Karami language

Karami
RegionKikimairi and Aduahai villages, Western Province, Papua New Guinea
Extinct1950s[1][2]
(unclassified)
Language codes
ISO 639-3xar
Glottologkara1497

Karami is an extinct and unclassified Papuan language of southern Papua New Guinea. It is attested from only a short word list, which include many loans from Foia Foia.[3]

Locations

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According to Flint (1919: 96), from which the only existing word list of Karami is available, Karami was spoken in the villages of Kikimairi and Aduahai, both located near Daru Station, "on the right-hand side (in the bush) of left branch of the Turama River, Western Division, Papua."[4]

Classification

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Although Franklin (1968; 1973: 269-273) classifies Karami as an Inland Gulf language,[5][6] Usher and Suter (2015: 125) do not consider it to be part of the Anim languages, noting that there are many loanwords from Foia Foia.[7]

Pawley and Hammarström (2018) treat Karami as a 'language isolate', though this is the wording used for languages that are not easily classified.[8]

Vocabulary

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Below is the word list of Karami from Flint (1919), which was recorded on October 12, 1917.[4]

gloss Karami
sun aimea
moon kuwiri
star bube
wind urama
rain darepu
night duruki
land borti
stone agabu
hill darai
water auwo
river dupa
fire mavio
woman kipa
man sor
child kikiwea
father tore
mother tukini
wife kipa
friend mabukari
chief naramuabera
sorcerer adura
blood toki
bone goni
skin kebora
hair epurupa
face osomi
ear kuse
eye epegu
lip magita
mouth magetia
nose wodi
tongue muta
neck dogodi
tooth saku
arm sibu
shoulder binahiwe
elbow po
finger kimarari
thumb tugeti
finger (1st-4th) kimarari
hand simai-a
leg auni
foot mea
belly niro
breast bodoro
nipple kino
navel dumu
pig giromoi
dog kso
wallaby teberi
rat suma
bird kaimo
cassowary koibo
fowl beia
crocodile ibirai
hornbill kube-i
snake wositari
fish mini
louse sugani
mosquito kieono
forest gamai-i
tree sumari
sago asiba
banana imara
sugarcane amoro
yam kusu
sweet potato ori
taro orpuo
bamboo bira
tobacco warariga
village kuni
house ogota
path ige
canoe gipainoe
paddle sitara
bow tiri
arrow bira
shield siwi
no wote
two kipainoe
one botie
three kipai-ia
four mosokoto
five tuporo
seven diri
eight ma
nine ta-o
ten taura
twenty magagai
I torgue
thou kuria

References

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  1. ^ Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-56331-4. OCLC 47983733.
  2. ^ Karami language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  3. ^ Usher, Timothy. Inland Gulf family. New Guinea World.
  4. ^ a b Flint, L. A. 1919. Vocabularies: Daru station, Western Division. Papua. Annual Report for the Year 1917‒18, 96. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.
  5. ^ Franklin, Karl J. 1968. Languages of the Gulf District: A preview. Papers in New Guinea Linguistics 8:17‒44. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  6. ^ Franklin, Karl J. 1973. Other language groups in the Gulf District and adjacent areas. In The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea, ed. by Karl J. Franklin, 263‒77. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  7. ^ Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter (2015) "The Anim Languages of Southern New Guinea". Oceanic Linguistics 54:110–142
  8. ^ Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.