Finisterre languages

Finisterre
Geographic distribution:	New Guinea
Linguistic classification:	Trans–New Guinea Finisterre–Huon Finisterre
Subdivisions:	Erap Gusap–Mot Uruwa Wantoat Warup Yupna
Glottolog:	fini1245[1]

The Finisterre languages are a family within the original Trans–New Guinea (TNG) proposal, and William A. Foley considers their TNG identity to be established. They share with the Huon languages verbs that are suppletive depending on the person & number of the object, strong morphological evidence that they are related.

Internal structure

Huon and Finisterre, and then the connection between them, were identified by Kenneth McElhanon (1967, 1970). They are clearly valid language families. Finisterre contains six clear branches. Beyond that, classification is based on lexicostatistics, which is generally unreliable. The outline below follows McElhanon and Carter et al. (2012).

• Finisterre family
  • Erap branch
    • Boana: Nuk–Nek, Nakama, Numanggang, Munkip
    • Finongan, Gusan, Mamaa
    • Nimi, Sauk (Ma Manda), Uri
  • Gusap–Mot branch
    • Madi (Gira), Neko, Nekgini
    • Ngaing, Rawa, Ufim, Iyo (Nahu)
  • Uruwa branch: Sakam (Kutong) – Som, Nukna (Komutu), Yau, ?Weliki
  • Wantoat branch: Awara–Wantoat (Yagawak, Bam), Tuma-Irumu
  • Warup branch: Asaro'o (Morafa) – Molet, Bulgebi, Degenan, Forak, Guya (Guiarak), Gwahatike (Dahating), Muratayak (Asat, Yagomi)
  • Yupna branch: Domung–Ma (Mebu), Nankina, Bonkiman–Yopno (Kewieng, Wandabong, Nokopo, Isan), ?Yout Wam

References

1. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Finisterre–Saruwaged". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Bibliography

• Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide, Jack Golson, eds. Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.