2 , 15 , 4 , I SOLATES : MOROBE D I ST R I CT : WASEMBO ( O R GUSAP )

K . A . M c E l h an o n

2. 15.4. 1 . I N T RO D U C T I O N

The Wasemb o l anguage ( 4 7 6 speaker s ) i s spoken in five vi l l ages of the

Markham Headwat ers Cen sus Divi s i on , Kaiap i t S ubdistric t , Morobe D i st r i c t .
The s e v i l l age s are Gus ap ( p opulat ion 4 8 ) , Hinggia ( 1 0 1 ) , Yankowan ( 1 3 5 ) ,
Rampa ( 1 0 1 ) , and Marab o i ( 9 1 ) and t hey are lo cate d east o f t h e Gus ap
aerodrome b e tween t he Gus ap and Umi Rivers at a l t i t udes b e tween 3 , 0 0 0
and 5 , 0 0 0 feet .
The dat a upon whi c h this s t udy is b as ed were e l i c i t e d t hrough the u s e
o f t h e K a t e l anguage as t h e l ingua fran c a a n d are re garded as having a
h igh degree of r e l i ab i l i t y . Re s earch in t he Was emb o l anguage was sup­
ported in part b y the P apua New Guinea Re s e arch Fund of the Summer I n s t i ­
t u t e o f Lingui s t i c s . A vo c ab u l ary l i s t of 3 1 3 words may b e obt ained
from the wri t e r .
The grammat i c a l and morpho logi c a l dat a s upport t h e c l as s i fi c at ion of
this language as non-Au s t rone s ian . The usual tagmeme o rder l o c at e s t he
Predi cate Tagmeme final in the c lause . Other c lause leve l t a gmeme s are
e a s i l y iden t i fied b y the o c currence of e n c l it i c s whi c h are di agno s t i c
for part i c u l ar tagmeme s .

2.15.4.2. N O T E S ON G RAMMAR

2.15.4.2.1 . B AS I C V E R B FO RMS

There is a di s t in c t io n b et ween sentence-medial and sentence-final

forms of the verb . The sentence me dial form - m u indi c a t e s the s ame actor
( homope rsonal ) as t hat o f t he fol lowing verb . The forms indicating a
di fferent actor ( h e te ropers onal ) from that of t he fol lowing verb make
s e ven d i s t inct ions of person and n umbe r and these forms are given in

897

McElhanon, K. "Isolates: Morobe District: Wasembo (or Gusap)". In Wurm, S.A. editor, New Guinea area languages and language study, Vol. 1, Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene.
C-38:897-904. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. DOI:10.15144/PL-C38.897
©1975 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.
 K . A . McELHANON

Mat rix I . Note that the s e s even d i s t inc t i ons o f p erson and numb e r are
typi cal of the l anguage s current ly as serted to b e l ong to the Trans-New
Guinea Phylum.

Maz�x I : He t e r op e r s on a l verb a l su ffix e s

Singu l ar Dual P lural

1 s t person -pa -pua -puna
2nd person - ma n a -p i a -pina
3rd p e rs on -ne -pia -p i na

There do not appear to be any s entence-medial s uffixes indi c ating a

d i s t i n c t ion b e tween s imul t aneous or ante cedent a c t i on in re lat i on to the
a c t i on o f t he fol lowing ve rb .
Verb paradigms were e l i c i t e d for past tense , present tens e , pres ent
tense hab i tuat ive mode , future tens e , and t he imp e rat i ve mode . No s ep ­
arate c ont rary-to- fa c t forms w e r e e li c i t ed ; rather t h i s cate gory app ears
to be e xp re s s ed by past o r future tense forms with syntactic marker s .
P a s t tense hab i t u at iv e mode could not be s at i s factorily e l i c i te d . Th e
fact t hat the Kate past tense hab i t uative forms were not unde r s t o o d
p robably indi c at e s t hat an equivalent cat e gory does not e x i s t i n t he
Wasembo language .

M az� x I I : P a s t tens e verbal s uffixes

Singular Dual P lural

1 s t person - p a k ae - pu akae - pu n akae
2nd person -mana kae - p l a kae - p i n akae
3rd person - n ekae - p i a kae - p i n a kae

N o t e that t h e p a s t tense s uffixes are the s ame as t he het e ropers ona l

verb a l suffixes p l u s the form k a e . Further study i s n e c e s s ary t o de t e r­
mine the s igni fi c an c e of this s imi l ari t y .

