# Kamula–Elevala languages

The Kamula–Elevala languages are a small family of the Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the region of the Elevala River.

## Languages

There are three languages, namely Aekyowm (Awin), Pare (Pa), and Kamula. They are not obviously related to each other, but Aekyowm and Pare are closer to each other than to Kamula.
* Kamula
* Awin–Pa (Elevala River)
** Aekyowm (Awin)
** Pare (Pa)
A more in-depth classification by Suter and Usher (2017) is as follows.

### Kamula-Elevala family

* Kamula [1,100 speakers in 2000]
* Elevala (= Awin-Pare) family
** Pa (= Pare, Ba, Debepare) [6,500 speakers in 2000]
** Aekyom (= Awin, Akium) [21,100 speakers in 2000]
*** Northeastern (= Aekyom-Skai)
*** North Central
*** Southeastern (= Aekyom-Pare)
*** Western

## Classification

Stephen Wurm (1975) added Awin and Pa to an expanded Central and South New Guinea branch of TNG, a position reversed by Ross (2005). The connection between Awin–Pa and Kamula was established by Suter & Usher.

## Reconstruction
### Phonology

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as follows:
    Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Nasal *m*n Plosive voiceless *p (or *h)*t*k voiced *b (or *p)*d*g Fricative *s Semivowel *w*j
| | Front | Central | Back |
| Close | *i | | *u |
| Close-mid | *e | | *o |
| Open-mid | | | *ɔ |
| Open | *æ | *a | |
There is also the diphthong *ai.

### Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the Awin–Pa pronouns as:
    sgdupl 1 *nɔ*ni, *ki 2 *go*gi 3 *jɔ
In the 1du, Awin has /ki/ and Pare /ni/, /niki/, /nigi/. The Kamula singular forms are quite similar (na, wa, je), but it does not have the dual.

### Vocabulary

Some Proto-Kamula-Elevala lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:
    glossProto-Kamula-Elevala head*ke̝ba ear*m[ɔ/o̝]d[ɔ/o̝] eye*kinɔ nose*kine̝ tusk/tooth*bate̝ tongue/flame*taⁱ knee/leg*tama bone*ke̝dɔ louse*awV dog*ti pig*m₂aⁱnæ bird*te̝ja egg/fruit/seed*m[ɔ/o̝]k[ɔ/o̝] tree*je̝ man*k[ɔ/o̝]b[a/ɔ] sun/day*gani stone*ike̝ name*pi eat/drink*de̝- one*tV[n/d]o̝
Below are all of the lexical reconstructions of Proto-Kamula-Elevala from Suter and Usher (2017):
    glossProto-Kamula-Elevala house*aja mushroom*ap(ɔ,o) hear*dade- where?*dai sago*daja eat, drink*de- burn, cook*du- middle*dunu brother*ei sun, day*gani belly, bowels*gene leech*gimada hold*hamV- upright*hane name*hi light (in weight)*hodoka stand, stay*hV- sago thatch*jeme hit*jV- bone*kedɔ man*kopo now, today*kwa- thigh*madina shoulder*makæ know*maN(æ,a)- teeth, mouth*mat(e,i) kindle*mi- son, child*mi body*mot(e,i) joint*mu tusk*patæ skin disease*peseni die*po- tie, wrap*podi pierce, burst*poko- heart, pity*pɔdɔw(e,a) be soft*pɔpɔtæ- close eyes*pudi- sit*pV- speech*sa rafter*saka paddle*sode tongue*tai afternoon*tamide make, do*ti- embers*tine bow (for arrows)*tɔ upstream*t(ɔ,o)t(ɔ,o) thorn*tu banana*tuma go*tV- one*tVdo illicit*u scar*ud(e,i) urine*ute grub*wæja left (hand)*weke

### Proto-Elevala

Proto-Elevala reconstructions from Suter and Usher (2017):
    glossProto-Elevala hand, arm*a lie down*æ- sand*daNi give*dæ- flea*dideme meat*dinæ testicles*dipɔ crocodile*dope sap, juice*dɔdæ fingernail*d(ɔ,a)kæ see*dV- sugarcane*ga beak*ga sing*gi- gums*gine younger brother*gɔmɔde cut*gu stick*gum(ɔ,a) count*hiakV- breath*hine do, make*hɔmV- carry on head*i- stone*ike song*jɔkæ set on fire*kamV- leg*kate beetle*kiame thunder*kima(ti) nose*kine face*kiNɔ-namæ58 white*kɔnV-kaina59 coconut*kɔpɔkæ pig*mainæ head*mini below*moka fish*mone stem*moNæ what?*na cane mail shirt*napo charcoal*o drum*pi heavy*piena buttocks*po smell*pɔmæ bride price*puNe goanna*sɔNɔmæ yesterday*te sago thatch*temæ rattan*tike ground, earth*tɔ wild*tɔna

## Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970), Shaw (1973), and Shaw (1986), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. kɔ, kro for “bone”) or not (e.g. mɔgɔ, kɛndɔkɛ for “ear”). Notice the very low number of cognate pairs between the two languages.
    glossPareAekyom head keba; kibapɔƀe hair osɛ; ousetɛnɛ ear mogamɛ; mogo; mɔgɔkɛndɔkɛ eye kere-mo; kinemo; kinemɔkrO-ŋɛ nose kene; kinekoe tooth male; marɛ; pɛrɛpʰɛtɛ tongue tɛtiː leg tamakali louse kiba ʔo; kiba ʔɔ; ɔhuɔlɛ dog ti; tilpsane pig mele bird tie; tiye egg moʔo; mɔʔɔ blood sowo; sɔwɔ bone ko; kɔkro skin sia; siga; siyakare breast bututɛ tree i̧; ĩde; doe man kobo woman wigi sun gẽnɛ̃; ginetoe moon abi water mɔa; omɛ; ɔmɔɛ; umewaɛ fire ne; nɛde; doe stone iebɔ; iyebo road, path utigitɛnɛ name hihi eat da; denu; de-nudə one oteso; ɔtesɔ two diyabo; diyabɔ String Bag dissa; disaɔ

## Evolution

Proposed Awin–Pa reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma:
Aekyom language:
* kendoke ‘ear’ < *kand(e,i)k[V]
* khatike ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)
* ndok[V], kare ‘skin’ < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu
* di ‘firewood, fire’ < *inda
Pa language:
* keba ‘head’ < *kV(mb,p)(i,u)tu
* ama ‘mother < *am(a,i)
* di- ‘burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)

## Loanwords
### Kamula and Doso

Loanwords between Kamula and Doso:
    No.KamulaDosoTurumsa 1'father'[a:] 'father'[a:] 'father' 2'mother'['wai] 'mother'['wai] 'mother' 3'older brother'['bapa] 'older brother' 4'older sister'['nana] 'older sister' 5'blood'['omari] 'blood' 6'stomach'[kù'ko] 'belly (outside)' 7'wallaby'[ka'pia] 'wallaby'[kapia] 'wallaby' 8'cassowary'[wa:taɾa] 'cassowary'[wa:taɾa] 'cassowary' 9'cloud'['waɾa] 'cloud' 10'sand'['asiɾa] 'sand'

### Aekyom and Ok

Aekyom loanwords from Ok languages:
    No.AekyomMountain OkLowland Ok 1[mon] 'rubbish'*mɔːn 'rubbish, compost' 2[ɺoŋ] 'garden newly felled'*ɾaŋg 'garden'*joŋg 'garden' 3[khno] 'canoe'*kono 'canoe' 4[ambum(e)] 'turtle'*ambɔːm 'turtle species'*ambom 'turtle' 5[khwiɺe] 'hornbill'*kaweːɾ 'Papuan hornbill'*kaweɾ 'hornbill' 6[ubine] 'rhinoceros beetle'*umiːn 'rhinoceros beetle' 7[mom] 'nephew, maternal'*mɔːm 'mother's brother'*mom 'mother's brother' 8[ahwoe] 'grandmother'*ap(e,o)ːk 'grandmother'*apok 'grandmother' 9[khendoke] 'outer ear'*kindɔːŋg 'inner ear'*kende 'ear' 10[mgat-ɺam] 'in the mouth'*maŋgat 'mouth, chin'*maŋgot 'mouth'

### Kamula and Aramia River

Kamula loanwords from Aramia River languages:
    No.KamulaWarunaGogodala 1'taro'[bibi] 'taro'[bibi] 'taro' 2'yam'[waisa] 'yam' 3'canoe'[gwawa] 'canoe'[gawa] 'canoe' 4'paddle, oar'[keari] 'paddle'[keari] 'paddle' 5'chicken'[kakaba] 'fowl' 6'breadfruit'[kawaki] 'breadfruit'

### Kamula–Elevala and Awyu–Dumut

Potential cognates between Kamula–Elevala and Awyu–Dumut (Healey 1970):

#### Abbreviations

* pAD = proto-Awyu–Dumut
* pA = proto-Awyu
* pD = proto-Dumut
* pKE = proto-Kamula–Elevala
* pK = proto-Kamula
* pE = proto-Elevala
    Awyu–Dumut (Healey 1970)Kamula–Elevala pAD *dat- 'hear'pKE *dade- 'hear' pAD *do- 'be cooked'pKE *du- 'burn, cook' pAD *ɛdex- 'give'pE *dæ- 'give' pAD *füp 'name'pKE *hi 'name' pAD *göp 'you (sg.)'pE *go 'you (sg.)' pAD *ket 'flower'Pa [ke] 'blossom' pAD *mak 'shoulder'pKE *makæ 'shoulder' pAD *nop 'I'pE *nɔ 'I' pAD *or 'excreta, intestines'Kamula /o/ 'abdomen, belly' pAD *xaiban 'head'Pa [keba] 'head' pAD *xop 'male, man'pKE *kopo 'man' pAD *yin 'tree, wood, fire'Pa [ẽ] 'tree' pA *bu 'buttocks'pE *po 'buttocks' pA *dübe, *dübi 'island'Aekyom [dupi] 'island' pA *düb(-ro) 'heart'Kamula 'heart' pA *makan, *mokan 'low, beneath'pE *moka 'below' pA *midi(n) 'thigh'pKE *madina 'thigh' pA *wün 'liver'Pa [wumɛ] 'liver' pA *xui(-to) 'sky'Aekyom [khwoe] 'sky, heaven' pD *ba- 'sit'pKE *pV- 'sit' pD *kumöt 'thunder'pE *kima(ti) 'thunder'