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Papuan languages

March 19, 2023

The Papuan languages are the non-Austronesian and non-Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and East Timor by around 4 million people.[1] It is a strictly geographical grouping, and does not imply a genetic relationship. The concept of Papuan (non-Austronesian) speaking Melanesians as distinct from Austronesian-speaking Melanesians was first suggested and named by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1892.

The historical distribution of the Papuan languages, in red. Tan is Austronesian and grey the historical range of Australian languages.

New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse region in the world. Besides the Austronesian languages, there are some (arguably) 800 languages divided into perhaps sixty small language families, with unclear relationships to each other or to any other languages, plus many language isolates. The majority of the Papuan languages are spoken on the island of New Guinea, with a number spoken in the Bismarck Archipelago, Bougainville Island and the Solomon Islands to the east, and in Halmahera, Timor and the Alor archipelago to the west. The westernmost language, Tambora in Sumbawa, is extinct. One Papuan language, Meriam, is spoken within the national borders of Australia, in the eastern Torres Strait.

Several languages of Flores, Sumba, and other islands of eastern Indonesia are classified as Austronesian but have large numbers of non-Austronesian words in their basic vocabulary and non-Austronesian grammatical features. It has been suggested that these may have originally been non-Austronesian languages that have borrowed nearly all of their vocabulary from neighboring Austronesian languages, but no connection with the Papuan languages of Timor has been found. In general, the Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages are marked by a significant historical Papuan influence, lexically, grammatically, and phonologically, and this is responsible for much of the diversity of the Austronesian language family.

Speaker numbers

Most Papuan languages are spoken by hundreds to thousands of people; the most populous are found in the New Guinea highlands, where a few exceed a hundred thousand. These include Western Dani (180,000 in 1993) and Ekari (100,000 reported 1985) in the western (Indonesian) highlands, and Enga (230,000 in 2000), Huli (150,000 reported 2011), and Melpa (130,000 reported 1991) in the eastern (PNG) highlands. To the west of New Guinea, the largest languages are Makasae in East Timor (100,000 in 2010) and Galela in Halmahera (80,000 reported 1990). To the east, Terei (27,000 reported 2003) and Naasioi (20,000 reported 2007) are spoken on Bougainville.

History of classification

Although there has been relatively little study of these languages compared with the Austronesian family, there have been three preliminary attempts at large-scale genealogical classification, by Joseph Greenberg, Stephen Wurm, and Malcolm Ross. The largest family posited for the Papuan region is the Trans–New Guinea phylum, consisting of the majority of Papuan languages and running mainly along the highlands of New Guinea. The various high-level families may represent distinct migrations into New Guinea, presumably from the west.[2] Since perhaps only a quarter of Papuan languages have been studied in detail, linguists' understanding of the relationships between them will continue to be revised.

Statistical analyses designed to pick up signals too faint to be detected by the comparative method, though of disputed validity, suggest five major Papuan stocks (roughly Trans–New Guinea, West, North, East, and South Papuan languages);[3] long-range comparison has also suggested connections between selected languages, but again the methodology is not orthodox in historical linguistics.[4]

The Great Andamanese languages may be related to some western Papuan languages, but are not themselves covered by the term Papuan.[2]

Greenberg's classification

Joseph Greenberg proposed an Indo-Pacific phylum containing the (Northern) Andamanese languages, all Papuan languages, and the Tasmanian languages, but not the Australian Aboriginal languages. Very few linguists accept his grouping. It is distinct from the Trans–New Guinea phylum of the classifications below.

Usher (2020)

 
Language families of New Guinea, the North Moluccas, and the Lesser Sunda Islands according to Timothy Usher. Languages of Bougainville, the Solomon Islands, the Torres Strait Islands, and Northern Australia were not included in the study, and they are portrayed here according to current consensus.

Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter, with the advice of Papuan researchers such as William Croft, Matthew Dryer, John Lynch, Andrew Pawley, and Malcolm Ross,[5] have reconstructed low-level constituents of Papuan language families to verify which purported members truly belong to them. In many cases Usher and Suter have created new names for the member families to reflect their geographic location. Much of their classification is accepted by Glottolog (though the names are not; Glottolog invents its own names). As of 2020, the following families are identified:[6]

Papuan families proposed by Usher (2020)

In addition, poorly attested Karami remains unclassified. Extinct Tambora and the East Papuan languages have not been addressed, except to identify Yele as an Austronesian language.

Wurm (1975)

The most widely used classification of Papuan languages is that of Stephen Wurm, listed below with the approximate number of languages in each family in parentheses. This was the scheme used by Ethnologue prior to Ross's classification (below). It is based on very preliminary work, much of it typological, and Wurm himself has stated that he doesn't expect it to hold up well to scrutiny. Other linguists, including William A. Foley, have suggested that many of Wurm's phyla are based on areal features and structural similarities, and accept only the lowest levels of his classification, most of which he inherited from prior taxonomies. Foley (1986) divides Papuan languages into over sixty small language families, plus a number of isolates. However, more recently Foley has accepted the broad outline if not the details of Wurm's classification, as he and Ross have substantiated a large portion of Wurm's Trans–New Guinea phylum.

According to Ross (see below), the main problem with Wurm's classification is that he did not take contact-induced change into account. For example, several of the main branches of his Trans–New Guinea phylum have no vocabulary in common with other Trans–New Guinea languages, and were classified as Trans–New Guinea because they are similar grammatically. However, there are also many Austronesian languages that are grammatically similar to Trans–New Guinea languages due to the influence of contact and bilingualism. Similarly, several groups that do have substantial basic vocabulary in common with Trans–New Guinea languages are excluded from the phylum because they do not resemble it grammatically.

Wurm believed the Papuan languages arrived in several waves of migration with some of the earlier languages (perhaps including the Sepik–Ramu languages) being related to the Australian languages,[7][8] a later migration bringing the West Papuan, Torricelli and the East Papuan languages[7] and a third wave bringing the most recent pre-Austronesian migration, the Trans–New Guinea family.[7]

Papuan families proposed by Wurm (1975) (with approximate numbers of languages)

Two of Wurm's isolates have since been linked as the

and since Wurm's time another isolate and two languages belonging to a new family have been discovered,

Foley (2003)

Foley summarized the state of the literature.[9] Besides Trans–New Guinea and families possibly belonging in TNG (see), he accepted the proposals for,

Papuan families other than TNG accepted by Foley (2003)

Ross (2005)

Malcolm Ross re-evaluated Wurm's proposal on purely lexical grounds. That is, he looked at shared vocabulary, and especially shared idiosyncrasies analogous to English I and me vs. German ich and mich. The poor state of documentation of Papuan languages restricts this approach largely to pronouns. Nonetheless, Ross believes that he has been able to validate much of Wurm's classification, albeit with revisions to correct for Wurm's partially typological approach. (See Trans–New Guinea languages.) Ethnologue (2009) largely follows Ross.

It has been suggested that the families that appear when comparing pronouns may be due to pronoun borrowing rather than to genealogical relatedness. However, Ross argues that Papuan languages have closed-class pronoun systems, which are resistant to borrowing, and in any case that the massive number of languages with similar pronouns in a family like Trans–New Guinea preclude borrowing as an explanation. Also, he shows that the two cases of alleged pronoun borrowing in New Guinea are simple coincidence, explainable as regular developments from the protolanguages of the families in question: as earlier forms of the languages are reconstructed, their pronouns become less similar, not more. (Ross argues that open-class pronoun systems, where borrowings are common, are found in hierarchical cultures such as those of Southeast Asia and Japan, where pronouns indicate details of relationship and social status rather than simply being grammatical pro-forms as they are in the more egalitarian New Guinea societies.)

