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).

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Mek
Goliath
Ethnicity	Mek people
Geographic distribution	New Guinea
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea Central West New Guinea Momuna–Mek[1] Mek
Glottolog	mekk1240
Map: The Mek languages of New Guinea   The Mek languages   Other Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Uninhabited

Mek, then called Goliath, was identified by M. Bromley in 1967. It was placed in TNG by Wurm (1975).

Languages

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)

Proto-language

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as 'perhaps' as follows:[2]

*m	*n		*ŋ
*p	*t		*k	*kʷ
*(m)b	*(n)d		*(ŋ)g	*(ŋ)gʷ
	*s
*w	*l	*j

i		u
e		o
ɛ		ɔ
	a	ɒ

ei	ou
ɛi	ɔu
ai	au
aɛ	aɔ

Pronouns

Pronouns are:[2]

	sg	pl
1	*na	*nu[n]
2	*kan	*kun (?)
3	*ɛl	*tun, *[t/s]ig

The difference between the two 3pl forms is not known. 2pl and 3pl have parallels in Momuna /kun tun/.

Basic vocabulary

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:[2]

gloss	Proto-Mek	Proto-East Mek	Kimyal	Proto-Northwest Mek	Proto-Momuna-Mek	Momuna
hair/feather	*p[ɔ]t[ɔ]ŋ	*pɔtɔŋ	osoŋ	*hɔŋ
ear/twelve	*aᵓ		ɔ	*aᵓ
eye	*atiŋ	*asiŋ	isiŋ	*haⁱŋ	*ɒtig	ɒtù
tooth/sharp	*jo̝				*jo̝	jó
tongue	*se̝l[ija]mu	*[se̝]l[ija]mu	selamu	*se̝l[i]mu
foot/leg	*jan	*jan	jan	*jan	*j[a/ɒ]n
blood	*e̝ne̝ŋ	*ɪnɪŋ	eneŋ	*e̝ne̝ŋ	*jo̝ne̝g
bone	*jɔk	*jɔk	jw-aʔ	*jɔʔ[ɔ]
breast	*mɔᵘm	*mɔᵘm	moᵘm	*mɔᵘm	*mɔᵘm	mɒ̃ᵘ
louse	*ami	*ami	imi	*ami	*ami	ami
dog	*gam	*[k/g]am	gam	*gam	*gɒm	kɒ̀
pig	*be̝sam	*bɪsam		*bham		wɒ́
bird	*mak, *mag	*mak	-ma (?)	*-ma (?)	*mak	má
egg/fruit/seed	*do̝[k]	*dʊk	do	*do̝[k]		dɒko ~ dɒku
tree/wood	*gal		gal	*gal	*gɒl	kɒ̀
woman/wife	*ge̝l	*[k/g]ɪl	gel	*ge̝l
sun	*k[ɛ]t[e̝]ŋ	*k[ɛ]t[ɪ]ŋ	isiŋ	*he̝ŋ
moon	*wal	*wal	wal	*wal
water/river	*m[ɛ/a]g	*mɛk	mag	*m[ɛ/a]g
fire	*o̝ᵘg	*ʊᵘk	ug	*[u]g
stone	*gɛⁱl; *gidig	*[k/g]ɛⁱl	girig	*gidig		kè
path/way	*bi[t/s]ig	*bi[t/s]ik	bisig	*bhig
name	*si	*si	si	*si	*si	si
eat/drink	*de̝-(b)	*dɪ-(b)	de-	*de̝-(b)		de-
one	*[na]tɔn	*tɔn	nason	*nhɔn
two/ring finger	*b[e̝/ɛ]te̝ne̝	*b[ɪ/ɛ]tɪnɪ	besene	*bhe̝ne̝

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970),[3] Voorhoeve (1975),[4] and Heeschen (1978),[5] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[6]

gloss	Eipomek	Korapun-Sela	Nalca	Una	Yale, Korsarek	Ketengban
head	kiisok	asak	huk		heiyɔ´; khe yok	giso
hair	fotong	asuŋ	hoŋ	otoŋ	hong; hɔŋ	potong
ear	amol				amalé	amol
eye	asing	isiŋ	hiŋ	atsiŋ	heiŋ; hɩng	asorue
nose	uu				uryam	u
tooth	sii	si	si	tsi	si	tsi
tongue	sii tang				selemú	lyemngwe
leg		yan saŋ	yan	yan	yan
louse	amnye	wutnavu	amnya		ami; ami´	amnye
dog	kam	kʰam; kham	kam		kam	kam
pig	basam	pham	pham	uduk	pam; pham	besam
bird	make	winaŋ	winiŋ	mai	winang; winaŋ	ma
egg	duk	waŋga	doug		winaŋ wana; winang wangká	do
blood	ining	iniŋ	iniŋ		eneŋ; ining	yabye
bone	yoke	iaŋ birin	yog		yok; you	yo
skin		boxa	phok		kon
breast	taram				saram	taram
tree	yo	kal; khal	kal; khal		kal	co
man		nimi	nim		nimi
woman	kilape				kəlabo	nerape
sky	iim				im	im
sun	ketinge	isiŋ	hiŋ		hein; hɛng	getane
moon	wale				wal	ware
water	mek	mak	mek	meye	mak	me
fire	uukwe	uk	uk	uke	ouk̂; ow	ukwe
stone	kedinge	khirik	kirik	waliŋ	kirik	gil
road, path	biisiik				bi	bisi
name	sii	utnimi	si		si	si
eat	dibmal		dilom	kwaːniŋ	el dilamla; tiu loŋa	jibmar
one	ton	thoxunok	nhon		otunohon; se'lek	tegen
two		bisini	phein		pɛndɛ; phende	bitini

Evolution

Mek reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[7]

Eipo language:

• mun ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
• kuna ‘shadow’ < *k(a,o)nan
• saŋ ‘dancing song’ < *saŋ
• getane ‘sun’ < *kVtane

Bime language:

• mundo ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’

Kosarek language:

• ami ‘louse’ < *niman
• si ‘tooth’ < *(s,t)i(s,t)i
• tomo < *k(i,u)tuma ‘night’

Yale language:

• de ‘to burn’ < *nj(a,e,i)
• mon ‘belly’ < *mundun ‘internal organs’
• xau ‘ashes’ < *kambu

Further reading

• Heeschen, Volker. 1978. The Mek languages of Irian Jaya with special reference to the Eipo language. Irian 7(2): 3–46.
• Heeschen, Volker. 1992. The position of the Mek languages of Irian Jaya among the Papuan languages: History, typology and speech. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 148(3/4): 465–488.

References

• 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.

External links

• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Momuna–Mek
• (ibid.) Proto–Mek

На других языках

[fr] Langues mek