Kutubuan languages

There has been some debate over whether they are closer to each other than to other languages, but Usher includes them both in the Kikorian branch of the tentative Papuan Gulf stock. Within the two branches, the lexicostatistical figures are 60–70%. Between the two branches, they are 10–20%.

• East Kutubuan
  • Foe, Fiwaga
• West Kutubuan
  • Fasu, Some, Namumi

Proposed Kutubu reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:[1]

Foi language:

• gage- ‘carry on back’ < *kak(i,u)
• ku- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• na- ‘eat’ < *na-
• korage ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ondok[V]
• gariko ‘neck’ < *k(a,e)(nd,t)ak
• ira ‘tree’ < *inda
• kuba ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
• ya ‘bird’ < *yaka(i)
• babo ‘mother’s sister’ < *mbamba ‘older same sex sibling’

Fasu language:

• ku- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• na- ‘eat’ < *na-
• reke- ‘stand’ < ta,e,i)k[V]
• ama ‘mother’ < *am(a,i)
• apa ‘father’ < *apa
• himu ‘heart, stomach’ < *simb(i,u)
• iti ‘hair’ < *iti[C]
• korake ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V]
• kinu ‘shoulder’ < *kinV
• kau ‘skin’ < *k(a,o)(nd,t)apu
• sikini ‘hand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)(a,i)l
• pisi ‘urine’ < *pisi
• mane(raka) ‘make the law’ < *mana ‘instructions’
• horop ‘long’ < *k(o,u)ti(mb,p)V
• api(a) ‘husband’ < *ambi ‘man’
• papa ‘mother’s sister’ < *mbamba ‘older same sex sibling’
• ira ‘tree’ < *inda
• sakipu ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
• kupa ‘wind’ < *kumbutu

• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–Lake Kutubu