The Pahoturi River language family, with special reference to its verbal puzzles

Abstract

This profile of the Pahoturi River language family of southern Papua New Guinea draws from extensive fieldwork on Idi [ISO 639-3: idi] and Ende [kit] – two of six varieties comprising this family – and brief surveying of the other four, which we illustrate in print for the first time. We present the first typological treatment of Pahoturi River in pursuit of shining more light on this understudied corner of the linguistic landscape. This profile is organized into two parts: first, we present sections on the basic structures and systems of Pahoturi River, illustrated with examples from across the family and supplemented with descriptions of Idi and Ende as relevant. From our preliminary data on the four other varieties, we gather that they are similar to Idi and Ende in many respects, but more investigation is warranted. Second, we provide an in-depth treatment of the verbal complex of Idi and Ende. We highlight two intriguing aspects of these complex systems – analytic constructions and ditransitive indexing – that distinguish the Pahoturi River family and the linguistic region of southern New Guinea.