| Uhunduni | |
|---|---|
| Damal | |
| Amung | |
| Region | Central Papua: central highlands, Paniai Regency, Beoga and Ilaga sub-districts; Asmat, Deiya, Mimika, and Puncak regencies, north and south Puncak Jaya; possibly Lanny Jaya and Nduga regencies. |
| Ethnicity | Amung people, Damal people |
| Native speakers | 14,000 (2000) |
| Language family | Trans–New Guinea
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | uhn |
| Glottolog | dama1272 |
| ELP | Damal |
 Map: The Amung language of New Guinea
The Amung language
Other Trans–New Guinea languages
Other Papuan languages
Austronesian languages
Uninhabited | |
Uhunduni, also known as Damal (Damal-kal) and Amung (Amung-kal) after two of its dialects, is the language of the Amung people and Damal people. It is a Trans–New Guinea language that forms an independent branch of that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005). However, it is treated as an isolate by Palmer (2018). This language family is also called Ingkipilu in a classification by Anton Moeliono. The word Damal came from the Dani people, while Uhunduni came from the Moni people.
Dialects are Amongme, Amung, Damal, Enggipilu.
Classification
Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Uhunduni to be classified as part of Trans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between Uhunduni and proto-Trans-New Guinea.
- no- ‘eat’ < *na-
- mo- come’ < *me-
- mini- ‘sit’ < *mVna-
- eme- ‘give’ < *mV-
Pronouns
Ross (2005) lists the pronouns as:
singular dual plural 1 na iru enoŋ 2 a erop 3 na nuŋ
Iru is an inclusive dual.
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary words of Damal (Uhunduni) are from the Trans-New Guinea database, citing Voorhoeve (1975).
gloss Damal head niŋok hair niŋatok eye noŋop tooth naik leg dok; nok louse ma dog mitim pig bow bird elato; olem egg olemagam blood nimang bone dok; nok skin nigip tree em man me sun ul water o; uk; ut fire ka; kanelep stone kela name nem eat nowin one amenkak two au; u
Literature
The New Testament in Damal was published in 1988.
- Damal people and CMA. 1988. Haik-A Ongam Kal: Perjanjian Baru Dalam Bahasa Damal . Jakarta: Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia.
References
- Uhunduni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- Palmer, Bill (2018). "Language families of the New Guinea Area". 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. 1–20. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
- Budhisantoso, S.; Simanulang, Binsar; Guritno, Sri. "Masyarakat Terasing Amungme di Irian Jaya" (PDF). Kemdikbud. p. 31. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
- 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.
- Greenhill, Simon (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea". Retrieved 2020-11-05.
- Voorhoeve, C.L. 1975. Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
- 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.