Indo-Pacific languages
Indo-Pacific | |
---|---|
(spurious) | |
Geographic distribution | Oceania, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia |
Linguistic classification | Proposed language family |
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | None |
Indo-Pacific is a hypothetical language
Proposal
The Indo-Pacific proposal, grouping the non-Austronesian languages of New Guinea with certain languages spoken on islands to the east and west of New Guinea, was first made by Greenberg in 1971. Greenberg's supporter Merritt Ruhlen considers Indo-Pacific an extremely diverse and ancient family, far older than Austronesian, which reflects a migration from southeast Asia that began only 6,000 years ago; he notes that New Guinea was inhabited by modern humans at least 40,000 years ago, and possibly 10,000 to 15,000 years earlier than that.[2] Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza sees Indo-Pacific as a very heterogenous family of 700 languages and suggests that it may be more than 40,000 years old.[3]
Reception
Greenberg's proposal was based on rough estimation of
Racial notions have continued to be uncritically applied to language groupings. As late as 1971, Joseph Greenberg resurrected the old idea that "the bulk of non-Austronesian languages of Oceania from the Andaman Islands on the west of the Bay of Bengal to Tasmania in the Southeast form a single group of genetically related languages for which the name Indo-Pacific is proposed." This hypothesis is identical to Finck's 1909 family of "Sprachen der ozeanischen Neger", a group for which indeed the name "Indo-Pacific" had already been in use, with its roots in the "Pan-Negrito Theory" of physical anthropologists (cf. Skeat and Blagden 1906: 25–28). Appropriately, Roger Blench has described the Indo-Pacific hypothesis as "essentially a crinkly hair hypothesis". The linguistic evidence which Greenberg adduced for Indo-Pacific is unconvincing, and lexical look-alikes and superficial typological similarities in languages cannot convincingly demonstrate a theory of linguistic relationships conceived solely on the basis of the physical attributes of the speakers.
Since Greenberg's work, the languages of New Guinea have been intensively studied by
Pawley (2008) is the only thorough review of the proposal. He found that all branches of Indo-Pacific except Tasmanian and Andamanese include languages from Trans–New Guinea, and that this explains the more reasonable cognates that Greenberg proposed, but because these Trans–New Guinea languages are mixed in with languages from other families in those branches, cognates linking the branches do not provide support for Greenberg's proposal that all Papuan languages are related.[7]
Subdivision
According to Greenberg, Indo-Pacific consists of fourteen families, not counting a few which he could not classify. He suggested a tentative sub-classification into seven groups, listed in bold below. Some languages have not been identified.
- Tasmanian
- Biada
- Nuclear
- Central
- Kapauku–Baliem
- Simori, Wolani [= TNG Paniai Lakesfamily]
- Dem [= TNG Dem]
- Enggipilu[= TNG Uhunduni]
- Dani(Ndani) [→ Dani]
- Dani + Isirawa (probably Kwerba)]
- Highland
- Wurm & Laycock's Tsinyaji[= TNG Kainantu + Madang]
- Wurm & Laycock's Gende–Siane–Gahuku–Kamano–Fore[= TNG Goroka]
- Wurm & Laycock's Hagen–Wahgi–Jimi–Chumbu [= Chimbu–Wahgi]
- Wurm & Laycock's + Wiru (probably Teberan–Pawaian)]
- Karam(Aförö) [= Madang]
- Kutubu, Fasu[= Kutubuan]
- Wurm & Laycock's
- McElhanon's Kandomin, Wantoat [= TNG Finisterre–Huon]
- Kapauku–Baliem
- Northern
- Murik: Nor–Pondo+ Kambot]
- Tami: families + unclassified Molof (Cowan's proposal)]
- Arapeshan: Valmanfamily]
[= non-TNG Torricelli - Ndu–Kwoma: family]
- Sentani: Kaurefamilies]
- Monumbo: & Gapun families]
- Unclassified: Apris(Southern Adelbert)
- Murik:
- Southern (Kiwaiic)
- ]
- Moi-e
[= Kunja (Tonda family) + related Nambu + Mekwei (Nimboran family), none TNG] - Agöbfamily]
[= non-TNG Pahoturi - , & Morori families]
- + non-TNG Waia]
- Barika [probably Tumu(Dumu, Kibiri)
[= TNG Turama–Kikorian family + possibly TNG Folopa] - family]
- Southwestern (Marind–Ok)
- Awju: Awyu–Dumutfamily]
- Kukukuku: Madinava [= TNG Angan]
- Tirio: Anima [= TNG Tiriofamily]
- Ok [= TNG Awyu–Dumutfamilies]
- Marapka
- Unkia, "Plain Country" [= Awin]
- Kaeti, Wambon
- Marind [= TNG Marind + perhaps non-TNG Bulaka River families[18]]
- Awju:
- Central
- West
- Western
- Yava(Mantembu & Saweroe) [= non-TNG, possible isolate]
- Karas [= TNG West Bomberaifamily]
- Mai Bratfamily]
- Bird's Headfamily]
- East Bird's Head + Amberbaken + Mairasi families + Maibrat (spurious)[20] + TNG South Bird's Head + Morfamilies]
- North Halmahera: family]
- Timor–Alor: Timoreselanguages]
- Western
- Eastern
- Afoa: family]
