Neko
Trans-New Guinea (Madang, Rai Coast — Yaganon)
Neko is a Trans-New Guinea language of the Madang Rai Coast (Yaganon family), spoken by roughly 640 people in coastal Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Its name is a homophone with Japanese "cat" (neko), which has made it an occasional curiosity among internet language hobbyists, though the autonym is unrelated and the language is part of a small Rai Coast cluster of mutually distinct Trans-New Guinea languages (alongside Ham, Neko, Nekgini and Ngaing). It uses SOV word order with a Latin orthography developed by SIL and Lutheran missionaries; documentation remains sparse, with most modern references citing Z'graggen's 1971 Madang lexicon surveys.
Dove si parla
20 parole essenziali in Neko
Acqua
wai
/wai/
Fuoco
titɛ
/titɛ/
Sole
aatʌ
/aːtʌ/
Luna
—
/—/
Madre
—
/—/
Padre
—
/—/
Mangiare
nei
/nei/
Bere
—
/—/
Amore
—
/—/
Cuore
—
/—/
Albero
tei
/tei/
Casa
—
/—/
Cane
gonʌ
/ɡonʌ/
Gatto
—
/—/
Mano
—
/—/
Occhio
ta
/ta/
Ciao
—
/—/
Grazie
—
/—/
Uno
—
/—/
Buono
—
/—/
Fonti
- McElhanon, K. & Voorhoeve, C.L. (1970) The Trans-New Guinea Phylum: Explorations in Deep-level Genetic Relationships. Pacific Linguistics B-16, Canberra.
- Bullock, J., Gray, R., Paris, H., Pfantz, D. & Richardson, D. (2016) A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Yabong, Migum, Nekgini, and Neko. SIL Electronic Survey Report.
- Ethnologue: nej
- Glottolog: Neko
- Wiktionary: wai (Neko)
- TransNewGuinea.org: Neko
Parole a confronto
Confrontato con le lingue Trans-New Guinea (Madang, Rai Coast — Yaganon) correlate
| Significato | Neko | Goguryeo | lingua dei segni nicaraguense | damin | Tartessiano | Liburnico | Venetico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acqua | wai /wai/ | 買 /*mai/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ouriom /ˈou.ri.om/ |
| Fuoco | titɛ /titɛ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | l!ii /lǃiː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sole | aatʌ /aːtʌ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Luna | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Madre | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | matur /ˈma.tur/ |
| Padre | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mangiare | nei /nei/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Bere | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Amore | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cuore | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Albero | tei /tei/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Casa | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cane | gonʌ /ɡonʌ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Gatto | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mano | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Occhio | ta /ta/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Ciao | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Grazie | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Uno | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Buono | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
Parte di LangMap — un progetto di visualizzazione linguistica. Questo è un riepilogo statico e scansionabile; le mappe interattive offrono audio di pronuncia, filtri e una vista globo.