Ross has proposed 23 Papuan language families and 9–13 isolates. However, because of his more stringent criteria, he was not able to find enough data to classify all Papuan languages, especially many isolates that have no close relatives to aid in their classification.

Ross also found that the Lower Mamberamo languages (or at least the Warembori language—he had insufficient data on Pauwi) are Austronesian languages that have been heavily transformed by contact with Papuan languages, much as the Takia language has. The Reef Islands – Santa Cruz languages of Wurm's East Papuan phylum were a potential 24th family, but subsequent work has shown them to be highly divergent Austronesian languages as well.

Note that while this classification may be more reliable than past attempts, it is based on a single parameter, pronouns, and therefore must remain tentative. Although pronouns are conservative elements in a language, they are short and utilise a reduced set of the language's phonemic inventory. Both phenomena greatly increase the possibility of chance resemblances, especially when they are not confirmed by lexical similarities.

Papuan families proposed by Ross (2005)
Language isolates

Sorted by location

north Irian:

Sandaun Province:

Sepik River:

  • Taiap language (Gapun), located on what had been an offshore island 4000 BCE

Bismarck Archipelago:

Other

Former isolates classified by Ross:

Languages reassigned to the Austronesian family:

Unclassified due to lack of data:

Unaccounted for:

  • Bayono-Awbono (TNG)
  • Pyu (isolate, has been classified as Kwomtari–Baibai)
  • Kosare
  • Kapori
  • Purari (has been linked to Eleman, but with little evidence)
  • There is a cluster of languages in West Papua between the upper Taritatu River and the PNG border, including Molof, Usku, and Tofamna listed above but also Namla, Murkim, Lepki, and Kembra, which do not appear to be related to each other or to other languages in the area. Namla, recently discovered, may prove to be related to Tofamna once more data comes in. Murkim and Lepki show some similarities to each other, though these may not be genetic.
  • Tambora (unclassified, with one lexical item possibly connecting it to languages of Timor)
  • Doso
  • Kimki

Wichmann (2013)

Søren Wichmann (2013) accepts the following 109 groups as coherent Papuan families, based on computational analyses performed by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP) combined with Harald Hammarström's (2012) classification.[10] Some of the groups could turn out to be related to each other, but Wichmann (2013) lists them as separate groups pending further research.

9 families have been broken up into separate groups in Wichmann's (2013) classification, which are:

Papuan families proposed by Wichmann (2013)
  1. West Timor-Alor-Pantar / East Timor-Bunaq
  2. South Bougainville
  3. Wiru
  4. Namla-Tofanma
  5. ex-Pauwasi-1 (Western Pauwasi)
  6. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-1 (Asmat–Kamoro)
  7. Mombum
  8. Marindic
  9. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-2 (Awyu–Dumut)
  10. Inland Gulf
  11. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-3 (Oksapmin)
  12. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-4 (Ok)
  13. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-5 (Finisterre-Huon)
  14. Goilalan
  15. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-6 (Chimbu–Wahgi)
  16. Kamula / Awin–Pa / Bosavi / East Strickland
  17. ex-Dibiyaso-Doso-Turumsa-1 (Dibiyaso)
  18. Angan
  19. Duna-Bogaya
  20. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-7 (Engan)
  21. Sepik / Ndu / Walio
  22. Greater Kwerba / Tor-Orya
  23. Nimboran / Kapauri / Border
  24. Elseng
  25. North Halmahera
  26. Yalë
  27. ex-Dibiyaso-Doso-Turumsa-2 (Doso-Turumsa)
  28. Kwomtari
  29. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-8 (Mek)
  30. ex-Morehead-Wasur-1 (Yey, Nambu)
  31. Hatam-Mansim
  32. Mor
  33. Pahoturi / Eastern Trans-Fly
  34. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-9 (Kainantu-Goroka)
  35. Yareban / Mailuan
  36. Dem
  37. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-10 (Southern Adelbert: Nend, Atemble, Apali, Faita, Anamgura, Mum, Musak, Moresada, Utarmbung, Anam, Paynamar, Sileibi, Wadaginam)
  38. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-11 (Dani)
  39. West Bomberai
  40. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-12 (Wissel Lakes)
  41. Koiarian
  42. Kaki Ae
  43. Moraori
  44. Mawes
  45. Kolopom
  46. Bulaka River
  47. Molof
  48. Yuat-Maramba
  49. Kaure-Narau
  50. Tirio
  51. Kayagar
  52. Suki-Gogodala / Waia / Kiwaian
  53. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-13 (Binanderean + Kowan: Binandere, Baruga, Kowan, Korafe, Suena, Waskia, Zia)
  54. Fasu-East Kutubu
  55. Pawaia-Teberan
  56. Turama-Kikori
  57. North Bougainville
  58. Eleman
  59. Mairasi
  60. Touo
  61. ex-Kwalean-1 (Humene-Uare)
  62. Tanahmerah
  63. Savosavo
  64. Bilua
  65. Manubaran
  66. Kuot
  67. Burmeso
  68. Amto-Musan / Left May / Busa
  69. ex-Sentanic-1 (Sowari)
  70. ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-1 (Ap Ma)
  71. Taiap
  72. ex-Sko-1 (I'saka, Skou, Vanimo, Wutung; Dusur, Leitre)
  73. ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-2 (Nor–Pondo: Angoram, Chambri, Nor, Kopar, Yimas)
  74. Geelvink Bay
  75. Konda-Yahadian
  76. South Bird's Head family / Inanwatan
  77. Nuclear Torricelli
  78. Urim
  79. Ata
  80. Monumbo
  81. ex-Sentanic-2 (Sentani proper)
  82. ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-3 (Banaro)
  83. Yawa
  84. ex-Kwalean-2 (Mulaha)
  85. Lavukaleve
  86. Anem
  87. ex-Morehead-Wasur-2 (Kunja)
  88. Papi
  89. Mpur
  90. Abun / Maybrat / West Bird's Head
  91. Lakes Plain
  92. Pyu
  93. ex-Biksi-1 (Kimki)
  94. ex-Sko-2 (Rawo, Barupu; Poo, Ramo, Sumararo, Womo)
  95. ex-Biksi-2 (Yetfa)
  96. Yeli Dnye
  97. Lepki–Murkim
  98. ex-Pauwasi-2 (Eastern Pauwasi)
  99. East Bird's Head
  100. Kosare
  101. Usku
  102. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-14 (Croisilles)[11]
  103. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-15 (Kobon)
  104. Senagi
  105. Piawi
  106. ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-4 (Rao)
  107. ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-5 (Kire, Kaian, Aruamu)
  108. ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-16 (Croisilles)[12]

An automated computational analysis (ASJP 4) by Müller, Velupillai, Wichmann et al. (2013)[13] found lexical similarities among the following language groups. Note that some of these automatically generated groupings are due to chance resemblances.

