Dani languages

The Dani or Balim Valley languages are a family of clearly related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken by the Dani and related peoples in the Balim Valley in the highlands of Papua Province, Indonesia. Foley (2003) considers their TNG status to be established. They may be most closely related to the languages of Paniai Lakes, but this is not yet clear. Capell (1962) had posited that their closest relatives were the Kwerba languages, which Ross (2005) rejects.

For the Dani language of Brazil, see Deni language.
Dani
Balim Valley
EthnicityDani, Lani, Yali, etc
Geographic
distribution		Balim Valley in the highlands of Papua Province
Linguistic classificationTrans–New Guinea
Subdivisions
  • Wano
  • Dani proper
  • ?Ngalik
Glottologdani1287[1]

Languages

Larson (1977) divided the family into three branches based on lexicostatistics, and Nggem was later added as a fourth. The Ngalik languages are very poorly attested.

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[2] This is identical to the reconstruction of Bromley (1966-1967) apart from adding the rare consonants *pw, *mbw and the possible additional vowel *ɐ

*m*n
*p*pʷ*t*k*kʷ
*mb*mbʷ*nd*ŋg*ŋgʷ
*ɓ*ɗ
*w*l*j
*i*u
*ɪ*ʊ
*e[*ɐ]*o
*a

And the diphthongs *ei, *ou, *ai, *au.

Pronouns

Ross (1995) reconstructs the independent pronouns and possessive/object prefixes of Central Dani as:

sgpl
1 *an, *n[a]*ni-t, *nin[a]-
2 *ka-t, *k[a]*ki-t, *kin[a]-
3 *a-t, *∅/w-*i-t, *in[a]-

Evolution

Dani reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[3]

Grand Valley Dani language:

  • ap ‘man’ < *ambi
  • meli ‘tongue’ < *me(l,n)e
  • n-esi ‘hair’ < *iti[C] (n- is 1sg possessor)
  • me(m)- ‘come’ < *me-
  • ket ‘new’ < *kVndak

Western Dani language:

  • ap ‘man’ < *ambi
  • (n)iti < *iti[C]
  • meli ‘tongue’ < *me(l,n)e
  • get ‘new’ < *kVndak
  • okut ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V]
  • kat(lo) ‘skin’ < *(ŋg,k)a(nd,t)apu
  • idu ‘tree’ < *inda

Ngalik language:

  • idu(k)etu ‘tree’ < *inda
  • (nak) amu ‘breast’ < *amu
  • tokon ‘full’ < *tVkV[ti]
  • kopu ‘smoke’ < *kambu

References
  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Dani". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. New Guinea World, Balim Valley
  3. 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. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  • 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.
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