The Papuan languages are the non-Austronesian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands in Eastern Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. It is a strictly geographical grouping, and does not imply a genetic relationship.
New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse region in the world. Besides the Austronesian languages, there arguably are some 800 languages divided into perhaps sixty small language families, with unclear relationships to each other or to any other languages, plus many . 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 (for example, Lavukaleve to the east, and Halmahera, Timor and the Alor Archipelago to the west). The westernmost language, Tambora language in Sumbawa, is extinct. One Papuan language, Meriam language, is spoken within the national borders of Australia, in the eastern Torres Strait.
Several languages of Flores, Sumba languages, 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.
Concept
The "Papuan languages" are 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.
According to William A. Foley (1986):
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 language (100,000 reported 1985) in the western (Indonesian) highlands, and
Enga language (230,000 in 2000),
Huli language (150,000 reported 2011), and
Melpa language (130,000 reported 1991) in the eastern (PNG) highlands. To the west of New Guinea, the largest languages are
Makasae language in
East Timor (100,000 in 2010) and
Galela language in
Halmahera (80,000 reported 1990). To the east,
Terei language (27,000 reported 2003) and
Naasioi language (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.
[Wurm 1975] 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); long-range comparison has also suggested connections between selected languages, but again the methodology is not orthodox in historical linguistics.[Murray Gell-Mann et al. (2009) " Distant Language Relationship: The Current Perspective", Journal of Language Relationship·Вопросы языкового родства]
The Great Andamanese languages may be related to some western Papuan languages, but are not themselves covered by the term Papuan.
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 does not 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
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 Language contact 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, a later migration bringing the West Papuan, Torricelli and the East Papuan languages and a third wave bringing the most recent pre-Austronesian migration, the Trans–New Guinea family.
-
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)
-
Yalë 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,
Foley (2003)
Foley summarized the state of the literature.
Besides Trans–New Guinea and families possibly belonging in TNG (see), he accepted the proposals for,
-
Lower Sepik-Ramu (Lower Sepik + Lower Ramu)
-
Middle Sepik (incl. Ndu languages and maybe Sepik Hill)
-
Torricelli
-
Sko languages
-
Lakes Plain and Cenderawasih Bay (probably related)
-
East Bird's Head
-
West Bird's Head
-
Marind languages
-
Bougainville (2 branches not close to each other: North Bougainville + South Bougainville)
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
. 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 grammatical word 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 lexical word 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 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 phoneme. Both phenomena greatly increase the possibility of chance resemblances, especially when they are not confirmed by lexicon similarities.
-
Trans–New Guinea (reduced to 466–493 languages)
-
? Extended West Papuan (tentative)
-
West Papuan languages (27)
-
East Bird's Head – Sentani languages (9)
-
Yawa languages (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)
-
Sko languages (8)
-
Border languages (15)
-
Left May – Kwomtari languages (13) (problematic)
-
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)
-
Yélî Dnye (Yele) (isolate)
-
Anêm (isolate)
-
Ata language (Pele-Ata, Wasi) (isolate)
-
Baining (East New Britain) languages (8)
-
North Bougainville languages (4)
-
South Bougainville languages (9)
-
Central Solomons languages (4)
- 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:
-
Lower Mamberamo (Donohue argues this is a relexification Papuan family; Yoke language may not belong)
-
Kazukuru language (2007)
-
Reef Islands – Santa Cruz (2007)
Unclassified due to lack of data:
Unaccounted for:
-
Bayono-Awbono (TNG)
-
Pyu (isolate, has been classified as Kwomtari–Baibai)
-
Kosare language
-
Kapori language
-
Purari language (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 language, Murkim language, Lepki language, and Kembra language, 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 language (unclassified, with one lexical item possibly connecting it to languages of Timor)
-
Doso language
-
Kimki language
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.
