Name That Language!

[Birdlang]

It does remind me of something from PNG. Is it something from PNG or Papua Indonesia?

It’s not Kâte or Melpa, right?

[Frislander]

Ramu?

[bradrn]

Ramu?

Karch already said:

It is indeed a Papuan language, but it isn't in the Sepik nor in the Lower Sepik-Ramu family.

[Birdlang]

Is it a Trans-Fly language?

[Karch]

It is spoken in Papua New Guinea, but it isn't a Trans-Fly language.

[Frislander]

Is it spoken near the Sepik at all?

[bradrn]

Is it spoken near the Sepik at all?

I became curious enough about what this language was to Google it, and I did find it easily. (I promise I won’t tell anyone until they guess it independently!) So I can confirm: yes, it is spoken near the Sepik.

[Karch]

Yes, it is indeed spoken near the Sepik.

[Frislander]

OK, it's near the Sepik, in Papua New Guinea, but it's not TNG, Sepik or Lower Sepik-Ramu, and it doesn't seem Toricelli or Yuat to me, that's not as many options left, so I'm going to say Taiap?

[bradrn]

OK, it's near the Sepik, in Papua New Guinea, but it's not TNG, Sepik or Lower Sepik-Ramu, and it doesn't seem Toricelli or Yuat to me, that's not as many options left, so I'm going to say Taiap?

When I searched for that text on Google, I also got Tayap. So I’m pretty sure that’s correct (although I’d like Karch to confirm that properly).

[Karch]

It is indeed Tayap!

[Frislander]

Next language.

Ŋinŋangurra. Djan yiŋi njubanjiŋa njubanjiŋa. Yaːye guwe ŋaː waːrreyu. Yanmenji guwe. Waːrrenji gawa garinji. Yaːyi gari yoːrr yanme. Yoːrr yanmenji guwe badji djandu baːnji. Baːnji badji gan bam gamŋenji. Yuː nala yiŋi. Yuːyi guwe njowaganbama, 'Daduŋa gaː goromŋana. Wambawu guwe ŋay wawu.' Wayi guwe maːnji guwe mana gaŋa. Maːnji bayel guwe yoː maːnji gugunde. Yaːyi guwe, 'Ganma badjana.' Ganma bumni yunaenge. 'Ŋadju gana bumgu.' Bunmayi ŋandayi biyenji. Badjana bunmayi biyenji badjana. Waga guwe njaŋi. Yuː biː gariŋi. Biː yiyan guwe moː badjaru. Njaŋi guwe biː yiyana. Yiyan guwe. Yoː maːn mana gugunde maː. Bunman diyeŋ buŋundan. Buman biyan guwe.

[bradrn]

Next language.

Ŋinŋangurra. Djan yiŋi njubanjiŋa njubanjiŋa. Yaːye guwe ŋaː waːrreyu. Yanmenji guwe. Waːrrenji gawa garinji. Yaːyi gari yoːrr yanme. Yoːrr yanmenji guwe badji djandu baːnji. Baːnji badji gan bam gamŋenji. Yuː nala yiŋi. Yuːyi guwe njowaganbama, 'Daduŋa gaː goromŋana. Wambawu guwe ŋay wawu.' Wayi guwe maːnji guwe mana gaŋa. Maːnji bayel guwe yoː maːnji gugunde. Yaːyi guwe, 'Ganma badjana.' Ganma bumni yunaenge. 'Ŋadju gana bumgu.' Bunmayi ŋandayi biyenji. Badjana bunmayi biyenji badjana. Waga guwe njaŋi. Yuː biː gariŋi. Biː yiyan guwe moː badjaru. Njaŋi guwe biː yiyana. Yiyan guwe. Yoː maːn mana gugunde maː. Bunman diyeŋ buŋundan. Buman biyan guwe.

Is it Australian?

[Nortaneous]

~13 consonants, 5 vowels + length. PHOIBLE has very good coverage of Australia. Waka-Kabic? (Duuŋidjawu?)

