Mek languages
| Mek | |
|---|---|
| Goliath | |
| Ethnicity: | Mek people |
| Geographic distribution: | New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification: |
|
| Glottolog: | mekk1240[1] |
|
Map: The Mek languages of New Guinea
The Mek languages
Other Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
The Mek languages are a well established family of Papuan languages spoken by the Mek peoples. They form a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005).
The Mek languages form three dialect chains (Heeschen 1998):
- Eastern: Ketengban (including Okbap, Omban, Bime, Onya), Una (Goliath), Eipomek
- Northern: Kosarek Yale–Nipsan, Nalca
- Western: Korupun-Sela (including Dagi, Sisibna, Deibula)
Pronouns are not well attested, but include:
sg pl 1 *na *nun 2 *ka-n 3 *e-r
Mek, then called Goliath, was identified by M. Bromley in 1967. It was placed in TNG by Wurm (1975).
References
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Mek". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson. Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
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