Amal is a language spoken along the border of Sandaun Province and East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, along the Wagana River near the confluence with Wanibe Creek. Foley (2018) classifies Amal as a primary branch of the Sepik languages, though it is quite close to Kalou.

Pronouns

Pronouns are:

1. {|

|+ Amal pronouns ! !! sg !! pl |- ! 1 | ŋan || nut |- ! 2 | in || kun |- ! 3 | may || ilum |}

Cognates

Amal cognates with Sepik languages are:

• tal ‘woman’

• yan ‘child’

• lal ‘tongue’ < proto-Sepik *ta(w)r

• mi ‘breast’ < proto-Sepik *muk

• waplo ‘liver’

• nip ‘blood’

• yen ‘egg’

• ak ‘house’

Foley (2018) notes that there appears to be somewhat more lexical similarities between Amal and the Tama languages, but does not consider them to form a group with each other.

Vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words of Amal are from Laycock (1968), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:

1. {| class="wikitable sortable"

! gloss !! Amal |- ! head | makələ |- ! ear | marj |- ! eye | nai |- ! nose | yimeʔ |- ! tooth | pu |- ! tongue | lal |- ! leg | lü |- ! louse | ŋin |- ! dog | wun |- ! bird | yok |- ! egg | yen |- ! blood | niːp |- ! bone | nəŋolak |- ! skin | puːk |- ! breast | m |- ! tree | piːt |- ! man | wul |- ! woman | tal |- ! sun | mwak |- ! moon | yimal |- ! water | iːp |- ! fire | waː |- ! stone | tipal |- ! two | kila |}

References