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 languages (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 languages (2 groups)
-
West Timor-Alor-Pantar / East Timor- Bunak language
-
South Bougainville
-
Wiru language
-
Namla-Tofanma
-
ex-Pauwasi-1 (Western Pauwasi)
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-1 (Asmat–Kamoro)
-
Mombum languages
-
Marind languages
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-2 (Awyu–Dumut)
-
Inland Gulf
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-3 ( Oksapmin)
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-4 (Ok languages)
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-5 (Finisterre-Huon)
-
Goilalan
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-6 (Chimbu–Wahgi)
-
Kamula language / Awin–Pa / Bosavi languages / East Strickland
-
ex-Dibiyaso-Doso-Turumsa-1 ( Dibiyaso)
-
Angan languages
-
Duna-Bogaya
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-7 (Engan languages)
-
Sepik languages / Ndu languages / Walio languages
-
Greater Kwerba / Tor-Orya
-
Nimboran / Kapori language / Border
-
Elseng language
-
North Halmahera
-
Yalë
-
ex-Dibiyaso-Doso-Turumsa-2 (Doso-Turumsa)
-
Kwomtari
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-8 (Mek languages)
-
ex-Morehead-Wasur-1 ( Yey language, Nambu languages)
-
Hatam-Mansim
-
Mor
-
Pahoturi / Eastern Trans-Fly
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-9 (Kainantu-Goroka)
-
Yareban / Mailuan
-
Dem language
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-10 (Southern Adelbert: , , , , , , , , , , , , )
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-11 (Dani languages)
-
West Bomberai
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-12 (Wissel Lakes)
-
Koiarian
-
Kaki Ae
-
Morori language
-
Mawes language
-
Kolopom
-
Bulaka River
-
Molof language
-
Yuat languages-Maramba language
-
Kaure language
-
Tirio languages
-
Kayagar
-
Suki-Gogodala / Waia language / Kiwaian
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-13 (Binanderean + Kowan languages: , , , , , , )
-
Fasu language-East Kutubu
-
Pawaia language-Teberan
-
Turama-Kikori
-
North Bougainville
-
Eleman languages
-
Mairasi
-
Touo language
-
ex-Kwalean-1 ( Humene language- Uare language)
-
Sumuri language
-
Savosavo
-
Bilua language
-
Manubaran
-
Kuot language
-
Burmeso language
-
Amto-Musan / Left May / Busa
-
ex-Sentanic-1 ( Sowari language)
-
ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-1 ( Ap Ma)
-
Taiap language
-
ex-Sko-1 ( , , , ; Dusur language, Leitre language)
-
ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-2 (Nor–Pondo: , , , , )
-
Geelvink Bay
-
Konda- Yahadian
-
South Bird's Head family / Inanwatan
-
Nuclear Torricelli
-
Urim language
-
Ata language
-
Monumbo
-
ex-Sentanic-2 (Sentani proper)
-
ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-3 ( Banaro language)
-
Yawa languages
-
ex-Kwalean-2 ( Mulaha language)
-
Lavukaleve
-
Anem
-
ex-Morehead-Wasur-2 ( Kunja)
-
Papi language
-
Mpur language
-
Abun language / Maybrat language / West Bird's Head
-
Lakes Plain
-
Pyu
-
ex-Biksi-1 ( Kimki language)
-
ex-Sko-2 ( , ; Poo language, Uni language, Sumararo, Womo language)
-
ex-Biksi-2 ( Yetfa language)
-
Yele language
-
Lepki–Murkim
-
ex-Pauwasi-2 (Eastern Pauwasi)
-
East Bird's Head
-
Kosare language
-
Usku language
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-14 (Croisilles)
[ISO 639-3 codes: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ]
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-15 ( Kobon language)
-
Senagi languages
-
Piawi languages
-
ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-4 ( Rao language)
-
ex-Lower Sepik-Ramu-5 ( , , )
-
ex-Nuclear Trans New Guinea-16 (Croisilles)
[ISO 639-3 codes: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ]
An automated computational analysis (ASJP 4) by Müller, Velupillai, Wichmann et al. (2013)[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).] found lexical similarities among the following language groups. Note that some of these automatically generated groupings are due to chance resemblances.
-
Yuat languages, Kwalean, Mailuan
-
Lower Sepik, Monumbo
-
Lakes Plain, Wipi language, Marind languages
-
Pyu, Kimki language
-
Biksi language, Yele language
-
Lepki-Murkim, Karkar-Yuri
-
Skou languages, Kaure language-Usku language, Marienberg
-
Mairasi, Mpur language
-
Touo language, Savosavo, Bilua language
-
Angan languages, Sepik languages
-
Binandere, Waskia language, Tiwi language, Senagi languages
-
Border languages, Elseng language
-
Kwerba languages, Nimboran
-
Mek languages, Tayap language, Abau language, Yale language
-
North Halmahera, Timor-Alor-Pantar
-
West Bomberai, Dani languages, Oriomo languages, Morehead
-
Meyah language, Sougb language, Hatam language
-
Kainantu, Yareban-Manubaran
-
Kwomtari, Pawaia language, Kwalean
-
Sentani, Busa, Amto-Musan, Left May
-
Lavukaleve. Further datails in the Spanish version), Anem language, Urim language
-
Gorokan
-
Kaure language, Makayam language
-
Gogodala, Tabo language, Kiwaian, Madang languages
-
Kayagaric, Mor, Bulaka River
-
North Bougainville, Eleman languages
-
Engan languages, Duna-Bogaya
-
Marind languages, Asmat-Kamoro, Mombum languages-Kolopom
-
Dubu-Towei, Wiru language
-
Tofanma language, Turama-Kikorian
-
Awyu languages
-
Inland Gulf, Ok-Oksapmin
-
Bosavi languages, East Strickland, Kapauku language, Doso language
-
Kutubuan
-
Angan languages
-
Kamula language, Awin-Pa, Goilalan, Leonard Schultze
-
Koiarian
-
Purari language, Kaki Ae
-
Chimbu-Wahgi, Finisterre-Huon
Palmer (2018)
Bill Palmer et al. (2018) propose 43 independent families and 37 language isolates in the Papuasphere, comprising a total of 862 languages.
