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Kapauri–Sause languages

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Kapauri–Sause
Geographic
distribution
New Guinea
Linguistic classificationFoja Range
Subdivisions
Language codes
GlottologNone

The Kapauri–Sause (Kapori–Sause) languages form a small language family spoken along the middle Taritatu River in the Jayapura Regency of Papua, Indonesia. They are two languages, Kapauri (Kapori) and Sause, which are not particularly close.

Classification

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There is a history of linking at least Kapauri to the Kaure languages (see Kaure–Kapori languages). However, they show no particular affiliation, and Kapauri appears to be closer to Kwerba. Usher demonstrated a connection instead with another erstwhile isolate, Sause, together forming a branch of Kwerbic.[1] A partial reconstruction of proto-Kapauri–Sause can be found there.

Proto-language

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Phonemes

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Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows. Apparent gaps may be due to poverty of data (e.g., there are /p/, /ɸ/ and /ɡ/ in the languages, but as of 2020 they have not been reconstructed for the protolanguage):[1]

*m *n
*t *s *k
*b
*w *j *h
*i *u
*e *o
*a [*aː]

Pronouns

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Pronouns are reconstructed as follow.[1]

proto-KS Kapauri Sause
1SG *ka kaku
2SG u e
3SG *aɾ̃oC aːnuʔ arok
1PL *ne aɽuʔ ne

Basic vocabulary

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Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[1]

gloss Proto-Kapauri-Sause
head *baːɽ
ear *t[o̝/u]waro̝
tooth *w₂ano̝
tongue *mɛn₂o̝
blood *ko̝mo̝
bone *aːᵘC
breast *mɵ̝N
louse *hɛno̝
dog *unu
bird *ɽe̝Cne̝N
egg *huwini
sun *nisiki (?)
moon *bɛ[N/nV]
water/river *bo̝C
path *nawaɽo̝
eat *na[N/nV]
two *nɛbɽe̝[na]

References

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