| Nukuma | |
| Also Known As: | Ma |
| Region: | East Sepik Province, in the Sepik River basin of Papua New Guinea |
| Familycolor: | Papuan |
| Fam1: | Sepik |
| Fam2: | Middle Sepik |
| Glotto: | nuku1256 |
| Glottorefname: | Nukuma |
The Nukuma languages are a small family of three clearly related languages:[1]
They are generally classified among the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea; Malcolm Ross places them in a Middle Sepik branch of that family.
They are spoken to the north of the Sepik River near Ambunti, and west of the Ambulas-speaking region of Mapr (near Wosera town).[2]
Pronouns in Nukuma languages:[2]
| pronoun | Kwoma | Mende | |
|---|---|---|---|
| an | an ~ na ~ a | ||
| . | mɨ | mi | |
| . | ni | ɲi | |
| . | rɨ | or ~ ri | |
| . | sɨ | os ~ si | |
| si | ʃi | ||
| ki | ʃi | ||
| pɨr | fri | ||
| no | ni | ||
| kwo | ci | ||
| ye | li |
The following basic vocabulary words are from Foley (2005)[3] and Laycock (1968),[4] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.[5]
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. masək, masiki for “head”) or not (e.g. miːma, nogəpie for “woman”).
| gloss | Mende | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| head | masək | masiki | |
| ear | fuː; mabiya | mampla | |
| eye | miː; miyi | məsokome | |
| nose | sumojɨ; sumwonj | miñompo | |
| tooth | pu; tarəkwi | fu | |
| tongue | kwunja; tarekwoy | tarple | |
| leg | yaːte; yati | kumpa | |
| louse | nəkə; nɨka | nika | |
| dog | asa | asa | |
| pig | buri; poyi | ||
| bird | apu | afi | |
| egg | apo; bey; mpei | fəla | |
| blood | pi | fi | |
| bone | apo; hapa | hapa | |
| skin | mampə | maume | |
| breast | muk; muku | muku | |
| tree | me | mi | |
| man | ma | ma | |
| woman | miːma | nogəpie | |
| sun | ya | ta | |
| moon | nowəka; nɨwɨka | niyaka | |
| water | uku | uku | |
| fire | hi; hiː | hi | |
| stone | papa | süŋkye | |
| name | hi | ||
| eat | a | ||
| one | pochi | ||
| two | uprus | frišip |