Tayap language: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:15, 22 June 2020

Revision as of 02:18, 22 June 2020

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==Classification==

Tayap is [[unclassifiednot language|unclassified]]related andto maythe beneighboring aLower [[languageSepik isolate]]languages, though a relationship to the more distant [[Torricelli languages|Torricelli]] family has also been proposed.<ref name=ngw>[https://sites.google.com/site/newguineaworld/families/torricelli-range-sepik-coast/sepik-coast/taiap New Guinea World -- Taiap]</ref> In the 1970s Australian linguist [[Donald Laycock]] classified Tayap (which he called "[[Gapun]]") as a sub-phylum of the Sepik-Ramu language phylum, on the basis of Georg Höltker's 1938 word list and a few verb paradigms that Laycock gathered from two speakers.<ref>{{Citation |last=Laycock |first=D.C.|title=Sepik Languages - Checklist and Preliminary Classification |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=1973 |series=Pacific Linguistics B-25 |___location=Canberra |doi=10.15144/pl-b25}}</ref>

In the 1970s Australian linguist [[Donald Laycock]] classified Tayap (which he called "[[Gapun]]") as a sub-phylum of the Sepik-Ramu language phylum, on the basis of Georg Höltker's 1938 word list and a few verb paradigms that Laycock gathered from two speakers.<ref>{{Citation |last=Laycock |first=D.C.|title=Sepik Languages - Checklist and Preliminary Classification |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=1973 |series=Pacific Linguistics B-25 |___location=Canberra |doi=10.15144/pl-b25}}</ref>

Kulick and Terrill (2019) found no evidence that Tayap is related to the Lower Sepik languages. The comparative vocabulary table below, adapted from Kulick and Terrill (2019: 11-12) and Foley (2005),<ref name="Foley-Sepik-Ramu">{{cite book | last = Foley | first = William A. | authorlink = William A. Foley | year = 2005 | chapter = Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin | title = Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples | ___location = Canberra | publisher = Pacific Linguistics | isbn = 0858835622 | oclc = 67292782 | editor = [[Andrew Pawley]] | editor2 = Robert Attenborough | editor3 = Robin Hide | editor4 = Jack Golson | pages = 109&ndash;144 }}</ref> demonstrates the lexical aberrancy of Tayap as compared to the surrounding [[Lower Sepik languages]].<ref name="Kulick-Terrill"/> Cultural vocabulary such as 'village', 'canoe', 'oar', and 'lime', as well as the words for 'water' and 'eat', are shared with Lower Sepik languages. The word 'moon' is also shared with [[Kopar language|Kopar]]. However, most basic vocabulary items have no cognates in surrounding languages.

Kulick and Terrill (2019) found no evidence that Tayap is related to the Lower Sepik languages, another branch of the erstwhile Sepik-Ramu phylum. The comparative vocabulary table below, adapted from Kulick and Terrill (2019: 11-12) and Foley (2005),<ref name="Foley-Sepik-Ramu">{{cite book | last = Foley | first = William A. | authorlink = William A. Foley | year = 2005 | chapter = Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin | title = Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples | ___location = Canberra | publisher = Pacific Linguistics | isbn = 0858835622 | oclc = 67292782 | editor = [[Andrew Pawley]] | editor2 = Robert Attenborough | editor3 = Robin Hide | editor4 = Jack Golson | pages = 109&ndash;144 }}</ref> demonstrates the lexical aberrancy of Tayap as compared to the surrounding [[Lower Sepik languages]].<ref name="Kulick-Terrill"/> Cultural vocabulary such as 'village', 'canoe', 'oar', and 'lime', as well as the words for 'water' and 'eat', are shared with Lower Sepik languages. The word 'moon' is also shared with [[Kopar language|Kopar]]. However, most basic vocabulary items have no cognates in surrounding languages.

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