Selected Papuan family groupings in the ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity (version 4)

Palmer (2018)

Bill Palmer et al. (2018) propose 43 independent families and 37 language isolates in the Papuasphere, comprising a total of 862 languages.[14] A total of 80 independent groups are recognized. While Pawley & Hammarström's internal classification of Trans-New Guinea largely resembles a composite of Usher's and Ross' classifications, Palmer et al. do not address the more tentative families that Usher proposes, such as Northwest New Guinea.

The coherence of the South Bird's Head, East Bird's Head, Pauwasi, Kwomtari, and Central Solomons families are uncertain, and hence are marked below as "tentative."[15][16][17][18]

Papuan families proposed by Palmer (2018)

Glottolog 4.0 (2019)

Glottolog 4.0 (2019), based partly on Usher, recognizes 70 independent families and 55 isolates.[19]

Papuan families proposed in Glottolog 4.0

External relations

Joseph Greenberg proposed that the Andamanese languages (or at least the Great Andamanese languages) off the coast of Burma are related to the Papuan or West Papuan languages. Stephen Wurm stated that the lexical similarities between Great Andamanese and the West Papuan and Timor–Alor families "are quite striking and amount to virtual formal identity [...] in a number of instances". However, he considered this not evidence of a connection between (Great) Andamanese and Trans–New Guinea, but of a substratum from an earlier migration to New Guinea from the west.

Greenberg also suggested a connection to the Tasmanian languages. However, the Tasmanian peoples were isolated for perhaps 10,000 years, genocide wiped out their languages before much was recorded of them, and few linguists expect that they will ever be linked to another language family.

William A. Foley (1986) noted lexical similarities between R. M. W. Dixon's 1980 reconstruction of proto-Australian and the languages of the East New Guinea Highlands.[20] He believed that it was naïve to expect to find a single Papuan or Australian language family when New Guinea and Australia had been a single landmass for most of their human history, having been separated by the Torres Strait only 8000 years ago, and that a deep reconstruction would likely include languages from both. However, Dixon later abandoned his proto-Australian proposal,[21] and Foley's ideas need to be re-evaluated in light of recent research. Wurm also suggested the Sepik–Ramu languages have similarities with the Australian languages, but believed this may be due to a substratum effect,[8] but nevertheless believed that the Australian languages represent a linguistic group that existed in New Guinea before the arrival of the Papuan languages (which he believed arrived in at least two different groups).[7]

Typology

The West Papuan, Lower Mamberamo, and most Torricelli languages are all left-headed, as well as the languages of New Britain and New Ireland. These languages all have SVO word order, with the exception of the language isolate Kuot, which has VSO word order. All other Papuan languages are right-headed.[22]

Tonal Papuan languages include the Sko, Lepki, Kaure, Kembra, Lakes Plain, and Keuw languages.[22]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Papuan". www.languagesgulper.com. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  2. ^ a b Wurm 1975
  3. ^ Reesink, Ger; Singer, Ruth; Dunn, Michael (November 17, 2009). "Explaining the Linguistic Diversity of Sahul Using Population Models". PLOS Biology. 7 (11): e1000241. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000241. PMC 2770058. PMID 19918360.
  4. ^ Murray Gell-Mann et al. (2009) "Distant Language Relationship: The Current Perspective", Journal of Language Relationship·Вопросы языкового родства
  5. ^ Newguineaworld Advisory Board
  6. ^ Usher, Timothy and Edgar Suter. NewGuineaWorld.
  7. ^ a b c d Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0.
  8. ^ a b Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James J.; Tryon, Darrell (2006). Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James J; Tryon, Darrell (eds.). The Austronesians. ANU Press. doi:10.22459/A.09.2006. ISBN 9780731521326 – via press.anu.edu.au.
  9. ^ "DELP - Papuan Languages". sydney.edu.au.
  10. ^ Wichmann, Søren (2013). "A classification of Papuan languages" (PDF). In Hammarström, Harald; van den Heuvel, Wilco (eds.). History, contact and classification of Papuan languages. Language and Linguistics in Melanesia. Vol. Special Issue 2012. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea. pp. 313–386.
  11. ^ ISO 639-3 codes: abw, ali, bie, bql, buq, dmc, hih, kgu, mhl, mjj, mkr, mmi, mvq, ped, pla, prw, sks, ukg, wnb, wnu, xow, ybm, yrw
  12. ^ ISO 639-3 codes: aey, asd, awm, bbd, bbr, bmh, bmx, boj, bpi, bpm, bpu, dnr, duk, eri, fad, gap, gaw, ggl, gmu, gyb, igo, jil, klm, kmf, kop, lei, mcz, mdc, mlp, mqe, mqv, mqw, mtc, nbk, pnr, pup, rea, rmp, rpt, six, snr, snx, snz, spd, sra, ssd, ssj, swm, tya, urg, urw, usu, utu, wmc, wtf, xes, xsp, ybo, ydk, ynl
  13. ^ Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity: Version 4 (October 2013).
  14. ^ Palmer, Bill (2018). "Language families of the New Guinea Area". 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. 1–20. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  15. ^ Foley, William A. (2005). "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". 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. 109–144. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
  16. ^ Holton, Gary; Klamer, Marian (2018). "The Papuan languages of East Nusantara and the Bird's Head". 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. 569–640. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  17. ^ Stebbins, Tonya; Evans, Bethwyn; Terrill, Angela (2018). "The Papuan languages of Island Melanesia". 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. 775–894. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2019). "Glottolog". 4.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  20. ^ Foley, William A. (1986). The Papuan Languages of New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24355-6.
  21. ^ Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47378-0.
  22. ^ a b Foley, William A. (2018). "The morphosyntactic typology of Papuan languages". 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. 895–938. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.

General references

  • Carrington, Lois (1996). A linguistic bibliography of the New Guinea area. Canberra: Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-85883-449-1. OCLC 41223774.
  • Foley, William A. (1986). The Papuan Languages of New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-28621-2. OCLC 13004531.
  • Pawley, Andrew; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson, eds. (2005). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-562-2. OCLC 67292782.
  • Ray, Sidney Herbert (1892). "The languages of British New Guinea". Transactions of the Ninth International Congress of Orientalists. II (1892): 754–770.
  • 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.
  • Wurm, S.A. (Ed.) (1975). Wurm, Stephen A. (ed.). "Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene: New Guinea area languages and language study 1". C-38. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-C38. hdl:1885/145150. ISBN 9780858831322. OCLC 37096514.
  • Wurm, Stephen A. (1982). The Papuan Languages of Oceania. Tübingen: Narr. ISBN 3-87808-357-2. OCLC 8592292.
  • Wurm, Stephen A. (1983). "Papuan linguistics: past and future". Language and Linguistics in Melanesia. 14: 5–25. OCLC 9188672.

