Bulaka River languages

Bulaka River
Yelmek–Maklew Jabga
Ethnicity	Jab (Yab)
Geographic distribution	Tubang and Ilwayab subdistricts, Bulaka River watershed, Merauke Regency, Papua
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions	Yelmek Maklew
Glottolog	bula1259
Map: The Bulaka River languages of New Guinea   The Bulaka River languages   Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Uninhabited

The Bulaka River languages are a pair of closely related Papuan languages, Yelmek and Maklew, on the Bulaka River in Indonesian West Papua. They are ethnically Yab (Jab); their speech is Yabga (Jabga).

Languages[]

Yelmek is spoken west of Merauke, between the Digul River and , (from north to south) in the villages of Wanam, Bibikem, Woboyo, and Dodalim.

Maklew is spoken in Welbuti village.^[1] The former two villages are located in Ilwayab subdistrict, and the latter three in Tubang subdistrict.

Classification[]

The two languages are transparently related.

Ross (2005) tentatively included them in the proposed Trans-Fly – Bulaka River family, but Usher, who reconstructs that family, does not connect Bulaka River to any other language family.^[2]

Proto-language[]

Phonology[]

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows.^[2] Although the modern inventories of Yelmek and Maklew are nearly identical, the lack of a one-to-one correspondence between them suggests the ancestral inventory was somewhat larger. Usher posits a series of palatal consonants *ɲ *c *ɟ to handle the correspondences of alveolar in Yelmek with velar in Maklew (n~ŋ, t~k, d~g), plus *j for j~s, *w for w~h, *ɣ̃ for ŋ~h, and *s for t~s (found in loans).

*m	*n	*ɲ	*ŋ
*p	*t	*c	*k
*b	*d	*ɟ	*g
	[*s]
*w	*l	*j	*ɣ̃

*i		*u
*e	*ə	*o
	*a

Pronouns[]

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:^[2]

	sg	pl
1	*ŋ[e]l	*ŋag
2	*au (?)	*ale (?)
3	*eb	*em[e]l

Lexicon[]

Proto-Bulaka River lexical reconstructions by Usher (2014) are:^[3]

gloss	Proto-Bulaka River
afraid	*oio
ankle	*boto
ant	*kani[a/e]
ashes	*kab
ask about	*lig(-)
ask for	*liw
back	*uele
bamboo	*biol
banana	*okal
bandicoot	*jowoli
bathe	*jale
be (future)	*ŋaiak
be hungry	*ɣi
beach	*uelo
big	*bala-
bitter	*ipa
blood	*ewlek[e]
blunt/dull	*map
body/chest	*agal
bone/shin	*pu
branch	*kaka
breadfruit	*joko
break (rope)	*[a]ŋeme
break (wood)	*maɣe
breast	*momo
breath	*waku
bush/forest	*golu
canoe	*imo
cassowary	*owi
child/offspring	*iaŋ
coconut	*mi[a/o]
coconut shell	*apina
cold	*ioɣ[a]
cough/sneeze	*ŋot[o]
crocodile	*iaua[ŋ]
crooked/turn	*meŋ
dark/black	*ɟewi
(day)light	*owo
deep	*dam
dig	*k[o]uak
dog	*num
dream	*ŋeɣe
drink/suck	*[a]ŋ[e]
dry	*ua-
ear	*opo-kolo
earthquake	*ŋ[a/o]ɣum[o]
enemy	*kui
excrement	*de, *gauo
eye/face	*opo
feather	*papa
fence	*molo
fire	*ace
fish	*dem, *dam
fly (n.)	*uoli
fly (v.)	*mu
foot/leg	*uodo
forehead	*cule
fruit	*noma
go up	*ukal
good/true	*ŋama-
grab/hold	*[a]ɣep[e]
grandparent	*kaga
hard	*kakeie
hear	*[i]ŋe
hit/smash	*pliaɣ
hole	*kolo
hot/sharp	*dimo
house	*ebi
husband	*ebVwe
imperative	*ia-
intransitive	*ŋo-
kill	*gul-
knowledge	*uowka
kunai grass	*uoka
laugh	*ŋuw
leaf	*op
lie down/sleep	*ku
light (weight)	*popu-
lightning	*melVm
lime/white	*mVlino
long	*tipu-
louse	*dobuna
mountain	*uomal
mouth/door	*uwo
mucus	*em
name	*ŋaɟel[e]
neck	*ua[n/l]
negative	*ma
net	*apija
new	*ŋaluo-
night	*ui
now/today	*ŋop[i]
oblique	*el ~ *ol
old (thing)	*poto-
older sibling	*ɲena
one	*ŋuka
path	*came
penis	*mu
person	*ŋuwa
pig	*milom
plait	*ɣo
plant (v.)	*[e]ule
possessive	*a[u]-
rain	*maŋ
rib(s)	*mel
ripe	*ŋewe
rope	*del
run/run away	*jeme
sago stems	*buka
saliva	*wVlo
see	*[a]b[e]
shoot	*to
short	*tama-
sick/ill	*dogo
sit	*ma[n/d]
sleep	*opula
small	*wVti-
smoke	*acaja
snake	*gumolo
soft/weak	*ieg(ieg)
sole	*mulo
sour	*[a]bowol
speech	*gaga
spine	*ieŋo
steal	*ɟepe
stone	*mat[e]
stone axe	*iebu
straight	*amom
suffix on adj.	*pa-
sugarcane	*belam
sun/sky	*[a/o]limu
swim	*ce
tame/orphan	*ŋomo-
taro	*muj
tendon	*ouo
testicle	*oko
thigh	*c[a]pe, *cepe
throat	*bila
thumb/big toe	*ege-
tongue	*nepla
tooth	*kal
torch	*ual[e]no
tree/wood	*doio
upright	*daŋ
urine	*oŋo
voice	*wai[a]
wait	*[a]lpo
wallaby	*doki
wash	*uw
water	*iu
weep/cry	*ŋom
widow	*boi
wife	*kepi[ŋ/ɣ][e]
wing	*mama
woman/female	*iowa-
younger sibling	*uobia

References[]

External links[]

Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:Bulaka River word lists

• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto-Bulaka River