The Gogodala–Suki or Suki – Aramia River languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea, spoken in the region of the Aramia River.
Languages The languages are:
Gogodala–Suki family Suki language Gogodala (Aramia River) branch: Gogodala Ari Waruna
Gogodala–Suki languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.
|+ List of Gogodala–Suki languages ! Language !! Location !! Population |- | Suki || north-central Morehead Rural LLG || 3,500 |- | Gogodala || Gogodala Rural LLG || 26,000 |- | Ari || Gogodala Rural LLG || ? |- | Waruna || Gogodala Rural LLG || ?
Proto-language Phonology The reconstructed sound system is,Usher, Timothy. 2020. Suki-Aramia River. NewGuineaWorld. *m *n *p *t *k*b *d *g *s ?*r It is unclear if there were phonemes *w or *j distinct from *u and *i.
*i *u*e *o*ɛ *a
Pronouns
|+ Free pronouns ! !!singular!!plural |- !1st person |*nɛ||*sɛ |- !2nd person |*ɛ||*dɛ |- !3rd person |*o(-b)|| ?
|+ Object prefixes ! !!singular!!plural |- !1st person |*n-||*s- |- !2nd person |*-||*d- |- !3rd person |*-||*d-
( and is zero.)
Lexicon Proto-Suki–Aramia (i.e., Proto-Gogodala–Suki) lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Proto-Suki-Aramia |- | || *nɛ |- | || *ɛ |- | || *o(-b) |- | || *sɛ |- | || *dɛ |- | again || *goarma |- | and/with || *da |- | animate ref. || *-te |- | be/live || *e[r] |- | breast || *bu |- | eat || *na |- | fat/grease || *sap[e/ɛ] |- | fire || *ir[a] |- | garden || *ega[d] |- | girl || *sua |- | give to || *ata |- | heavy || *mene |- | know || *it[a/o]ua |- | language || *gi |- | leaf || *bagu |- | locative || *-m |- | louse || *amu |- | man || *dar[o/a] |- | mouth || *magat |- | night || *is[ɛ/a] |- | nose || *min |- | other || *et[a/o] |- | path || *na... |- | penis || *o |- | see || *ti |- | skin/bark || *kakar |- | stative || *-[V]taka |- | tail || *uani |- | this/here || *mɛ-m |- | tooth || *poso |- | tree || *[e]i |- | wallaby/meat || *[u]kapu |- | what?/who? || *p[a]oa |- | where?/to || *bɛ |- | wing || *it[e/a] |- | woman || *ato |- | yesterday/tomorrow || *[ɛ/a]n[ɛ/a]p
Vocabulary comparison The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970),McElhanon, K.A. and Voorhoeve, C.L. The Trans-New Guinea Phylum: Explorations in deep-level genetic relationships. B-16, vi + 112 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. Voorhoeve (1970), and Reesink (1976), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. atogi, ato, atu for “woman”) or not (e.g. mɛnəpila, poso, tamki for “tooth”).
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Ari !! Gogodala !! Suki |- ! head | gabi || ganabi || tibodu |- ! hair | tiːta || tita || nigbagu |- ! ear | etubada; kɛso || igibi || iakadgu |- ! eye | tokodaba || tao || itumku |- ! nose | ndogu || mina || umuku |- ! tooth | mɛnəpila || poso || tamki |- ! tongue | || mɛlɛpila || |- ! leg | gupi || || |- ! louse | ikami || ami || daka |- ! dog | sokɛ || soke || ebme |- ! pig | || uai || kuainu |- ! bird | soma || || |- ! egg | momona || || |- ! blood | dede || || |- ! bone | mboige || gosa || budu |- ! skin | kakala; puka || kaka || kaka |- ! breast | omo || omo || |- ! tree | yei || || riku |- ! man | dalagi || dala; dalagi || daru; guargia |- ! woman | atogi || ato; susɛgi || atu |- ! sun | gadepa || kadɛpa || kamgu |- ! moon | tɔkɔ || || |- ! water | ogo || wi || |- ! fire | awa || ila || araka |- ! stone | -nadi || || |- ! road, path | nape || nabidi || napru; rapru |- ! name | enoma || gagi || yaka |- ! eat | na- || na || |- ! one | maitaia || || |- ! two | saki || ||
Evolution Gogodalic-Suki formed a branch of Trans–New Guinea languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross. Possible reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:
Gogodala language: omo ‘breast’ < *amu magata ‘mouth, jaw’ < *maŋgat[a] mele-pila ‘tongue’ < *mele-mbilaŋ imu ‘eye’ < *(ŋg,k)amu mi ‘louse’ < *iman, *niman kadepa ‘sun’ < *kand(a,e)pa ila ‘tree, fire’ < *inda na- ‘eat’ < *na- mana- ‘sit, stay’ < *mVna-
Suki language: gigoa ‘cassowary’ < *ku(y)a na- ‘eat’ < *na-
References
Further reading Reesink, G.P. "Languages of the Aramia River Area". In Reesink, G.P., Fleischmann, L., Turpeinen, S. and Lincoln, P.C. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 19. A-45:1-38. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1976.
External links Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Suki – Aramia River