Further reading

Comparative wordlists
  • Conrad, R. and Dye, W. "Some Language Relationships in the Upper Sepik Region of Papua New Guinea". In Conrad, R., Dye, W., Thomson, N. and Bruce Jr., L. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 18. A-40:1-36. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-A40.1
  • Davies, J. and Comrie, B. "A linguistic survey of the Upper Yuat". In Adams, K., Lauck, L., Miedema, J., Welling, F., Stokhof, W., Flassy, D., Oguri, H., Collier, K., Gregerson, K., Phinnemore, T., Scorza, D., Davies, J., Comrie, B. and Abbott, S. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 22. A-63:275-312. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1985. doi:10.15144/PL-A63.275
  • Dutton, T.E. "Notes on the Languages of the Rigo Area of the Central District of Papua". In Wurm, S.A. and Laycock, D.C. editors, Pacific linguistic studies in honour of Arthur Capell. C-13:879-984. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. doi:10.15144/PL-C13.879
  • Foley, W.A. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". In Pawley, A., Attenborough, R., Golson, J. and Hide, R. editors, Papuan Pasts: Cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. PL-572:109-144. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2005.
  • Franklin, K.J. "Other Language Groups in the Gulf District and Adjacent Areas". In Franklin, K. editor, The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea. C-26:261-278. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1973. doi:10.15144/PL-C26.261
  • Laycock, Donald C. 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36–66.
  • Macdonald, G.E. "The Teberan Language Family". In Franklin, K. editor, The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea. C-26:111-148. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1973. doi:10.15144/PL-C26.111
  • McElhanon, K.A. and Voorhoeve, C.L. The Trans-New Guinea Phylum: Explorations in deep-level genetic relationships. B-16, vi + 112 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1970. doi:10.15144/PL-B16
  • Miedema, J. and Welling, F.I. "Fieldnotes on languages and dialects in the Kebar district, Bird's Head, Irian Jaya". In Adams, K., Lauck, L., Miedema, J., Welling, F., Stokhof, W., Flassy, D., Oguri, H., Collier, K., Gregerson, K., Phinnemore, T., Scorza, D., Davies, J., Comrie, B. and Abbott, S. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 22. A-63:29-52. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1985. doi:10.15144/PL-A63.29
  • Shaw, R.D. "The Bosavi language family". In Laycock, D., Seiler, W., Bruce, L., Chlenov, M., Shaw, R.D., Holzknecht, S., Scott, G., Nekitel, O., Wurm, S.A., Goldman, L. and Fingleton, J. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 24. A-70:45-76. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1986. doi:10.15144/PL-A70.45
  • Shaw, R.D. "A Tentative Classification of the Languages of the Mt Bosavi Region". In Franklin, K. editor, The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea. C-26:187-215. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1973. doi:10.15144/PL-C26.187
  • Thomson, N.P. "The Dialects of Magi". In Conrad, R., Dye, W., Thomson, N. and Bruce Jr., L. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 18. A-40:37-90. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-A40.37
  • Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. doi:10.15144/PL-B31
  • Voorhoeve, C.L. "Miscellaneous Notes on Languages in West Irian, New Guinea". In Dutton, T., Voorhoeve, C. and Wurm, S.A. editors, Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No. 14. A-28:47-114. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1971. doi:10.15144/PL-A28.47

External links

  • TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea (by Simon Greenhill)
  • Summer Institute of Linguistics site on languages (Papuan and Austronesian) of Papua New Guinea
  • Bill Foley on Papuan languages
  • Dryer's Papuan Language Families and Genera
  • Timothy Usher's Newguineaworld site

