Manubaran languages
# Manubaran languages

The Manubaran languages are a small family of Trans–New Guinea languages spoken around Mount Brown in the "Bird's Tail" (southeastern peninsula) of New Guinea. They are classified within the Southeast Papuan branch of Trans–New Guinea.

## Languages

The languages are Doromu and Maria, and are 63% lexically similar.

## Proto-language

### Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:

    *m*n *p*t*k*ʔ *b*d*g *s[*h] *w*ɾ*j

Vowels are *a *e *i *o *u.

### Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:

    sgpl 1 *na*[o/u]na 2 *ja 3 *ina

### Basic vocabulary

**Usher (2020)**

Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Mount Brown and Proto-Doromu-Koki, as well as Proto-Gebi and Proto-Maria, by Usher (2020) are:

    glossProto-Mount BrownProto-Doromu-KokiProto-GebiProto-Maria head *ada*adaada*ada hair/feather(s) *u[w]e[t/k]a*u[w]etauweta*u[w]eʔa ear *anema*anemaanema*anema eye *ne*nene-unane[ʔ]una nose *uɾuma*uɾumauruma*uɾuma tooth *gade*gadegadi*gade tongue *api[j]e*aɸi[j]eapi*aɸi[j]e blood *daweʔa*dawaʔadawa*daweʔa bone *nena*nenanena*nena skin/bark *ɾoʔo*ɾoʔolo-o*ɾoʔo breast *sisu*sisusisu*hihu louse *gu[w]e*gu[w]egu-e*gu[w]e dog *auna*aunaauna*auna pig *dona*donadona*dona bird *eɾena*eɾenaeerma*eɾena egg *unema*unemaunema*unema tree *jabo*jaboiabo*jabo man/husband *ami[j]e*ami[j]eamie*ami[j]e woman/wife *ɾema*ɾemalema sun *me[i]daʔa*me[i]daʔameda*me[i]daʔa moon *ejoʔa*ejoʔoe-io*ejoʔa water/river *koɾu*koɾuoru ≈ koro-*ʔoɾu fire *ita*itaita*iha stone *waʔigawaiga*waʔiga path *ida*idaida name *ɾoka*ɾoka*ɾoʔa eat/drink *iɾi-*iɾi-*iɾi- one *jokohi*jokoijokio*joʔohi two *[ɾ/j]ema*[ɾ]emalema*jema

**Ross (2014)**

The following basic vocabulary words of Proto-Manubaran and lower-level reconstructions by Malcolm Ross (2014) are from the Trans-New Guinea database:

    glossProto-ManubaranProto-DoromuProto-Maria head *ada*ada*ada hair *weʔia*ue-ta*ueʔa ear *ane-ma*ane-ma*ane-ma eye *ne(u)*ne(-)*ne- nose *uru-ma*uru-ma*uru-ma tooth *gade*gade*gade tongue *afie*afie*ahie leg *[n,y]u-ka*yu-ka*nu-ʔa; *one-ʔa louse *gue*gue*gue dog *auna*auna*auna pig *Dona*dona*tona bird *erena*erena*erena egg *une-ma*une-ma*une-ma blood *tava*tae(k,ʔ)a bone *nena*nena*nena skin *roʔ(o,a)*ro(a)*roʔ(o,a) tree *yabo*yabo*yabo man *amie*amie*amie woman *rema*oue sky *gure*gure*gure sun *maida(ka)*meida(ka)*maidaʔa moon *e(y)oʔa; *mohe- (?)*eoʔa water *koru*koru*ʔoru fire *ita*ita*ita stone *fore*vaʔiga name *roka*roka*roʔa-ba eat *iri-*iri*iri- one *yokohi*yokoima*yoʔohi two *(ye)(ka)ma[nu]*re-manu*ye-ma

## Evolution

Maria reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:

* ama ‘mother’ < *am(a,i)
* baba(e) ‘father’ < *mbapa
* kuyau ‘cassowary’ < *ku(y)a
* ita(isa) ‘tree’ < *inda
