Chapter XXIX: Section I: I. Classification

1. Fuyuge:--The first specimen of any lanugage of the Fuyuge group was collected by the Rev. James Chalmers in 1879. This was called by him Kabana, and was printed in a collection of vocabularies in 1888. [181] From a note on the original MS., the vocabulary was assumed to be the dialect of a village on Mount Victoria (called by Chalmers Mount Owen Stanley). [182] But as Sir William MacGregor pointed out, [183] there are no villages on that mountain, hence Chalmers, in assigning a locality to the vocabulary some time after its collection, must have been mistaken. The language of Chalmers' Kabana is nearly the same as that of a vocabulary collected by Mr. A. Giulianetti at the village of Sikube in the Upper Vetapa or Vanapa valley, north of Mount Lilley. This was published in 1898. [184]

A few words from the village of Kambisa, in Sirima (Chirima) valley were published in the Annual Report on British New Guinea for 1905-6, [185] and I have since been favoured by the compiler, the Rev. P. J. Money, with a fuller list. The Rev. Father Egedi published in 1907 a vocabulary of Fuyuge along with his account of the Tauata or Afoa tribe. [186] Dr. Strong collected a vocabulary from the natives of Korona, a village situated close to the head of Galley Reach. This was collected with the help of a Motu-speaking native, and contains a few apparently Melanesian words. Dr. Strong was spontaneously told that these had been introduced from the coast in quite recent times. (_Cf_. § III.)

The words in the comparative vocabulary are taken from an extensive collection in Mafulu by the Rev. Father Egedi. They represent the same dialect as the Grammar in Appendix I.

That Mafulu, Kambisa, and Korona, with Sikube and Kabana, represent the same language is plain.

The Kabana pronoun _nahu_, I, the Sikube _na(nio_) I, _nu_(_ni_) thou, and the Kambisa _na_, I, _nu_, thou, _hu_, he, agree with the Fuyuge _na, na(ni_), I, _nu, nu(ni_) thou, _u_, he. The Kabana _nauera_, mine, is the Fuyuge _naula_. The Kambisa _nara-ndo_, mine, _nura-ndo_, thine, _hura-ndo_ his, also show a suffix _ndo_ corresponding to Mafulu _ne_ in _naula(ne_), mine, _nula(ne_) thine, _ula(ne_) his, and in the vocabulary the Kambisa suffix _nda_ corresponds to the Korona _de_ in the word for "chest." There is, however, no evidence that the Korona _de_ is equivalent to the Mafulu _ne_. The word given in Sikube for "woman," _amuri_, is the Fuyuge plural _amuli_, "women."

A few other likenesses appear, as _e.g._, Kambisa suffix _ng_ represents Mafulu _me, ne_; Kambisa _fa_, the Fuyuge _ve_; Kambisa _a_, Korona _la_, Mafulu _le_.

The following extract shows the likeness of the vocabulary. [187]

Mafulu. Kambisa. Sikube. Kabana. Korona.

Adze so so cho -- itau Arm, hand -- ia ia ia ya Belly ombo hombo -- habe obo Bird nembe neba membe -- nebe Cassowary plume -- wasa vasa -- -- Child, son me, ese isa me ese isia Club gilise hadufa adufa, -- hadoga girishia Dog oi hu hu, fu hoa ho Ear yangolo gadoro gaderu gadero i Eye i i i e yago Forest -- -- bu = garden -- bu Father ba -- -- ba ba Fire oki uki okia okia oke Foot soge siga suku suge sogo Go gege -- henga inga hego Ground bu, fa hoa bu = garden -- fa Hair, head ade ha ha ha ha House e e -- e e Knife indi indi indi -- -- Leaf tu idu itu idu utu Lip, mouth ude uba ude ude uau Moon one hama -- hama hoana Navel kombolu kumburu -- habera = koboro belly Nose unge unga hunge unuga unga Pig ovo -- obu -- o'o Rain yangose -- iangushe iangose yagosa Smoke iso iso ishio -- isoa Stone bute io -- io butia Sun, day eve ewuri -- evurima eurima Sugar-cane -- teba tebe -- -- Taro munde munda mude -- mude Thigh mude muda mude -- mude Tongue usese asisino asese asese asiesa Tooth ato usi ado ado atu Village e haru e -- eda Water yu iu iu iu eu Woman amu ?mamo = amu amu amu mother

The numerals show similar agreements. These will be illustrated in the next section.

2. Afoa.--The Afoa vocabulary was collected by Dr. Strong in the villages on Mount Pitsoko from a Fuyuge native who spoke Afoa fluently. Dr. Strong also obtained a short vocabulary from a native who came from a village apparently on the slopes of Mount Davidson. The language is substantially the same as the Tauata or Tauatape of which Rev. Father Egedi has published a Vocabulary and Grammar. [188] There are, however, a few slight differences which seem to confirm Father Egedi's statement that there is probably a difference of pronunciation in the various Afoa villages. [189] Father Egedi writes: _p, v, k, t, l, ts_ where Dr. Strong has: _b, w, g, d, r, t_. The latter also has final _i_ for _e_, _oa_ for _a_ or _o_, _ia_ for _ea_, _u_ for _oi_ _ai_ for _ei_. Sometimes _b_ represents _m_ or _v_. Some of Dr. Strong's words show marks of Afoa grammar, as, _e.g._, the words for eat, see, sit, give, head, husband or wife, mother, are: _na nai_, I eat; _na nu kava_, I thee see; _na navi_, I sit; _nu inie_, thou givest; _ni adi_, your head; _omen iva_, his wife or her husband; _aumen ini_, his mother. The Tauata words are added to the Afoa Vocabulary in square brackets.

3. Kovio.--The language called Kovio by Dr. Strong is substantially the same as the Oru Lopiko of Rev. Father Egedi. [190] The same or a similar language is said to be found in four places, viz.--

1. Lopiko in the Inava valley.
2. Inavarene in the Inava valley.
3. Kwoifa district on upper Lakekamu River.
4. Villages round Pic Eleia.

Details of these dialects are not given.