March 19, 2023
papuan, languages, austronesian, australian, languages, spoken, western, pacific, island, guinea, well, neighbouring, islands, indonesia, papua, guinea, solomon, islands, east, timor, around, million, people, strictly, geographical, grouping, does, imply, gene. The Papuan languages are the non Austronesian and non Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea as well as neighbouring islands in Indonesia Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands and East Timor by around 4 million people 1 It is a strictly geographical grouping and does not imply a genetic relationship The concept of Papuan non Austronesian speaking Melanesians as distinct from Austronesian speaking Melanesians was first suggested and named by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1892 The historical distribution of the Papuan languages in red Tan is Austronesian and grey the historical range of Australian languages New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse region in the world Besides the Austronesian languages there are some arguably 800 languages divided into perhaps sixty small language families with unclear relationships to each other or to any other languages plus many language isolates The majority of the Papuan languages are spoken on the island of New Guinea with a number spoken in the Bismarck Archipelago Bougainville Island and the Solomon Islands to the east and in Halmahera Timor and the Alor archipelago to the west The westernmost language Tambora in Sumbawa is extinct One Papuan language Meriam is spoken within the national borders of Australia in the eastern Torres Strait Several languages of Flores Sumba and other islands of eastern Indonesia are classified as Austronesian but have large numbers of non Austronesian words in their basic vocabulary and non Austronesian grammatical features It has been suggested that these may have originally been non Austronesian languages that have borrowed nearly all of their vocabulary from neighboring Austronesian languages but no connection with the Papuan languages of Timor has been found In general the Central Eastern Malayo Polynesian languages are marked by a significant historical Papuan influence lexically grammatically and phonologically and this is responsible for much of the diversity of the Austronesian language family Contents 1 Speaker numbers 2 History of classification 2 1 Greenberg s classification 2 2 Usher 2020 2 3 Wurm 1975 2 4 Foley 2003 2 5 Ross 2005 2 6 Wichmann 2013 2 7 Palmer 2018 2 8 Glottolog 4 0 2019 3 External relations 4 Typology 5 See also 6 References 6 1 Notes 6 2 General references 7 Further reading 8 External linksSpeaker numbers EditMost Papuan languages are spoken by hundreds to thousands of people the most populous are found in the New Guinea highlands where a few exceed a hundred thousand These include Western Dani 180 000 in 1993 and Ekari 100 000 reported 1985 in the western Indonesian highlands and Enga 230 000 in 2000 Huli 150 000 reported 2011 and Melpa 130 000 reported 1991 in the eastern PNG highlands To the west of New Guinea the largest languages are Makasae in East Timor 100 000 in 2010 and Galela in Halmahera 80 000 reported 1990 To the east Terei 27 000 reported 2003 and Naasioi 20 000 reported 2007 are spoken on Bougainville History of classification EditAlthough there has been relatively little study of these languages compared with the Austronesian family there have been three preliminary attempts at large scale genealogical classification by Joseph Greenberg Stephen Wurm and Malcolm Ross The largest family posited for the Papuan region is the Trans New Guinea phylum consisting of the majority of Papuan languages and running mainly along the highlands of New Guinea The various high level families may represent distinct migrations into New Guinea presumably from the west 2 Since perhaps only a quarter of Papuan languages have been studied in detail linguists understanding of the relationships between them will continue to be revised Statistical analyses designed to pick up signals too faint to be detected by the comparative method though of disputed validity suggest five major Papuan stocks roughly Trans New Guinea West North East and South Papuan languages 3 long range comparison has also suggested connections between selected languages but again the methodology is not orthodox in historical linguistics 4 The Great Andamanese languages may be related to some western Papuan languages but are not themselves covered by the term Papuan 2 Greenberg s classification Edit Joseph Greenberg proposed an Indo Pacific phylum containing the Northern Andamanese languages all Papuan languages and the Tasmanian languages but not the Australian Aboriginal languages Very few linguists accept his grouping It is distinct from the Trans New Guinea phylum of the classifications below Usher 2020 Edit Language families of New Guinea the North Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands according to Timothy Usher Languages of Bougainville the Solomon Islands the Torres Strait Islands and Northern Australia were not included in the study and they are portrayed here according to current consensus Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter with the advice of Papuan researchers such as William Croft Matthew Dryer John Lynch Andrew Pawley and Malcolm Ross 5 have reconstructed low level constituents of Papuan language families to verify which purported members truly belong to them In many cases Usher and Suter have created new names for the member families to reflect their geographic location Much of their classification is accepted by Glottolog though the names are not Glottolog invents its own names As of 2020 the following families are identified 6 Papuan families proposed by Usher 2020 Abinomn Arai and Samaia Rivers unites Left May Amto Musan and Pyu Bulaka River Cenderawasih Bay East Geelvink Bay East Trans Fly unites Eastern Trans Fly Pahoturi and Waia Enga Southern Highlands Etna Bay Mairasi Kaki Ae Kerema Bay Eleman Keram and Ramu Rivers Ramu Kibiri Porome Kiwai Lakes Plains Lower Sepik River Madang Upper Yuat River unites Arafundi and Piawi Middle Yuat River Morehead River Yam Nawa River Kaure Kosare Northwest New Guinea tentative unites Fas Sentani Border Sko and Tor Kwerba Nimboran Oro Wharton Range unites Binanderean and Goilalan Papuan Gulf tentative unites Kutubuan Kikorian East Strickland Doso Turumsa Gogodala Suki and Teberan Wiru Pawaia Pauwasi River expands Pauwasi with several recently discovered languages Senagi Senu River unites Kwomtari Nagatman and Busa Sepik River Simbu Western Highlands Chimbu Wahgi Torricelli Range Sepik Coast Torricelli Trans New Guinea West Papua In addition poorly attested Karami remains unclassified Extinct Tambora and the East Papuan languages have not been addressed except to identify Yele as an Austronesian language Wurm 1975 Edit The most widely used classification of Papuan languages is that of Stephen Wurm listed below with the approximate number of languages in each family in parentheses This was the scheme used by Ethnologue prior to Ross s classification below It is based on very preliminary work much of it typological and Wurm himself has stated that he doesn t expect it to hold up well to scrutiny Other linguists including William A Foley have suggested that many of Wurm s phyla are based on areal features and structural similarities and accept only the lowest levels of his classification most of which he inherited from prior taxonomies Foley 1986 divides Papuan languages into over sixty small language families plus a number of isolates However more recently Foley has accepted the broad outline if not the details of Wurm s classification as he and Ross have substantiated a large portion of Wurm s Trans New Guinea phylum According to Ross see below the main problem with Wurm s classification is that he did not take contact induced change into account For example several of the main branches of his Trans New Guinea phylum have no vocabulary in common with other Trans New Guinea languages and were classified as Trans New Guinea because they are similar grammatically However there are also many Austronesian languages that are grammatically similar to Trans New Guinea languages due to the influence of contact and bilingualism Similarly several groups that do have substantial basic vocabulary in common with Trans New Guinea languages are excluded from the phylum because they do not resemble it grammatically Wurm believed the Papuan languages arrived in several waves of migration with some of the earlier languages perhaps including the Sepik Ramu languages being related to the Australian languages 7 8 a later migration bringing