A total of 80 independent groups are recognized. While
Andrew 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."
Papuan independent language families (43 families)
-
Trans New Guinea (431)
-
Torricelli (50)
-
Sepik languages (45)
-
Lower Sepik-Ramu (35)
-
Yam languages (27)
-
Timor-Alor-Pantar (26)
-
Tor-Kwerba (23)
-
Lakes Plain (20)
-
Border languages (14)
-
Sko languages (13)
-
East Cenderawasih Bay (10)
-
North Halmahera (10)
-
South Bird's Head (10) tentative;
-
Kwomtari (6) tentative;
-
Leonard Schultze (6)
-
Upper Yuat (6)
-
West Bird's Head (6)
-
East Bird's Head (5) tentative;
-
Baining (5)
-
Pauwasi (5) tentative;
-
Nimboran (5)
-
Yuat languages (5)
-
Left May (5)
-
Pahoturi River (5)
-
Eleman languages (5)
-
North Bougainville (4)
-
South Bougainville (4)
-
Central Solomons (4) tentative;
-
Oriomo languages (4)
-
Sentani (4)
-
Mairasi (3)
-
Butam-Taulil (2)
-
Bayono-Awbono (2)
-
Teberan (2)
-
Kaure languages (2)
-
Lepki languages (2)
-
Senagi languages (2)
-
Tofanma (2)
-
Yawa languages (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)
- North coast / hinterland (12)
- Central West Papua (2)
- Sepik-Ramu basin (3)
- Gulf of Papua / hinterland (8)
- Bismarck Archipelago (6)
- Rossel Island (Louisiade Archipelago) (1)
Glottolog 4.0 (2019)
Glottolog 4.0 (2019), based partly on Usher, recognizes 70 independent families and 55 isolates.
- Families (70)
-
West Bird's Head (5)
-
Yareban (5)
-
Yuat languages (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 languages (3)
-
West Bomberai (3)
-
Amto-Musan (2)
-
Baibai-Fas (2)
-
Bayono-Awbono (2)
-
Bogia languages (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 languages (2)
-
Senagi languages (2)
-
Somahai (2)
-
Taulil-Butam (2)
-
Teberan (2)
-
Yawa-Saweru (2)
- Isolates (55)
Usher & Suter (2024)
The following families are identified by Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter in their NewGuineaWorld project:
[Usher, Timothy and Edgar Suter. NewGuineaWorld.]
-
Abinomn language
-
Arai and Samaia Rivers (unites Left May, Amto–Musan, and Pyu)
-
Bulaka River
-
Cenderawasih Bay (= East Geelvink Bay)
-
Central New Guinea Highlands (Enga – Southern Highlands and Simbu – Western Highlands = Chimbu–Wahgi)
-
East Trans-Fly (unites Eastern Trans-Fly, Pahoturi, and Waia language)
-
Etna Bay (= Mairasi)
-
Kaki Ae – Kerema Bay (= Eleman)
-
Keram and Ramu Rivers (= Ramu)
-
Kibiri-Porome
-
Kiwai languages
-
Lakes Plains
-
Lower Sepik River
-
Madang languages – Upper Yuat River (unites Arafundi and Piawi languages)
-
Middle Yuat River
-
Morehead River (= Yam)
-
Nawa River (= Kaure–Kosare)
-
Northwest New Guinea (tentative. unites Fas languages, Sentani, Border, Sko languages, 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 language– Pawaia language)
-
Pauwasi River (expands Pauwasi with several recently discovered languages)
-
Senagi languages
-
Senu River (unites Kwomtari, Nagatman, and Busa)
-
Sepik River
-
Torricelli Range – Sepik Coast (= Torricelli)
-
Trans–New Guinea
-
West Papuan
In addition, poorly attested Karami language remains unclassified.
Extinct Tambora language and the East Papuan languages have not been addressed, except to identify Yele language as an Austronesian language.
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.
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, their disappearance 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. 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, 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,[ 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).]
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 language, which has VSO word order. All other Papuan languages are right-headed.
Tonal Papuan languages include the Skou languages, Lepki language, Kaure language, Kembra language, Lakes Plain, and Keuw language languages.
See also
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Trans–New Guinea languages
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Proto-Trans–New Guinea language
Notes
General references
Further reading
- Comparative wordlists
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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.
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Davies, J. and Bernard Comrie " 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Donald Laycock 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36–66.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
External links