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Mek
Mek
Goliath
Geographic; distribution	Yahukimo and Pegunungan Bintang, Highland Papua
Ethnicity	Mek people and Yali people
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea Central West New Guinea Momuna–Mek Mek; ; ;
Language codes
Glottolog	mekk1240
	Map: The Mek languages of New Guinea The Mek languages Other Trans–New Guinea languages Other Papuan languages Austronesian languages Uninhabited

The Mek languages are a well established family of Papuan languages spoken by the Mek people and Yali people. They form a branch of the Trans–New Guinea languages (TNG) in the classifications of Stephen Wurm (1975) and of Malcolm Ross (2005).

Mek, then called Goliath, was identified by M. Bromley in 1967. It was placed in TNG by Wurm (1975).

Languages

The Mek languages form three dialect chains (Heeschen 1998):

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant and vowel inventories as 'perhaps' as follows:^[2]

Pronouns are:^[2]

The difference between the two 3pl forms is not known. 2pl and 3pl have parallels in Momuna /kun tun/.

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:^[2]

gloss	Proto-Mek	Proto-East Mek	Kimyal	Proto-Northwest Mek	Proto-Momuna-Mek	Momuna
hair/feather	*p[ɔ]t[ɔ]ŋ	*pɔtɔŋ	osoŋ	*hɔŋ
ear/twelve	*aᵓ		ɔ	*aᵓ
eye	*atiŋ	*asiŋ	isiŋ	*haⁱŋ	*ɒtig	ɒtù
tooth/sharp	*jo̝				*jo̝	jó
tongue	*se̝l[ija]mu	*[se̝]l[ija]mu	selamu	*se̝l[i]mu
foot/leg	*jan	*jan	jan	*jan	*j[a/ɒ]n
blood	*e̝ne̝ŋ	*ɪnɪŋ	eneŋ	*e̝ne̝ŋ	*jo̝ne̝g
bone	*jɔk	*jɔk	jw-aʔ	*jɔʔ[ɔ]
breast	*mɔᵘm	*mɔᵘm	moᵘm	*mɔᵘm	*mɔᵘm	mɒ̃ᵘ
louse	*ami	*ami	imi	*ami	*ami	ami
dog	*gam	*[k/g]am	gam	*gam	*gɒm	kɒ̀
pig	*be̝sam	*bɪsam		*bham		wɒ́
bird	mak, mag	*mak	-ma (?)	*-ma (?)	*mak	má
egg/fruit/seed	*do̝[k]	*dʊk	do	*do̝[k]		dɒko ~ dɒku
tree/wood	*gal		gal	*gal	*gɒl	kɒ̀
woman/wife	*ge̝l	*[k/g]ɪl	gel	*ge̝l
sun	*k[ɛ]t[e̝]ŋ	*k[ɛ]t[ɪ]ŋ	isiŋ	*he̝ŋ
moon	*wal	*wal	wal	*wal
water/river	*m[ɛ/a]g	*mɛk	mag	*m[ɛ/a]g
fire	*o̝ᵘg	*ʊᵘk	ug	*[u]g
stone	gɛⁱl; gidig	*[k/g]ɛⁱl	girig	*gidig		kè
path/way	*bi[t/s]ig	*bi[t/s]ik	bisig	*bhig
name	*si	*si	si	*si	*si	si
eat/drink	*de̝-(b)	*dɪ-(b)	de-	*de̝-(b)		de-
one	*[na]tɔn	*tɔn	nason	*nhɔn
two/ring finger	*b[e̝/ɛ]te̝ne̝	*b[ɪ/ɛ]tɪnɪ	besene	*bhe̝ne̝

Mek reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:^[3]

^ Momuna–Mek, New Guinea World
^ ^a ^b ^c New Guinea World
^ Pawley, Andrew; Hammarström, Harald (2018). "The Trans New Guinea family". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 21–196. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.

Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.