the West Papuan Torricelli and the East Papuan languages 7 and a third wave bringing the most recent pre Austronesian migration the Trans New Guinea family 7 Papuan families proposed by Wurm 1975 with approximate numbers of languages Amto Musan languages 2 Burmeso language isolate Busa language isolate East Bird s Head languages 3 East Papuan languages 36 Geelvink Bay languages 12 Yuri language isolate Porome language isolate Kwomtari Baibai languages 6 Left May languages 7 Sepik Ramu languages 104 Sko languages 7 Torricelli languages 48 Trans New Guinea languages 598 West Papuan languages 26 Yale language isolate Two of Wurm s isolates have since been linked as the Lower Mamberamo languages 2 and since Wurm s time another isolate and two languages belonging to a new family have been discovered Abinomn language isolate Bayono Awbono languages 2 Foley 2003 Edit Foley summarized the state of the literature 9 Besides Trans New Guinea and families possibly belonging in TNG see he accepted the proposals for Papuan families other than TNG accepted by Foley 2003 Lower Sepik Ramu Lower Sepik Lower Ramu Middle Sepik incl Ndu and maybe Sepik Hill Torricelli Sko Lakes Plain and Cenderawasih Bay probably related East Bird s Head West Bird s Head Marind Bougainville 2 branches not close to each other North Bougainville South Bougainville Ross 2005 Edit Malcolm Ross re evaluated Wurm s proposal on purely lexical grounds That is he looked at shared vocabulary and especially shared idiosyncrasies analogous to English I and me vs German ich and mich The poor state of documentation of Papuan languages restricts this approach largely to pronouns Nonetheless Ross believes that he has been able to validate much of Wurm s classification albeit with revisions to correct for Wurm s partially typological approach See Trans New Guinea languages Ethnologue 2009 largely follows Ross It has been suggested that the families that appear when comparing pronouns may be due to pronoun borrowing rather than to genealogical relatedness However Ross argues that Papuan languages have closed class pronoun systems which are resistant to borrowing and in any case that the massive number of languages with similar pronouns in a family like Trans New Guinea preclude borrowing as an explanation Also he shows that the two cases of alleged pronoun borrowing in New Guinea are simple coincidence explainable as regular developments from the protolanguages of the families in question as earlier forms of the languages are reconstructed their pronouns become less similar not more Ross argues that open class pronoun systems where borrowings are common are found in hierarchical cultures such as those of Southeast Asia and Japan where pronouns indicate details of relationship and social status rather than simply being grammatical pro forms as they are in the more egalitarian New Guinea societies Ross has proposed 23 Papuan language families and 9 13 isolates However because of his more stringent criteria he was not able to find enough data to classify all Papuan languages especially many isolates that have no close relatives to aid in their classification Ross also found that the Lower Mamberamo languages or at least the Warembori language he had insufficient data on Pauwi are Austronesian languages that have been heavily transformed by contact with Papuan languages much as the Takia language has The Reef Islands Santa Cruz languages of Wurm s East Papuan phylum were a potential 24th family but subsequent work has shown them to be highly divergent Austronesian languages as well Note that while this classification may be more reliable than past attempts it is based on a single parameter pronouns and therefore must remain tentative Although pronouns are conservative elements in a language they are short and utilise a reduced set of the language s phonemic inventory Both phenomena greatly increase the possibility of chance resemblances especially when they are not confirmed by lexical similarities Papuan families proposed by Ross 2005 Trans New Guinea reduced to 466 493 languages Extended West Papuan tentative West Papuan languages 27 East Bird s Head Sentani languages 9 Yawa 1 2 Mairasi languages 4 East Cenderawasih Geelvink Bay languages 10 Lakes Plain languages 19 upper Mamberamo River Tor Kwerba languages 17 Nimboran languages 5 Skou languages 8 Border languages 15 Left May Kwomtari languages 13 problematic Left May 7 Fas 2 Kwomtari 3 Senagi languages 2 perhaps related to Sepik Torricelli languages 40 50 perhaps related to Sepik Sepik languages 51 Ramu Lower Sepik languages 40 first proposed by Foley Yuat languages 5 Piawi languages 2 perhaps in Ramu South Central Papuan languages 22 Eastern Trans Fly languages 4 one in Australia Yele West New Britain languages tentative Yeli Dnye Yele isolate Anem isolate Ata Pele Ata Wasi isolate Baining East New Britain languages 8 North Bougainville languages 4 South Bougainville languages 9 Central Solomons languages 4 Language isolatesSorted by locationnorth Irian Abinomn language Baso Foia Isirawa language Donohue links it to Kwerba Sandaun Province Karkar language Yuri since shown to be a Pauwasi language Busa language Yale language Nagatman Sepik River Taiap language Gapun located on what had been an offshore island 4000 BCEBismarck Archipelago Sulka language on New Britain Kol language on New Britain Kuot language Panaras on New IrelandOtherFormer isolates classified by Ross Burmeso language Taurap in the East Bird s Head Sentani languages Porome language Kibiri in the Kiwai family of Trans New Guinea Morwap language Elseng in the Border languages on basic lexical resemblances Languages reassigned to the Austronesian family Lower Mamberamo Donohue argues this is a relexified Papuan family Yoke may not belong Kazukuru language 2007 Reef Islands Santa Cruz 2007 Unclassified due to lack of data Amto Musan languages 2 Kenati isolate Komyandaret isolate Maramba unattested Massep isolate Molof isolate Momuna family Momina Momuna Somahai Samarokena apparently Kwerba Saponi shares basic vocab but not pronouns with Lakes Plains Tause Ross placed it provisionally in East Bird s Head Sentani to encourage research but does not claim it is related Tofamna isolate Usku isolate Unaccounted for Bayono Awbono TNG Pyu isolate has been classified as Kwomtari Baibai Kosare Kapori Purari has been linked to Eleman but with little evidence There is a cluster of languages in West Papua between the upper Taritatu River and the PNG border including Molof Usku and Tofamna listed above but also Namla Murkim Lepki and Kembra which do not appear to be related to each other or to other languages in the area Namla recently discovered may prove to be related to Tofamna once more data comes in Murkim and Lepki show some similarities to each other though these may not be genetic Tambora unclassified with one lexical item possibly connecting it to languages of Timor Doso Kimki Wichmann 2013 Edit Soren Wichmann 2013 accepts the following 109 groups as coherent Papuan families based on computational analyses performed by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program ASJP combined with Harald Hammarstrom s 2012 classification 10 Some of the groups could turn out to be related to each other but Wichmann 2013 lists them as separate groups pending further research 9 families have been broken up into separate groups in Wichmann s 2013 classification which are Biksi 2 groups Dibiyaso Doso Turumsa 2 groups Kwalean 2 groups Lower Sepik Ramu 5 groups Morehead Wasur 2 groups Nuclear Trans New Guinea 16 groups Pauwasi 2 groups Western and Eastern Sentanic 2 groups Sko 2 groups Papuan families proposed by Wichmann 2013 West Timor Alor Pantar East Timor Bunaq South Bougainville Wiru Namla Tofanma ex Pauwasi 1 Western Pauwasi ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 1 Asmat Kamoro Mombum Marindic ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 2 Awyu Dumut Inland Gulf ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 3 Oksapmin ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 4 Ok ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 5 Finisterre Huon Goilalan ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 6 Chimbu Wahgi Kamula Awin Pa Bosavi East Strickland ex Dibiyaso Doso Turumsa 1 Dibiyaso Angan Duna Bogaya ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 7 Engan Sepik Ndu Walio Greater Kwerba Tor Orya Nimboran Kapauri Border Elseng North Halmahera Yale ex Dibiyaso Doso Turumsa 2 Doso Turumsa Kwomtari ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 8 Mek ex Morehead Wasur 1 Yey Nambu Hatam Mansim Mor Pahoturi Eastern Trans Fly ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 9 Kainantu Goroka Yareban