Sepik–Ramu languages

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sepik–Ramu
(obsolete)
Geographic
distribution		New Guinea
Linguistic classificationProposed language family
Subdivisions
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone

The Sepik–Ramu languages are an obsolete

Taiap language isolate, and proposed by Donald Laycock and John Z'graggen in 1975.[1]

Sepik–Ramu would consist of a hundred languages of the

Ramu river basins of northern Papua New Guinea
, but spoken by only 200,000 people in all. The languages tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.

The best known Sepik–Ramu language is

Iatmül. The most populous are Iatmül's fellow Ndu languages Abelam and Boiken
, with about 35,000 speakers apiece.

Malcolm Ross and William A. Foley separately re-evaluated the Sepik–Ramu hypothesis in 2005. They both found no evidence that it forms a valid family. However, all of the constituent branches, except for Yuat within Ramu, remain individually valid in his evaluation. Ross links Nor–Pondo to Ramu in a Ramu–Lower Sepik proposal, places Leonhard Schultze (tentatively broken up into Walio and Papi) within an extended Sepik family, and treats Yuat and Taiap as independent families.

Classification

Ethnologue

This list is a mirror of the classification in Ethnologue 15.

  • Sepik–Ramu phylum (based on Laycock 1973)
    • Taiap
       isolate
    • Leonhard Schultze stock
      • Walio family (4 languages)
      • Papi
         family (2 languages)
    • Nor–Pondo
      stock (6 languages)
    • Ramu subphylum (37 languages)
      • Ramu superstock (29 languages)
      • Yuat–Langam superstock (13 languages)
    • Sepik subphylum (50 languages) [see subclassification at that article]

Foley (2018)

Uncontroversially coherent subgroups accepted by Foley (2018) are:[2]

Lexical comparison

Below is a comparison of proto-Ndu, proto-Lower Sepik, and proto-Ottilien reconstructed by and listed in Foley (2005).[3]

gloss proto-Ndu proto-Lower Sepik proto-Ottilien
man, person *ntɨw *nor *namot
water *ŋkɨw *arɨm
fire *ya *awr *s(u)ək
sun *ɲa *ra(u)
moon *mpapmɨw *m(w)il ? *kər(v)i
breast *mɨwɲ *nɨŋgay *mɨr
tooth *nɨmpɨy *sisiŋk ? *nda(r)
bone *apə *sariŋamp *ɣar
tongue *tɨkŋa *minɨŋ *mi(m)
eye *mɨyR *tambri *rəmeak
nose *tam(w)ə *ŋgum
leg *man *namuŋk *or ?
ear *wan *kwand-
name *cɨ *ɣi
pig *mp(w)al *numpran *rəkəm
snake *kampwəy *wakɨn *ndop
mosquito *kɨvɨy *naŋgun *ŋgit
eat *kɨ *am(b) *amb
go *yɨ *wa *saŋg
come *ya *ya *kɨp
sit *rə *sa *mbirak
stand *rap(m) *-tik
one *nək *mb(w)ia- *kaku
two *ri-pa- *mbuniŋ
three *-ram

Due to its highly divergent lexicon, Foley does not classify Sepik with Lower Sepik and Ramu.

See also

References

  1. ^ Laycock, D. C. and Z'graggen, John A. 1975. The Sepik-Ramu Phylum. In Wurm, S.A. (ed.), Papuan Languages and the New Guinea Linguistic Scene, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study 1, 729-763. Australian National University.
  2. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7
    .
  3. OCLC 67292782
    .
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