M aZIL'<'x I I I : P r e s e n t t e n s e ve rb a l s uffixes

S ingu l ar Dual P lural

1 s t person - ra - rou -pu
2nd person - ma - re i -p i
3rd person - re - re I -pi

The forms o f Mat rix I I I we re e l ic i t e d with the verb root 0 - t o h o l d

it. When t h e verb root { I re - } i re - � i r a - � 1 - t o e a t was e l i ci t e d w ith
pres ent tense suffixes the result ing forms were those o f Matrix IV .
 2 . 15 . 4 . ISOLATES : MOROBE DISTRICT : WASEMBO (OR GUSAP) 899

Mat�x I V : P r e s e n t t e n s e f o rms o f t o e a t

S ingu l ar Dual P l ural

1 s t p erson I re - ra I - re u I re-pu
2nd person I ra -ma 1 - re 1 I re-p 1
3rd person i re- re 1 - re 1 i re - p i

In general there appears t o be a s i gn i f i c an t amount o f verb root/stem

variat i o n . Unt i l a s t udy o f Wasembo morphophonemi c s has been c omp l e t e d ,
the iden t i ficat ion o f morpheme b oundaries and su ffixes mus t be regarded
as ten t ative .

Mat�x V : Future tense verb a l su ffixes

Singul ar Dual P lural

1 s t person - ka r a - ko h u - ko p u
2nd person - kan u - ke k u - ke p i
3rd person - ko m u - ke k u - ke p i

The s uffixes in Mat rix V were e l i c i t e d with the verb root e - t o ho l. d

it. W h e n o c c urring with - I r e t o e a t t he initial k i s rep l a c e d b y t .

MatlL-<-x V I : P r e s e n t t e n s e hab i tuat ive s u f f i x e s

S ingul ar Dual P lural

1 s t person - m a ke ra - make r e u -makep u
2nd person - makema -make re l - ma k e p l
3rd person -make re - m a ke re i - ma k e p I

A common feature o f the Fini s t erre-Huon group o f l anguages i s t h at

the hab i tuative mode morpheme s are r e l at e d t o a verb root me aning to s t ay
or to l. i v e and are pos s i b ly derived from a proto- form invo l ving a c om­
pound with this verb . The three hundred vo c abu l ary items inc luded in
this s t udy , however , do not i n c lude a verb root whi c h c ou l d b e iden t i f i e d
with the p o s i t e d ' hab ituative mode ' s uffix - m a ke .

Mat� x V I I : Imp e r a t i ve s u ffixes

S ingular Dual P l ural

1 s t person - o / - wo - ko h u - kopu
2nd person -� -kl -nI
3rd person - k om u -k I -n I

Note in Mat rix VII that the 3rd person s ingu l ar , 1 s t p erson dual , and
1 s t person p lural forms are t he s ame as the corre sponding future tense
s uffixes in Mat rix V . The s e forms mus t b e regarded w ith suspi cion unt i l
t hey are con firmed b y further s tudy .
900 K.A. McELHANON

2 . 1 5 . 4. 2. 2 . O B J E C T MARK I N G A F F I X ES

The l imit e d data of this s tudy do not allow for definit ive s t a t ement s
on the s t atus of the ob j e c t-marking affixe s . If one pos it s verb roots
c on s i s ting o f zero morpheme s , then t he affixe s may b e regarded a s suffixes
whi c h direct ly fo l l ow the verb root / s t e m . Thes e w o u l d b e fol l owed b y a
verb periphery c o n s i s ting o f mode , tens e , and s ub j ect-marking s u ffixes .
A l t e rnati ve ly one may p o s i t both p refixes and s uffix e s w it hout the sup­
p o s e d o c c urrence of zero morphemes as verb root s .
The b ene fact ive forms were not o b t ained s o nothing c an b e s aid regard­
ing the p o s s ib le oc currence o f b enefac t ive s uffixe s on t he verb . N o pre­
fixe s were ob served in t he verb morphology .
Some forms of the ob j e ct -markers ( p art i cu l arly t he dual and p lural
forms ) are s imi l ar in phonologi c a l s hape to the free personal p ronouns
( Matrix XI I ) . There app e ar to be two allomorphic s ub c las s e s o f the
obj e c t-markers with appare n t ly minor mo rphophonemi c variant s . One s ub ­
c l as s i s t y p i fi e d b y the obj e ct -markers oc curring w it h p o s i t ive zero
morphemes as verb roo t s for to h i t and to giv e .

Ma.tJt...i. x V I I I : Ob j e c t - marke rs w i th � - t o h i t

S ingu l ar Dual P lural

1 s t pers on ya- h i ya - h i ta-
2nd p erson n a- n i a- neka-
3rd person a- n ua- noka-

M a.tlt..i.x I X : Ob j ec t -markers w i th � - t o giv e

S ingul ar Dual P lural

1st person opa- h i :r h i to-
2nd person no- n i o- neko-
3rd person no- n uo- noko-

Another s ub c l a s s i s typ i fied b y t h e obj e ct-markers o c c urring with the

verb roots g e - t o B e e and h i n a - t o awai t .

