Asmat languages

Asmat
Asmat
Geographic; distribution	Asmat Regency and Mappi Regency, South Papua
Ethnicity	Asmat, Citak
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea Asmat–Kamoro Asmat; ;
Subdivisions	Casuarina Coast; Citak; North Asmat; Central Asmat;
Language codes
Glottolog	asma1257

Asmat is a Papuan language cluster of South Papua.

Languages

The principal varieties, distinct enough to be considered separate languages, are:^[1]

Asmat
- Kamrau Bay (Sabakor/Buruwai):^[2]
- Casuarina Coast (Kaweinag), the most divergent
- North and Central Asmat
  - Citak (Kaünak)
  - North Asmat
  - Central Asmat (dialects: Keenok, Sokoni, Keenakap, Kawenak)

Ethnically, speakers are either Asmat or Citak.

Below are some reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea proposed by Pawley (2012):^[3]

proto-Trans-New Guinea	Asmat (Flamingo Bay)
*maŋgat[a] ‘teeth, mouth’	me
*(m,mb)elak ‘light, lightning’	mer
*niman ‘louse’	(Kamoro namo)
*na- ‘eat’	na-
ni, nu ‘1PL’	na ‘1PL.INCL’, na(r) ‘1PL.EXCL’
*mun(a,i,u)ka ‘egg’	manaka
*niman ‘louse’	(cf. Kamoro namo)
*kasin ‘mosquito’	isi
*mbena ‘arm’	man [ban]
*mb(i,u)t(i,u)C ‘fingernail’	fit
*imbi ‘name’	yipi
*si(mb,p)at[V] ‘saliva’	(me)sep
*(mb,p)ututu- ‘to fly’	(?) pimedial
*kV(mb,p)(i,u)t(i,u) ‘head’	kuwus
*inda ‘fire’	(Central Coast Asmat isi)
*tututu[ku] ‘straight’	toror
*k(i,u)tuma ‘night, morning’	iram
*tututu[ku] ‘straight’	toror
ti, titi ‘tooth’	ji
*ata ‘excrement’	asa
*(ŋg,k)atata ‘dry’	soso
*kV(mb,p)(i,u)t(i,u) ‘head’	kuwus
*kasin ‘mosquito’	(Citak Asmat isi)
*inda ‘fire’	(Central Coast Asmat isi)
*ke(nj,s)a ‘blood’	es
*maŋgV ‘compact round object’	moko-per ‘navel’
*mun(a,i,u)ka ‘egg’	manaka
*ke(nj,s)a ‘blood’	es
*kasin ‘mosquito’	(Central Asmat isi)
*k(i,u)tuma ‘night, morning’	yiram
*kV(mb,p)(i,u)t(i,u) ‘head’	kuwus
*(m,mb)elak ‘light, lightning’	(Flamingo Bay Asmat mer ‘lightning’)
*ya ‘3SG’	a

In Flamingo Bay Asmat, light verbs are combined with adjuncts to form predicative expressions.^[4]

e- ‘do’
- atow e- /play do/ ‘play’
- caj e- /copulate do/ ‘copulate’
- yan e- /ear do/ ‘listen’
yi- ‘say’
- po yi- /paddle say/ ‘paddle’
- yan yi- /ear say/ ‘hear’
- mesa yi- /saliva say/ ‘spit’
af- ‘hit’
- yaki af- /sneeze hit/ ‘sneeze’
- namir af- /death hit/ ‘die’
- omop af- /blow hit/ ‘beat’

^ Usher, Timothy; Suter, Edgar (2020). "The Asmat-Muli Languages of Southwestern New Guinea" (PDF). Language & Linguistics in Melanesia. 38. Port Moresby: Journal of the Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea. ISSN 0023-1959.
^ New Guinea World, Kamrau Bay
^ Pawley, Andrew (2012). Hammarström, Harald; van den Heuvel, Wilco (eds.). "How reconstructable is proto Trans New Guinea? Problems, progress, prospects". History, Contact and Classification of Papuan Languages (Language & Linguistics in Melanesia Special Issue 2012: Part I). Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea: 88–164. hdl:1885/38602. ISSN 0023-1959.
^ Foley, William A. (2018). "The morphosyntactic typology of Papuan languages". 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. 895–938. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.