Papuan language
- noun
- Specialized
- There are hundreds of distinct Papuan languages found throughout Papua New Guinea.
Examples
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She is fluent in both English and a local Papuan language used by her community.
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Many children in Papua New Guinea learn a Papuan language at home.
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Many anthropologists have studied the structure of the Papuan language spoken in the highlands.
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The Papuan language family includes many diverse dialects.
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Many children in Papua New Guinea learn a Papuan language at home.
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There are hundreds of distinct Papuan languages found throughout Papua New Guinea.
-
She is fluent in both English and a local Papuan language used by her community.
Synonyms
A native language of New Guinea, New Britain, or the Solomon Islands not related to Pacific island languages
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'Papuan' (relating to Papua/New Guinea) combined with 'language' yields 'a language spoken in Papua', so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the basic meaning. The additional technical detail about classification (non-Malayo-Polynesian) is specialist knowledge but does not prevent understanding of the core referent.
Etymology
Papuan language comes from the word Papuan, which early visitors used for the people of Papua; one popular story says that word came from a local word for 'curly hair' that helped identify the people. So Papuan language means 'a language of the Papuan people'.
