Baliem Valley languages

Dani
Dani
Baliem Valley
Ethnicity	Dani, Lani, Yali, etc
Geographic; distribution	Baliem Valley in Highland Papua
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea West Papuan Highlands (Irian Highlands) Dani; ;
Subdivisions	Wano; Dani proper; Ngalik;
Language codes
Glottolog	dani1287

The Dani or Baliem Valley languages are a family of clearly related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken by the Dani and related peoples in the Baliem Valley in the Highland Papua, Indonesia. Foley (2003)^{[citation needed]} considers their Trans–New Guinea language group status to be established. They may be most closely related to the languages of Paniai Lakes, but this is not yet clear. Capell (1962)^[1] posited that their closest relatives were the Kwerba languages, which Ross (2005) rejects.

Languages

Larson (1977)^[2] divided the family into three branches based on lexicostatistics, and Nggem was later added as a fourth. The Ngalik languages are very poorly attested.

Dani family
- Wano
- Nggem
- Central Dani:
  - Grand Valley Dani (upper, lower, and mid dialects)
  - Hupla
  - Western Dani–Walak
- Ngalik:
  - Nduga
  - Silimo
  - Yali (dialect cluster)

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows.^[3] This is identical to the reconstruction of Bromley (1966-1967)^[4] apart from adding the rare consonants *pw, *mbw, and the possible additional vowel *ɐ.

And the diphthongs *ei, *ou, *ai, *au.

Pronouns

Ross (1995)^{[citation needed]} reconstructs the independent pronouns and possessive/object prefixes of Central Dani as:

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Bromley (1967)^[4] and Voorhoeve (1975),^[5] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.^[6]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. nakapak, ogobak, nokopak for “nose”) or not (e.g. natði, nemake, nabilikagen for “tongue”).

Evolution

Dani reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:^[8]

Grand Valley Dani language:

ap 'man' < *ambi
meli 'tongue' < *me(l,n)e
n-esi 'hair' < *iti[C] (n- is 1sg possessor)
me(m) 'come' < *me-
ket 'new' < *kVndak

Western Dani language:

ap 'man' < *ambi
(n)iti < *iti[C]
meli 'tongue' < *me(l,n)e
get 'new' < *kVndak
okut 'leg' < *k(a,o)ndok[V]
kat(lo) 'skin' < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu
idu 'tree' < *inda

Ngalik language:

idu(k)etu 'tree' < *inda
(nak) amu 'breast' < *amu
tokon 'full' < *tVkV[ti]
kopu 'smoke' < *kambu

References

^ Capell, Arthur (1962). Linguistic Survey of the South-Western Pacific. South Pacific Commission Technical Paper. Vol. 136 (New and revised ed.). Noumea: South Pacific Commission.
^ Larson, Gordon F. (1977). "Reclassification of Some Irian Jaya Highlands Language Families: A Lexicostatical Cross-Family Subclassification with Historical Implications". Irian. VI (2): 3–40.
^ Usher, Timothy. "Balim Valley". New Guinea World.
^ a b Bromley, Myron H. (June 1967). "The Linguistic Relationships of Grand Valley Dani: A Lexico-statistical Classification". Oceania. 37 (4): 286–305. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1967.tb00912.x. JSTOR 40329608.
^ Voorhoeve, C.L. (2015). Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/PL-B31. ISBN 978-0-85883-128-5.
^ Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
^ Clouse, Duane A. (1997). "Towards a reconstruction and reclassification of the Lakes Plain languages of Irian Jaya". In Karl Franklin (ed.). Papers in Papuan linguistics no. 2 (PDF). Vol. A-85. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 133–236. ISBN 0858834421.
^ 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.

[1] Capell, Arthur (1962). Linguistic Survey of the South-Western Pacific. South Pacific Commission Technical Paper. Vol. 136 (New and revised ed.). Noumea: South Pacific Commission.

[2] Larson, Gordon F. (1977). "Reclassification of Some Irian Jaya Highlands Language Families: A Lexicostatical Cross-Family Subclassification with Historical Implications". Irian. VI (2): 3–40.

[ngw-3] Usher, Timothy. "Balim Valley". New Guinea World.

[Bromley-1967-4] Bromley, Myron H. (June 1967). "The Linguistic Relationships of Grand Valley Dani: A Lexico-statistical Classification". Oceania. 37 (4): 286–305. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1967.tb00912.x. JSTOR 40329608.

[5] Voorhoeve, C.L. (2015). Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/PL-B31. ISBN 978-0-85883-128-5.

[6] Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.

[Clouse-LakesPlain-7] Clouse, Duane A. (1997). "Towards a reconstruction and reclassification of the Lakes Plain languages of Irian Jaya". In Karl Franklin (ed.). Papers in Papuan linguistics no. 2 (PDF). Vol. A-85. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 133–236. ISBN 0858834421.

[Pawley-TNG-8] 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.