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Greater Awyu languages

The Greater Awyu or Digul River languages, known in earlier classifications with more limited scope as Awyu–Dumut (Awyu–Ndumut), are a family of perhaps a dozen Trans–New Guinea languages primarily spoken in South Papua Province, near the Digul River. Six of the languages are sufficiently attested for a basic description; it is not clear how many of the additional names may be separate languages.

History
The Awyu (pronounced like English Ow you) and Awyu–Dumut families were identified by Peter Drabbe in the 1950s. Voorhoeve included them in his proposed Central and South New Guinea group. As part of Central and South New Guinea, they form part of the original proposal for Trans–New Guinea. ==Classification==
Classification
The classification below is based on Usher and de Vries et al. (2012), who used morphological innovations to determine relatedness, which can be obscured by lexical loanwords. • Sawi (Sawuy) • Awyu–Dumut (Central Digul River) • Awyu languages: Aghu (Jair), Shiaxa (Jenimu, Edera), Pisa (Asuwe) • Ndeiram–Ndumut • Dumut (Wambon) branch: Mandobo (Kaeti, Dumut), WambonNdeiram River: Kombai–Wanggom • North Digul River • Awbono-Bayono • Becking–Dawi • Dawi River: Komyandaret, TsaukamboBecking River: Korowai Sawi is classified on pronominal data, as the morphological data used for the rest of the family is not available. Pawley and Hammarström (2018) exclude Awbono-Bayono, treating it as a separate family. is listed in Wurm, Foley, etc., but not in the University of Amsterdam survey and has been dropped by Ethnologue. Ethnologue lists a 'Central Awyu', but this is not attested as a distinct language (U. Amsterdam). In general, the names in Ethnologue are quite confused, and older editions speak of names from Wurm (1982), such as Mapi, Kia, Upper Digul, Upper Kaeme, which are names of language surveys along the rivers of those names, and may actually refer to Ok languages rather than to Awyu. van den Heuvel & Fedden (2014) argue that Greater Awyu and Greater Ok are not genetically related, but that their similarities are due to intensive contact. ==Reconstruction==
Reconstruction
Phonemes Usher (2020) reconstructs "perhaps" 15 consonants and 8 vowels, as follows: : : : Pronouns Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as: and Voorhoeve (2000), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: : Usher (2020) Some lexical reconstructions of Proto-Digul River and lower-level reconstructions by Usher (2020) are: : ==Evolution==
Evolution
Greater Awyu reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are: Wambon language: • maŋgot ‘teeth, mouth’ < *maŋgat[a] • (Wambon S.) kodok ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V] • mok ‘seed’ < *maŋgV • kotay ‘bark, skin’ < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu • kondok ‘bone’ < *kwanjaC • kim- ‘die’ < *kumV- • kinum- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)- • ok ‘water, river’ < *okV • enop ‘fire’ < *kendop • (ko)sep ‘ashes’ < *(kambu-)sumbu • (Wambon N.) kumut ‘thunder’ < *kumut or *tumuk • ururuk ko- ‘to fly’ < *pululu Mandobo Atas language: • am ‘breast’ < *amu • magot ‘mouth’ < *maŋgat[a] • koman ‘neck’ < *k(o,u)ma(n,ŋ)[V] • (a)moka ‘cheek’ < *mVkVm ‘cheek, jaw’ • kere(top) ‘ear’ < *kand(e,i)k(V] • betit ‘fingernail’ < *mb(i,u)t(i,u)C • kodok ‘foot, leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V] • otae ‘bark, skin’ < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu • kiow ‘wind’ < *kumbutu • komöt ‘thunder’ < *kumut • üp ‘name’ < *imbi • kinum- ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)- • (ko)tep ‘ashes’ < *(kambu-)sumbu • ok ‘water, river’ < *okV • apap ‘butterfly’ < *apa(pa)ta Pisa language: • mugo ‘egg’ < *maŋgV, kiri • mogo ‘eye’ < *kiti-maŋgV • kifi ‘wind’ < *kumbutu • ise ‘mosquito’ < *kasin • apero ‘butterfly’ < *apa(pa)ta • kunu (ri-) ‘sleep’ < *kin(i,u)- • kekuŋ- ‘carry on the shoulder’ < *kak(i,u)- Syiaxa language: • fi ‘name’ < *imbi • apa ‘butterfly’ < *apa([pa]pata • boro ‘to fly’ < *pululu ==References==
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