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The Northern Adelbert or Pihom–Isumrud languages are a family of twenty languages in the Madang stock of New Guinea. The occupy the coastal northern Adelbert Range of mountains directly opposite Karkar Island, as opposed to the Southern Adelbert languages, another branch of Madang.

Malcolm Ross posited a "linkage" connecting the Northern Adelbert languages with the Mabuso languages, and named this group Croisilles /krɔɪˈsɪlz/, as the two families bracket Cape Croisilles (Northern Adelbert to the north, Mabuso to the south). However, Ross never claimed Croisilles was an actual language family, and other researchers have rejected the connection.

Languages

There are approximately 20 Northern Adelbert languages.

Below is a comparison of Northern Adelbert language names in Pick (2020) and Z'graggen (1980). A few alternate names from Capell (1952) are also given.

Classification

Croisilles was first posited by Malcolm Ross (1995), not as an actual language family, but as a linkage. It was a merger of Wurm's Pihom-Isumrud-Mugil and Mabuso stocks, each of which contained 25–30 languages. Pick (2017, 2020) and Usher reject the merger, and provisionally the inclusion of Mugil (Bargam), though Pick retains the name. Usher disambiguates the (non-Mabuso) family as 'Adelbert Range'.

Usher (2020)

Timothy Usher classifies the languages as follows.

• Adelbert Range – Isumrud Strait
  • Kowan (Isumrud Strait): Waskia, Korak (Amako)
  • (North) Adelbert Range
    • Yamben
    • Omosan (Omosa River): Pal (Abasakur), Kobol (Koguman)
    • Gilagil River (old Isumrud proper)
      • Dimir (Gavak)
      • : Brem (Bunabun), Malas (Manep)
    • Northwest Adelbert Range (Mount Pihom)
      • Kaukombar River: Mala (Pay), Miani (Maiani, Tani), Maia (Pila, Saki)
      • Kumil–Timper
        • Kumil River: Bepour, Mauwake (Ulingan), Moere
        • Tiboran River (Timper River): Musar; Wanambre; Kowaki, Mawak, Pamosu (Hinihon)
    • Mabulap–Numugen
      • Amaimon (Mabulap) isolate
      • Numugen River (see)

Pick (2020)

Below is Andrew Pick's (2020) classification of the Northern Adelbert languages.

• Northern Adelbert languages
  • Manep–Barem languages: Manep, Barem
  • Kumil–Tibor languages
    • Kumil languages: Mauwake, Bepour, Moere
    • Tibor languages: Pamosu, Hember Avu, Mokati, Mawak, Kowaki
  • Numugen languages: Usan, Karian, Yaben, Yarawata, Parawen, Ukuriguma
  • Kaukombar languages: Maia, Mala, Miani, Maiani
  • Gavak

Pick (2017)

A quite similar internal classification was worked out independently by Pick (2017). Pick could not establish regular sound correspondences with Kobol–Pal (Omosan) or Amaimon (Mabulap), and thus leaves them out of the family.

• Northern Adelbert
  • Kumil–Tibor (*t- > s, *p- > f, *ŋ > zero)
    • Tibor
      • Mokati (Wanambre)
      • (*k- > h, *C- > ) Kowaki, Mawak, Pamosu, Hember Avu (Musar)
    • Kumil , *-k > zero]: Bepour, Mauwake, Moere
  • Kaukombar : Mala, Miani, Maiani, Maia
  • Manep–Barem
    • Manep (Malas)
    • Barem (Brem)
  • Gabak (Dimir)
  • Numugen (*ŋ > n, 6 languages)
  • Amako–Waskia: Waskia, Korak

Pick notes that Barem and Malas share pronominal markers on the verbs 'to teach' and 'to show' that are unique to those two verbs.

Proto-language

A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Northern Adelbert has been proposed by Pick (2020).

Phonology

Pick (2020) reconstructs the phonemes of Proto-Northern Adelbert as:

Four vowels are reconstructed by Pick (2020): *a, *e, *i, *u. Although Northern Adelbert languages usually have the five vowels /a e i o u/, Pick (2020) does not consider *o to be reconstructable.

Pronouns

The Proto-Northern Adelbert pronouns are:

Lexicon

Selected lexical reconstructions from Pick (2020) are listed below.

Comparisons

Below is a list of Proto-Northern Adelbert forms that are descended from Proto-Trans–New Guinea.

References

1. ^ Pick, Andrew (2017). "A Reconstruction of Proto-Croiselles Phonology and Lexicon". 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics. San Antonio, Texas, US. (video)
2. ^ Pick, Andrew (2020). A reconstruction of Proto-Northern Adelbert phonology and lexicon (PDF) (PhD dissertation). University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
3. Z'graggen, J.A. A comparative word list of the Northern Adelbert Range languages, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. D-31, xvi + 194 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1980. doi:10.15144/PL-D31
4. Capell, Arthur. 1952. Languages of the Bogia District, New Guinea. Oceania 22(2), 130-147; 22(3), 178-207.
5. Petir, Amova, Dum Materem, Pakong Yapong, Sakel Mukarek, Moyang Okira, & Tim Platts-Mills. 1996. Useful Plants of Salembem Village, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Madang: Kristen Pres.
6. Usher, Timothy. 2020. Adelbert Range – Isumrud Strait (NewGuineaWorld)

Further reading

• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Croisilles. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Mabuso. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-North-Adelbert. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Isumrud. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Pihom. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Tibor-Omosa. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Kaukombar. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Kumil. TransNewGuinea.org.
• Ross, Malcolm. 2014. Proto-Numugen. TransNewGuinea.org.

External links

• Current research on the Madang languages by Andrew Pick

• Northern Adelbert languages
• Languages of Papua New Guinea
• Adelbert languages