Mailuan Dem ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 10 Southern Adelbert Nend Atemble Apali Faita Anamgura Mum Musak Moresada Utarmbung Anam Paynamar Sileibi Wadaginam ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 11 Dani West Bomberai ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 12 Wissel Lakes Koiarian Kaki Ae Moraori Mawes Kolopom Bulaka River Molof Yuat Maramba Kaure Narau Tirio Kayagar Suki Gogodala Waia Kiwaian ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 13 Binanderean Kowan Binandere Baruga Kowan Korafe Suena Waskia Zia Fasu East Kutubu Pawaia Teberan Turama Kikori North Bougainville Eleman Mairasi Touo ex Kwalean 1 Humene Uare Tanahmerah Savosavo Bilua Manubaran Kuot Burmeso Amto Musan Left May Busa ex Sentanic 1 Sowari ex Lower Sepik Ramu 1 Ap Ma Taiap ex Sko 1 I saka Skou Vanimo Wutung Dusur Leitre ex Lower Sepik Ramu 2 Nor Pondo Angoram Chambri Nor Kopar Yimas Geelvink Bay Konda Yahadian South Bird s Head family Inanwatan Nuclear Torricelli Urim Ata Monumbo ex Sentanic 2 Sentani proper ex Lower Sepik Ramu 3 Banaro Yawa ex Kwalean 2 Mulaha Lavukaleve Anem ex Morehead Wasur 2 Kunja Papi Mpur Abun Maybrat West Bird s Head Lakes Plain Pyu ex Biksi 1 Kimki ex Sko 2 Rawo Barupu Poo Ramo Sumararo Womo ex Biksi 2 Yetfa Yeli Dnye Lepki Murkim ex Pauwasi 2 Eastern Pauwasi East Bird s Head Kosare Usku ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 14 Croisilles 11 ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 15 Kobon Senagi Piawi ex Lower Sepik Ramu 4 Rao ex Lower Sepik Ramu 5 Kire Kaian Aruamu ex Nuclear Trans New Guinea 16 Croisilles 12 An automated computational analysis ASJP 4 by Muller Velupillai Wichmann et al 2013 13 found lexical similarities among the following language groups Note that some of these automatically generated groupings are due to chance resemblances Selected Papuan family groupings in the ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity version 4 Yuat Kwalean Mailuan Lower Sepik Monumbo Lakes Plain Wipi Marind Pyu Kimki Biksi Yele Lepki Murkim Karkar Yuri Skou Kaure Usku Marienberg Mairasi Mpur Touo Savosavo Bilua Angan Sepik Binandere Waskia Tiwi Senagi Border Elseng Kwerba Nimboran Mek Tayap Abau Yale North Halmahera Timor Alor Pantar West Bomberai Dani Oriomo Morehead Meyah Sougb Hatam Kainantu Yareban Manubaran Kwomtari Pawaia Kwalean Sentani Busa Amto Musan Left May Lavukaleve Anem Urim Gorokan Kaure Makayam Gogodala Tabo Kiwaian Madang Kayagaric Mor Bulaka River North Bougainville Eleman Engan Duna Bogaya Marind Asmat Kamoro Mombum Kolopom Dubu Towei Wiru Tofanma Turama Kikorian Awyu Inland Gulf Ok Oksapmin Bosavi East Strickland Kapauku Doso Kutubuan Angan Kamula Awin Pa Goilalan Leonard Schultze Koiarian Purari Kaki Ae Chimbu Wahgi Finisterre Huon Palmer 2018 Edit Bill Palmer et al 2018 propose 43 independent families and 37 language isolates in the Papuasphere comprising a total of 862 languages 14 A total of 80 independent groups are recognized While Pawley amp Hammarstrom s internal classification of Trans New Guinea largely resembles a composite of Usher s and Ross classifications Palmer et al do not address the more tentative families that Usher proposes such as Northwest New Guinea The coherence of the South Bird s Head East Bird s Head Pauwasi Kwomtari and Central Solomons families are uncertain and hence are marked below as tentative 15 16 17 18 Papuan families proposed by Palmer 2018 Papuan independent language families 43 families Trans New Guinea 431 Torricelli 50 Sepik 45 Lower Sepik Ramu 35 Yam 27 Timor Alor Pantar 26 Tor Kwerba 23 Lakes Plain 20 Border 14 Sko 13 East Cenderawasih Bay 10 North Halmahera 10 South Bird s Head 10 tentative 3 families Kwomtari 6 tentative 4 families Leonard Schultze 6 Upper Yuat 6 West Bird s Head 6 East Bird s Head 5 tentative 2 families Baining 5 Pauwasi 5 tentative 2 families Nimboran 5 Yuat 5 Left May 5 Pahoturi River 5 Eleman 5 North Bougainville 4 South Bougainville 4 Central Solomons 4 tentative 4 isolates Oriomo 4 Sentani 4 Mairasi 3 Butam Taulil 2 Bayono Awbono 2 Teberan 2 Kaure 2 Lepki 2 Senagi 2 Tofanma 2 Yapen 2 Amto Musan 2 Doso Turumsa 2 Komolom 2 Yelmek Maklew 2 Papuan isolates and unclassified languages 37 total Bird s Head Peninsula Bomberai Peninsula 5 Abun Mpur Maibrat Mor Tanah MerahNorth coast hinterland 12 Abinomn Burmeso Elseng Kapauri Kembra Keuw Kimki Massep Mawes Molof Usku YetfaCentral West Papua 2 Dem UhunduniSepik Ramu basin 3 Busa Taiap YadeGulf of Papua hinterland 8 Dibiyaso Kaki Ae Kamula Karami Pawaia Porome Purari TaboBismarck Archipelago 6 Anem Ata Kol Kuot Makolkol SulkaRossel Island Louisiade Archipelago 1 Yeli Dnye Glottolog 4 0 2019 Edit Glottolog 4 0 2019 based partly on Usher recognizes 70 independent families and 55 isolates 19 Papuan families proposed in Glottolog 4 0Families 70 Nuclear Trans New Guinea 314 Subgroups Madang 106 Finisterre Huon 61 Asmat Awyu Ok 49 Kainantu Goroka 28 Chimbu Wahgi 17 Enga Kewa Huli 14 Dani 13 Greater Binanderean 13 Mek 8 Paniai Lakes 5 Nuclear Torricelli 55 Sepik 36 Lower Sepik Ramu 30 Timor Alor Pantar 23 Lakes Plain 20 Morehead Wasur 19 Anim 17 Border 15 North Halmahera 15 Angan 13 Ndu 13 Tor Orya 13 Geelvink Bay 10 Sko 10 Dagan 9 South Bougainville 9 Greater Kwerba 8 Koiarian 8 Mailuan 8 Bosavi 7 Baining 6 East Strickland 6 Goilalan 6 Kiwaian 6 Left May 6 South Bird s Head 6 Eleman 5 Nimboranic 5 Pauwasi 5 West Bird s Head 5 Yareban 5 Yuat 5 Arafundi 4 Eastern Trans Fly 4 North Bougainville 4 Sentanic 4 Suki Gogodala 4 Turama Kikori 4 Walioic 4 East Bird s Head 3 Kamula Elevala 3 Kayagaric 3 Kolopom 3 Kwalean 3 Mairasic 3 Ulmapo 3 West Bomberai 3 Amto Musan 2 Baibai Fas 2 Bayono Awbono 2 Bogia 2 Bulaka River 2 Doso Turumsa 2 East Kutubu 2 Hatam Mansim 2 Inanwatan 2 Konda Yahadian 2 Kwomtari Nai 2 Lepki Murkim 2 Manubaran 2 Mombum Koneraw 2 Namla Tofanma 2 Pahoturi 2 Piawi 2 Senagi 2 Somahai 2 Taulil Butam 2 Teberan 2 Yawa Saweru 2 Isolates 55 Abinomn Abun Ambakich Anem Ap Ma Asabano Bilua Bogaya Burmeso Damal Dem Dibiyaso Duna Elseng Fasu Guriaso Kaki Ae Kapori Karami Kaure Narau Kehu Kembra Kibiri Kimki Kol Kosadle Kuot Lavukaleve Marori Massep Mawes Maybrat Karon Molof Mor Mpur Odiai Papi Pawaia Pele Ata Purari Pyu Sause Savosavo Sulka Tabo Taiap Tambora Tanahmerah Touo Usku Wiru Yale Yele Yerakai YetfaExternal relations EditJoseph Greenberg proposed that the Andamanese languages or at least the Great Andamanese languages off the coast of Burma are related to the Papuan or West Papuan languages Stephen Wurm stated that the lexical similarities between Great Andamanese and the West Papuan and Timor Alor families are quite striking and amount to virtual formal identity in a number of instances However he considered this not evidence of a connection between Great Andamanese and Trans New Guinea but of a substratum from an earlier migration to New Guinea from the west Greenberg also suggested a connection to the Tasmanian languages However the Tasmanian peoples were isolated for perhaps 10 000 years genocide wiped out their languages before much was recorded of them and few linguists expect that they will ever be linked to another language family William A Foley 1986 noted lexical similarities between R M W Dixon s 1980 reconstruction of proto Australian and the languages of the East New Guinea Highlands 20 He believed that it was naive to expect to find a single Papuan or Australian language family when New Guinea and Australia had been a single landmass for most of their human history having been separated by the Torres Strait only 8000 years ago and that a deep reconstruction would likely include languages from both However Dixon later abandoned his proto Australian proposal 21 and Foley s ideas need to be re evaluated in light of recent research Wurm also suggested the Sepik Ramu languages have similarities with the Australian languages but believed this may be due to a substratum effect 8 but nevertheless believed that the Australian languages represent a linguistic group that existed in New Guinea before the arrival of the Papuan languages which he believed arrived in at least two different groups 7 Typology EditThe West Papuan Lower Mamberamo and most Torricelli languages are all left headed as well as the languages of New Britain and New Ireland These languages all have SVO word order with the exception of the language isolate Kuot which has VSO word order All other Papuan languages are right headed 22 Tonal Papuan languages include the Sko Lepki Kaure Kembra Lakes Plain and Keuw languages 22 See also Edit New Guinea portalTrans New Guinea languages Proto Trans New GuineaReferences EditNotes Edit Papuan www languagesgulper com Retrieved 2017 10 15 a b Wurm 1975 Reesink Ger Singer Ruth Dunn