	3pl.	*s-, *si- (anim.), *n-, *na- (inanim.)

1sg.	*-na, *-ri	1pl.	*to-...-sna (incl.), *nto-...-sna (excl.)
2sg.	*-mi, *-mri	2pl.	*mto-...-sna
3sg.	*-na, *-ri	3pl.	*si-...-sna

Proto-Southwest Cenderawasih Bay:

1sg.	*j-?, *i- (C)	1pl.	*t- (incl.), *am- (excl.)
2sg.	*aw- (V), *a-u- (C)	2pl.	*am-u-
3sg.	*dy- (V), *i-i- (C)	3pl.	*ih-i-

1sg.	?	1pl.	*t-? (incl.), *-mi? (excl.)
2sg.	?	2pl.	*-mu?
3sg.	?	3pl.	*si-

Proto-Yaur-Yerisiam:

1sg.	*j- (V), *i- (C)	1pl.	*k- (incl.), *m- (excl.)
2sg.	*agw- (V), *a-u- (C)	2pl.	*am-u-
3sg.	*dy- (V), *i-i- (C)	3pl.	*ih-i-

1sg.	?	1pl.	*k- (incl.), *m- (excl.)
2sg.	*a-	2pl.	*am-?
3sg.	?	3pl.	*h-

Languages

From Kamholz (2024):

• Nuclear Cenderawasih Bay
  • Biakic
    • Biak (Numfor)
    • Dusner
    • Meoswar
    • Roon
  • Yapen (see more)
  • Southwest Cenderawasih Bay
    • Umar
    • Yaur-Yerisiam
      • Yaur
      • Yerisiam

Further reading

• Kamholz, David (2015). The reconstruction of Proto-SHWNG morphology
• Kamhold, David (2024). "Historical linguistics of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea subgroup". In Alexander Adelaar; Antoinette Schapper (eds.). The Oxford Guide to the Malayo-Polynesian Languages of Southeast Asia. Oxford University Press. pp. 181–187. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198807353.003.0012.