[bradrn]

~13 consonants, 5 vowels + length. PHOIBLE has very good coverage of Australia. Waka-Kabic? (Duuŋidjawu?)

Just looking at a Duuŋidjawu grammar now, and I agree that the phonology fits. But the grammar also has lots of sample texts, the first one of which is identical to Frislander’s given text (except for one letter which is probably a typo in Frislander’s post), so I’m going to say that that this is definitely Duuŋidjawu.

[Nortaneous]

OK, next language. (If there's any more traditional orthography, it's not given in the source.)

ʔwoʔ ka naʔɢaʔa ka ʔalo riʔλiwi ke aka leʔya. nata neʔya na moqoyt leʔya waɢayaq. kaʔ leʔya ka yale yawo:take retaɢayaʔpeʔ ka ʔalo. qam yawoːntakoʔ ka ʔalo. qam ka yale renataɢantakoʔ, lakyoʔ ka ʔmaɢare retaɢayapegeʔ ʔaloʔλiʔ. qam ka ʔalo naqayažin ka yale. na:koʔ maʔlepe wi:čiroʔ qam lasom lai sowe:taʔñoʔ, wi:čiroʔ setaɢayaɢatoʔ ke lasom lasom ñiyaʔaʔ. kaʔ ka yale peʔe:toʔ ʔkeoʔ.

[bradrn]

OK, next language. (If there's any more traditional orthography, it's not given in the source.)

ʔwoʔ ka naʔɢaʔa ka ʔalo riʔλiwi ke aka leʔya. nata neʔya na moqoyt leʔya waɢayaq. kaʔ leʔya ka yale yawo:take retaɢayaʔpeʔ ka ʔalo. qam yawoːntakoʔ ka ʔalo. qam ka yale renataɢantakoʔ, lakyoʔ ka ʔmaɢare retaɢayapegeʔ ʔaloʔλiʔ. qam ka ʔalo naqayažin ka yale. na:koʔ maʔlepe wi:čiroʔ qam lasom lai sowe:taʔñoʔ, wi:čiroʔ setaɢayaɢatoʔ ke lasom lasom ñiyaʔaʔ. kaʔ ka yale peʔe:toʔ ʔkeoʔ.

What do ⟨q ɢ ñ λ č y⟩ represent? I’m guessing /q ɢ ɲ d͡ɮ t͡ʃ j/, respectively.

[Nortaneous]

What do ⟨q ɢ ñ λ č y⟩ represent? I’m guessing /q ɢ ɲ d͡ɮ t͡ʃ j/, respectively.

lambda is a palatal lateral, I suspect typographic difficulties

[bradrn]

OK, next language. (If there's any more traditional orthography, it's not given in the source.)

ʔwoʔ ka naʔɢaʔa ka ʔalo riʔλiwi ke aka leʔya. nata neʔya na moqoyt leʔya waɢayaq. kaʔ leʔya ka yale yawo:take retaɢayaʔpeʔ ka ʔalo. qam yawoːntakoʔ ka ʔalo. qam ka yale renataɢantakoʔ, lakyoʔ ka ʔmaɢare retaɢayapegeʔ ʔaloʔλiʔ. qam ka ʔalo naqayažin ka yale. na:koʔ maʔlepe wi:čiroʔ qam lasom lai sowe:taʔñoʔ, wi:čiroʔ setaɢayaɢatoʔ ke lasom lasom ñiyaʔaʔ. kaʔ ka yale peʔe:toʔ ʔkeoʔ.

Wait, I’ve just noticed something really weird about this text. It has lots of ⟨ɢ⟩, but only one ⟨g⟩, which strains credibility if they have their IPA values. Are you sure you transcribed this correctly? Or does one of ⟨ɢ g⟩ not have its IPA values here? Or does this text genuinely have lots of /ɢ/ but only one /ɡ/?

[Frislander]

Wow Good Lord Nort that was flipping clinical that was. Probably shouldn't have chosen a language with such a distinctive vowel system on its neighbours...

Anyhow, for this one let's see, voicing contrast in uvulars, only four vowels. Is it spoken on the Pampas?