Michael November 17 2009 Explaining the Linguistic Diversity of Sahul Using Population Models PLOS Biology 7 11 e1000241 doi 10 1371 journal pbio 1000241 PMC 2770058 PMID 19918360 Murray Gell Mann et al 2009 Distant Language Relationship The Current Perspective Journal of Language Relationship Voprosy yazykovogo rodstva Newguineaworld Advisory Board Usher Timothy and Edgar Suter NewGuineaWorld a b c d Moseley Christopher 2007 Encyclopedia of the world s endangered languages ISBN 978 0 7007 1197 0 a b Bellwood Peter Fox James J Tryon Darrell 2006 Bellwood Peter Fox James J Tryon Darrell eds The Austronesians ANU Press doi 10 22459 A 09 2006 ISBN 9780731521326 via press anu edu au DELP Papuan Languages sydney edu au Wichmann Soren 2013 A classification of Papuan languages PDF In Hammarstrom Harald van den Heuvel Wilco eds History contact and classification of Papuan languages Language and Linguistics in Melanesia Vol Special Issue 2012 Port Moresby Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea pp 313 386 ISO 639 3 codes abw ali bie bql buq dmc hih kgu mhl mjj mkr mmi mvq ped pla prw sks ukg wnb wnu xow ybm yrw ISO 639 3 codes aey asd awm bbd bbr bmh bmx boj bpi bpm bpu dnr duk eri fad gap gaw ggl gmu gyb igo jil klm kmf kop lei mcz mdc mlp mqe mqv mqw mtc nbk pnr pup rea rmp rpt six snr snx snz spd sra ssd ssj swm tya urg urw usu utu wmc wtf xes xsp ybo ydk ynl Muller Andre Viveka Velupillai Soren Wichmann Cecil H Brown Eric W Holman Sebastian Sauppe Pamela Brown Harald Hammarstrom Oleg Belyaev Johann Mattis List Dik Bakker Dmitri Egorov Matthias Urban Robert Mailhammer Matthew S Dryer Evgenia Korovina David Beck Helen Geyer Pattie Epps Anthony Grant and Pilar Valenzuela 2013 ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity Version 4 October 2013 Palmer Bill 2018 Language families of the New Guinea Area 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 1 20 ISBN 978 3 11 028642 7 Foley William A 2005 Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik Ramu basin 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 109 144 ISBN 0858835622 OCLC 67292782 Holton Gary Klamer Marian 2018 The Papuan languages of East Nusantara and the Bird s Head 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 569 640 ISBN 978 3 11 028642 7 Stebbins Tonya Evans Bethwyn Terrill Angela 2018 The Papuan languages of Island Melanesia 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 775 894 ISBN 978 3 11 028642 7 Pawley Andrew Hammarstrom 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 Hammarstrom Harald Forkel Robert Haspelmath Martin eds 2019 Glottolog 4 0 Jena Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Foley William A 1986 The Papuan Languages of New Guinea Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 24355 6 Dixon R M W 2002 Australian Languages Their Nature and Development Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 47378 0 a b Foley William A 2018 The morphosyntactic typology of Papuan languages 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 895 938 ISBN 978 3 11 028642 7 General references Edit Carrington Lois 1996 A linguistic bibliography of the New Guinea area Canberra Australian National University ISBN 978 0 85883 449 1 OCLC 41223774 Foley William A 1986 The Papuan Languages of New Guinea Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 28621 2 OCLC 13004531 Pawley Andrew Robert Attenborough Robin Hide Jack Golson eds 2005 Papuan pasts cultural linguistic and biological histories of Papuan speaking peoples Canberra Pacific Linguistics ISBN 0 85883 562 2 OCLC 67292782 Ray Sidney Herbert 1892 The languages of British New Guinea Transactions of the Ninth International Congress of Orientalists II 1892 754 770 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 Wurm S A Ed 1975 Wurm Stephen A ed Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene New Guinea area languages and language study 1 C 38 Canberra Dept of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University doi 10 15144 PL C38 hdl 1885 145150 ISBN 9780858831322 OCLC 37096514 Wurm Stephen A 1982 The Papuan Languages of Oceania Tubingen Narr ISBN 3 87808 357 2 OCLC 8592292 Wurm Stephen A 1983 Papuan linguistics past and future Language and Linguistics in Melanesia 14 5 25 OCLC 9188672 Further reading EditComparative wordlistsConrad R and Dye W Some Language Relationships in the Upper Sepik Region of Papua New Guinea In Conrad R Dye W Thomson N and Bruce Jr L editors Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No 18 A 40 1 36 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1975 doi 10 15144 PL A40 1 Davies J and Comrie B A linguistic survey of the Upper Yuat In Adams K Lauck L Miedema J Welling F Stokhof W Flassy D Oguri H Collier K Gregerson K Phinnemore T Scorza D Davies J Comrie B and Abbott S editors Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No 22 A 63 275 312 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1985 doi 10 15144 PL A63 275 Dutton T E Notes on the Languages of the Rigo Area of the Central District of Papua In Wurm S A and Laycock D C editors Pacific linguistic studies in honour of Arthur Capell C 13 879 984 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1970 doi 10 15144 PL C13 879 Foley W A Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik Ramu basin In Pawley A Attenborough R Golson J and Hide R editors Papuan Pasts Cultural linguistic and biological histories of Papuan speaking peoples PL 572 109 144 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 2005 Franklin K J Other Language Groups in the Gulf District and Adjacent Areas In Franklin K editor The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas Papua New Guinea C 26 261 278 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1973 doi 10 15144 PL C26 261 Laycock Donald C 1968 Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict West Sepik District New Guinea Oceanic Linguistics 7 1 36 66 Macdonald G E The Teberan Language Family In Franklin K editor The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas Papua New Guinea C 26 111 148 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1973 doi 10 15144 PL C26 111 McElhanon K A and Voorhoeve C L The Trans New Guinea Phylum Explorations in deep level genetic relationships B 16 vi 112 pages Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1970 doi 10 15144 PL B16 Miedema J and Welling F I Fieldnotes on languages and dialects in the Kebar district Bird s Head Irian Jaya In Adams K Lauck L Miedema J Welling F Stokhof W Flassy D Oguri H Collier K Gregerson K Phinnemore T Scorza D Davies J Comrie B and Abbott S editors Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No 22 A 63 29 52 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1985 doi 10 15144 PL A63 29 Shaw R D The Bosavi language family In Laycock D Seiler W Bruce L Chlenov M Shaw R D Holzknecht S Scott G Nekitel O Wurm S A Goldman L and Fingleton J editors Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No 24 A 70 45 76 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1986 doi 10 15144 PL A70 45 Shaw R D A Tentative Classification of the Languages of the Mt Bosavi Region In Franklin K editor The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas Papua New Guinea C 26 187 215 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1973 doi 10 15144 PL C26 187 Thomson N P The Dialects of Magi In Conrad R Dye W Thomson N and Bruce Jr L editors Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No 18 A 40 37 90 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1975 doi 10 15144 PL A40 37 Voorhoeve C L Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist Preliminary classification language maps wordlists B 31 iv 133 pages Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1975 doi 10 15144 PL B31 Voorhoeve C L Miscellaneous Notes on Languages in West Irian New Guinea In Dutton T Voorhoeve C and Wurm S A editors Papers in New Guinea Linguistics No 14 A 28 47 114 Pacific Linguistics The Australian National University 1971 doi 10 15144 PL A28 47External links EditTransNewGuinea org database of the languages of New Guinea by Simon Greenhill 2003 bibliography of languages Papuan and Austronesian of Indonesian Papua Summer Institute of Linguistics site on languages Papuan and Austronesian of Papua New Guinea Map of Papuan languages formerly known as the East Papuan family of island Melanesia Bill Foley on Papuan languages Dryer s Papuan Language Families and Genera Endangered Languages of the Pacific Region Timothy Usher s Newguineaworld site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Papuan languages amp oldid 1138364992, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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