- Kovio: Goiefufamily]
[= Goilalan - Fuyuge: Gomalifamily]
[= Goilalan - Koita: families]
- Mailu: families, maybe Baruga, and crypto-Austronesian Magori & Keapara]
- Elema: family]
- Dimuga: Makiarafamily]
[= Dagan - Binandere: Binandereanfamily + Akoye]
- Mulaha: family]
- Namau(Maipua) [an isolate, perhaps Eleman]
- Northeast (Madang): family]
- Pacific
- Bougainville
- Uasi[isolate]
- KKRE: Keriaka [= North Bougainvillefamily]
- NNSB: Baitsi) [= South Bougainvillefamily]
- New Britain
- Central Melanesian
- Central Solomons: Central Solomonsfamily]
- Nabalue) [= AN]
- Central Solomons:
- Bougainville
The following were left unclassified:
- [various languages suspected to be in Northern]: , Torricelli, Sepik, Pauwasi, Fas, Amto–Musan, and Busa families]
- Arare[possibly Western] [= TNG Kayagar]
- Kamoro [possibly Western]: Asmat–Kamorofamily]
- Tori [possibly Western]: "South River" (Südfluss) [likely Borumessufamily + Yoke + Burmeso]
[= Lakes Plain - Kauwerawet: Koassa [= Kwerbafamily]
- Gogodala [probably in Southern New Guinea]: Gogodalafamily]
- Ondoro[TNG Koiarian]
Comparison
This classification was never widely accepted, and was largely passed over for that of Stephen Wurm. They do not agree well. For example,
- Greenberg's North New Guinea family corresponds to four of Wurm's families: Sko, Sepik–Ramu, Torricelli, and the Northern branch of Trans–New Guinea;
- Greenberg's West New Guinea family corresponds to four of Wurm's: South Bird's Head and West Bomberai branches of Trans–New Guinea, and the Bird's Head branch of West Papuan.
The few similarities are retentions from earlier linguists' work:
- Greenberg's Northeast New Guinea family and Wurm's Madang–Adelbert Range branch of Trans–New Guinea reflect John Z'graggen's Madang–Adelbert Range,
- Greenberg's Eastern New Guinea family and Wurm's Eastern Main-Section branch of Trans–New Guinea both preserve Tom Dutton's Southeast New Guinea family.
Notes
- PMID 15056764.
- ^ a b Ruhlen, Merritt. The Origin of Language: Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue. John Wiley & Sons, Inc: New York, 1994
- ^ Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca. Genes, Peoples, and Languages. University of California Press: Berkeley, 2001
- ^ Blench, Roger; Post, Mark (2008), The Languages Of The Tasmanians And Their Relation To The Peopling Of Australia: Sensible and Wild Theories
- ^ Languages of the Himalayas, vol. 1, pp 139–141
- ^ Wurm, S.A. (1977). New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study, Volume 1: Papuan Languages and the New Guinea Linguistic Scene. Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra.
- ^ Andrew Pawley, 2008. An assessment of Greenberg's Indo-Pacific hypothesis (draft)
- ^ Southern Andamanese languages not addressed
- ^ not the Tombenam in Northeastern
- ^ Multitree ID as [mlu] is an error
- ^ Multitree ID as [szn] is an error
- ^ Multitree ID as Bugis is an error
- Biangai(Goilalan family) by Glottolog, but this makes little sense geographically.
- ^ Sidney H. Ray. 1923. The Languages of the Western Division of Papua. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 53. 332-360.
- ^ Johnston, H. L. C. 1923. Appendix IX: Vocabulary Kikori Station, Delta Division: Tribe, Barika, Name of village, Asanu. Commonwealth of Australia. Papua: Annual Report for the Year 1921-1922. 166-166.
- ^ not Agob, pace Glottolog
- ^ a b Jabga is not Marind, but no words from it appear in Greenberg's proposal.
- ^ Multitree ID as [bhu] is an error
- ^ a b The name Mogetemin is used for both Maibrat and Konda (Ogit).[3] The vocabulary in Greenberg is clearly Maibrat, but the placement here looks to be an inherited classification for Konda.
- ^ Multitree ID as Yidiny an error
- ^ Multitree ID as Hitu an error
- ^ Terence Hays, New Guinea Bibliography'
- ^ Multitree ID as Nalca is an error
- Jimajima (Dagan family) by Glottolog,[4]but this contradicts the location in Ray.
References
- Greenberg, Joseph H. 1971. "The Indo-Pacific hypothesis." In Current Trends in Linguistics, Vol. 8: Linguistics in Oceania, edited by Thomas A. Sebeok, 808-71. The Hague: Mouton.[5] (Reprinted in Greenberg, Genetic Linguistics, 2005, 193–275.[6])
Family tree available at the Linguist List MultiTree Project [no longer functional as of 2014] - Greenberg, Joseph H. 2005. Genetic Linguistics: Essays on Theory and Method, edited by William Croft. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- O'Grady, Dobrovolsky, Katamba. 1997. Contemporary Linguistics.
- Usher, Timothy. "A comparison of Greenberg's and Wurm's classifications." In Greenberg, Genetic Linguistics, 2005, 261–269. (Systematic tabulation of the two sets of results.)
- Wurm, Stephen A. 1982. The Papuan Languages of Oceania. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.