M a.tlt..i.x X : Ob j e c t - mark e r s w i t h g e - t o B e e

S ingu l ar Dual P lural

1 s t person ge-ya- ge- heva- ge - h i t a -
2nd person ge-na- ge-n i a- ge-ke-
3rd person go- ge - n ua - g e - ke -
 2 . 15 . 4 . ISOLATES : MOROBE DISTRICT : WASEMBO (OR GUSAP) 901

M a��ix X I : Ob j e c t - mark e rs w i th · h i n a - to awa i t

S ingular Dual P l ur al
1 s t person h i na-ya ­ h i na- h i ya­ h i n a- t a­
2nd person h i na-h i ­ h i n a- n i a ­ h i na -k i ­
3rd person h i na- h i n a - n ua - h i na-k i -

Some e xamp l e s with other verb roots are : n a n u k a - y a - r e ( p a s s b y - m e - h e )

he p a s s e d by m e , a k a - y a - r e ( b i t e - me - he ) he b i t me , p i h e - y a - r e ( c a Z Z - me ­
he ) h e ca Z Ze d me , h e p u r e - y a - r e ( s how-me - he ) h e s h ow e d me , and g a e - y a - r e
( te Z Z-me - he ) he t o Z d me .

2. 15.4.2.3. N OM I N A LS

The s t ru c t ure o f the noun app e ar s to be + root + pos s e s s ive suffixes

+ numb e r a s i n i p o - h i t o our fa t h e r , i p o - h i t o - mo our two fa t h er s , and
i p o - h i t o - p o our many fa t h e rs .
Noun phras e s e vidence the noun fo l l ow ed by qu a l i f i e rs as in w O i t e
b o � g a e ( p an danus , r e d ) red p andanus and h J m u � g e k h � h a ( ma n , a Z Z ) a Z Z t h e
men.
The p e r s o n a l pronouns ( Matrix X I I ) d o n o t di st ingui sh b e tween i n c l u­
s ive and e x c lu s ive .

Ma��ix X I I : P e r s o n a l p ronouns

Singu l ar Dual P lural

1 s t pers on i ma hia h i ta
2nd person na nia n e ka
3rd per s on gu nua noka

The nominal p o s s e s s ive s uffixes ( Mat rix X I I I ) show s im i l ar i t i e s w i t h

t he personal pronouns . It is p o s s ib l e that the s e p o s s e s s ive suffixes
deve l oped from pe rsonal p ronouns whi ch indicated p o s s e s s ion when o c cur­
ring aft e r the n oun . I n t ime the s e pronouns b e c ame phon o l o gi c al ly b ound
to the noun . Note , h ow ever , that e l i c it e d dat a indicate that p o s s e s s ion
a l s o may be ind i cated b y s imp ly prepo s ing a p ronoun or noun as in n� p � h e
my house and i p 6 - e p J h a ( fa t h er - h i s , h o us e ) h i s fa t h e r ' s h o u s e .

M a��ix X I I I : N om i n a l p os s e s s iv e s uffixe s

S ingular Dual P lural

1 s t p e r s on - o/yo - ( h ) i yo - ( h ) i to
2nd p e r s on -na -n i a -n eka
3rd pers on -e/-ye - n uo - noka
902 K . A. McELHANON

The c li t i c s identified i n the d at a are : ( 1 ) the s ub j e ct / i n s t rument

clitic - k a , ( 2 ) the dire c t ional c l it i c - g e toward8 , ( 3 ) t he l o c at i onal
clitic - geku at , ( 4 ) t he as s o c i at ive c l i t i c - k a h u wi t h , and ( 5 ) the
bene fac t ive c l i t i c - a g e for .

2. 15.4.3. C L AS S I F I CATO RY S T A T U S O F W A S E M B O ( G U S A P )

Wasemb o ( o r Gus ap ) has unti l now b een regarde d as a phy l um- leve l
i s o late ( s ee 1 . 3 . 4 . i n this volume ) . However , Z ' graggen ( p er s onal com­
mun i c at ion ) , on t he b as i s of s im i l arit i e s b e tween pronominal forms and
a l i mi te d numb e r o f b as i c vocab u l ary i t ems , s ugge s t s t h at the Was emb o
l anguage i s an ab e rrant l anguage o f the P ihom St ock ( Madang and Adelb ert
Range S ub -Phylum in t he Trans-New Guinea Phy lum) l o cated ab out 8 0 - 1 2 0
mi l e s t o t h e north-east in the Madang D i s t r i c t ( s ee 2 . 8 . 2 . 2 . 2 . 3 . ) . S imi­
l arit i e s a l s o e x i s t , howeve r , with l anguage s of the Rai Coast S t o ck
( Madang and Ade lbert Range Sub-Phy lum, Trans-New Guinea Phy lum, see
2 . 8 . 2 . 2 . 1 . 1 . ) l ocated t hirty mi les t o the north-eas t , and any d e finit i ve
s t at ement w i l l have t o await further s tudy .
 P A R T 2 . 16 .

P OS S I B LE W I DE R C ON N E CT I ON S O F P A P UAN LAN G UAG E S

McElhanon, K. "Isolates: Morobe District: Wasembo (or Gusap)". In Wurm, S.A. editor, New Guinea area languages and language study, Vol. 1, Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene.
C-38:897-904. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. DOI:10.15144/PL-C38.897
©1975 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.