The Kwalean or Humene–Uare languages are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the "Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea.
The Kwalean languages are spoken in Rigo District, Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
Languages The languages are Humene, Uare (Kwale) and recently extinct Mulaha. It is not clear if Mulaha was an outlier, or as close to the others as they are to each other.
Classification Humene and Uare are quite close (70% basic vocabulary), Mulaha more distant (22% with Uare).
The Kwalean family is not accepted by Søren Wichmann (2013), who splits it into two separate groups, namely Humene–Uare and Mulaha.Wichmann, Søren. 2013. A classification of Papuan languages . In: Hammarström, Harald and Wilco van den Heuvel (eds.), History, contact and classification of Papuan languages (Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, Special Issue 2012), 313-386. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.
Proto-language Phonemes Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory of Humene and Uare as follows:New Guinea World, Humene–Uare
| *m || *n || || || |- | || *t || || *k || *ʔ |- | *b || *d || || *g || |- | *ɸ || || || || *h |- | *w || *ɾ || *j || *ɣ || |} The *k is rare.
Vowels are *i *e *ɛ *a *ɔ *o *u.
Pronouns Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns of Humene–Uare as:
! !!sg!!pl |- !1 |*ɛ ||*ɛmɛ |- !2 |*ɣa ||*ja |- !3 |*ani ||*jɛ
Basic vocabulary Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Proto-Humene-Uare !! Humene !! Uare |- ! hair/feather | *igu || ˈiʔu || ˈiku |- ! eye | *ubuma || uˈbuma || uˈbuma |- ! nose | *jajɔɾɛ || ʒaˈʒoɾe || ʒaˈʒoɾe |- ! tooth | *ɣɔnɔnɛ || βoˈnone || ɣoˈnone |- ! tongue | *majanɛ || maˈnane || maˈʒane |- ! foot/leg | *ɔda || ˈoda || ˈida |- ! blood | *ɾɔo̝ || ɾoˈo || ˈɾoˈu |- ! bone | *e̝tinɛ || eˈhine || iˈsine |- ! skin | *ahe̝ɾe̝ || aˈheɾe || aˈhiɾi |- ! breast | *nuunɛ || nuˈune || nuˈne |- ! louse | *nɔmɔnɛ || noˈmone || noˈmone |- ! dog | *ɣo̝ni || βoni || ˈɣuni |- ! pig | *aba || ˈaba || ˈaba |- ! bird | *ne̝ni; *t[e̝]b[o̝]ɾ[e̝] || neni; teˈboɾe || ˈnini |- ! egg | *maɣa || ˈmaβa || ˈmaɣa |- ! man | *wajɛ || ˈβaʒe || ˈβaʒe |- ! woman | *nɔgɔnɛ || noˈʔone || noˈɣone |- ! sun/day | *maˈda || maˈda || maˈda |- ! moon | *batɔ || ˈbato || ˈbato |- ! water | *wɔu || ˈβou || ˈβou |- ! fire/firewood | *iɾɛ || ˈiɾe || iɾe |- ! stone | *hadi || ˈhadi || ˈhadi |- ! path | *e̝bi || ˈebi || ˈibi |- ! name | *ni || ni || ni |- ! eat | *an- || an- || an- |- ! one | *te̝bɔ || ˈtebo || ˈtiba |- ! two | *ahɛu || aˈheu || aˈheu
Vocabulary comparison The following basic vocabulary words are from Dutton (1970)Dutton, T.E. "Notes on the Languages of the Rigo Area of the Central District of Papua". In Wurm, S.A. and Laycock, D.C. editors, Pacific linguistic studies in honour of Arthur Capell. C-13:879-984. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. (with additional data for Uare from 1988 SIL field notes), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database. Proto-Kwalean reconstructions are from Ross (2014).
Note that the words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. nuune, nune for “breast”) or not (e.g. hadi, aroba for “stone”).
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Proto-Kwalean !! Humene !! Uare!! Mulaha |- ! head | || raˈfune || vaˈdini; və'd·inɩ|| yoarowai |- ! hair | *iku(va) || iʔvuai || 'iku; ˈiku|| yoroba |- ! ear | || aˈbi || 'tʰɛɣʌ; ˈteɣa|| akuru |- ! eye | *(u)bu(i)vi(ma) || uˈbuma || uˈbuma; u'bumə|| boivi |- ! nose | *ʒaʒore || ʒaˈʒore || ĵ ̟ʌ'ĵ ̟ɔre; ʒaˈʒore|| ine |- ! tooth | *vono(ne); *wano(ne) || voˈnone || ɣoˈnone; ɣɔ'nɔne|| waina (2?) |- ! tongue | || maˈnane || maˈʒane; mə'j ̟ane|| bebura |- ! leg | || goˈenva || ɔdʌ; ˈoda|| koina |- ! louse | *(n)omo(ne) || noˈmone || noˈmone; 'nɔmone|| uˈmana |- ! dog | *ɣuni || ˈaba || ˈaba; 'ɣunɩ|| aba |- ! pig | *aba || (voni) aˈva || 'ap·ʌ; (ɣuni) aˈvaɣa|| batuvi |- ! bird | *teboare || (teˈbore) ˈiʔuva || 'ninɩ; (nini) ˈikuɣa|| iguvi |- ! egg | *ma(va) || ˈhava || iˈsaɣa; 'maɣʌ|| iakeki |- ! blood | *ruu || roˈo || iuː; ˈruˈu|| iˈaa |- ! bone | *esi(ne) || eˈhine || ɩ'ine; iˈsine|| inina |- ! skin | *ahiri || aˈhere kokava || a'hiṟʟ; aˈhiri|| iaina |- ! breast | *n(a)u(ne) || nuˈune || 'nune; nuˈne|| kobaiba |- ! tree | || iˈbado || ire; 'ire|| |- ! man | *vaʒe || oˈhoʒ; ˈvaʒe || ohɔj ̟e; oˈhoʒe; ˈvaʒe|| |- ! woman | *no'ɣone || noʔˈone || 'lɔɣae; noˈɣone; roˈɣai|| tina |- ! sky | *adure || aˈdure || aˈdure|| |- ! sun | *mada || maˈda || 'madʌ; maˈda|| bauwa |- ! moon | *bato || ˈbato || ˈbato; 'batʰɔ|| vaisa |- ! water | *vou; *wara || ˈvou || ˈvou; vu|| vara |- ! fire | *ire || ˈire || ireˈroga; ɩṟɛlokə|| boareki |- ! stone | *hadi || ˈhadi || 'had·ɩ; ˈhadi|| aroba |- ! road, path | || || 'ibɩ|| |- ! name | *ni || ni || ni; niː|| waa anu |- ! eat | *anE- || a-nE- || a-nE-; aᵘ ʔohe|| inatu |- ! one | *teba || ˈtebo || ˈtiba; 'tʰipʌ|| pebogi |- ! two | *aheu || || a'heᵘ||
Evolution Kwale reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:
maɣa ‘egg’ < *maŋgV oda ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V] nomone ‘louse’ < *niman ire ‘tree’ < *inda
References
Further reading Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Kwalean. TransNewGuinea.org.
External links Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Owen Stanley Range (ibid.) Proto–Humene–Uare