The Sepik languages are a proposed family of some 50 Papuan languages spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea. List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The term Papuan languages refers to those Languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The Sepik is the longest river on the island of New Guinea. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG provinces of Sandaun Papua New Guinea (or ˈpæpjuːə in Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini) officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania The languages tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.
The best known Sepik language is Iatmül. The most populous are Iatmül's fellow Ndu languages Abelam and Boiken, with about 35 000 speakers apiece. The Ndu languages are the best known family of the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea.
The Sepik languages, like their Ramu neighbors, appear to have three-vowel systems, /ɨ ə a/, that distinguish only vowel height. The Ramu-Lower Sepik languages form a family of 35 Papuan languages spoken in the Ramu and Sepik river basins of northern Papua New Guinea In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract Phonetic [i e o u] are a result of palatal and labial assimilation to adjacent consonants. Assimilation is a common Phonological process by which the phonetics of a speech segment becomes more like that of another segment in a word (or at a word boundary It is suspected that the Ndu languages may reduce this to a two-vowel system, with /ɨ/ epenthetic. In Phonology, epenthesis (/əˈpɛnθəsɪs/ Ancient Greek ἐπένθεσις - epenthesis from epi "on" + en "in"
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Classification
The classification used here is that of Malcolm Ross. Malcolm David Ross (born 1942 is a linguist and professor at the Australian National University. It consists of two branches of Laycock's Sepik-Ramu proposal, the Sepik subphylum and Leonhard Schultze stock. The Sepik-Ramu languages are a hypothetical Language family linking the Sepik, Ramu, Nor-Pondo (Lower Sepik, Leonhard Schultze (Walio-Papi The latter has been tentatively broken up by Ross into its constituent families, Walio and Papi, with Papi reassigned to the Sepik Hill branch of Sepik.
According to Ross, the most promising external relationship is not with Ramu but rather with the Torricelli family. The Torricelli languages are a relatively young Language family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast spoken by only about 80000 people
The small families listed in boldface are clearly valid units. The overall family is based on similar pronoun paradigms, but its internal structure is subject to revision. In Linguistics and Grammar, a pronoun is a Pro-form that substitutes for a (including a noun phrase consisting of a single Noun) with or
- Walio family: Walio, Pei, Yawiyo, Tuwari
- Biksi family: Kimki, Yetfa (Biksi)
- Upper Sepik branch
- Abau isolate
- Iwam family: May River Iwam, Sepik Iwam, Amal
- Wogamusin family: Wogamusin, Chenapian
- Ram family: Karawa, Pouye (Bouye), Autu
- Tama family: Ayi, Pasi, Pahi, Mehek, Yessan-Mayo
- Yellow River family: Namia (Namie), Ak, Awun
- Middle Sepik branch
- Sepik Hill branch
- Sanio family: Sanio, Paka, Gabiano, Piame, Bikaru, Hewa
- Bahinemo family: Bitara, Bahinemo, Mari, Bisis, Watakataui, Kapriman, Sumariup
- Alamblak family: Kaningara, Alamblak
- ? Papi family: Papi, Suarmin
Pronouns
The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-Sepik are:
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I *wan we two *na-nd, *na-p we *na-m thou (M) *mɨ-n you two *kwə-p you *kwə-m thou (F) *yɨ-n, *nyɨ-n he *ətə-d, *də they two *ətə-p, *tɨ-p they *ətə-m, *tɨ-m she *ətə-t, *tɨ
Note the similarities of the dual and plural suffixes with those of the Torricelli languages. Abau is a Papuan language spoken in the Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea, primarily along the shores of the Sepik River Iwam or May River Iwam is a language of Papua New Guinea spoken in East Sepik Province. Amal is a language of Papua New Guinea. Kwanga is a Sepik-Ramu language spoken in Papua New Guinea. Classification The 14th ( 2000) edition of Ethnologue classified The Ndu languages are the best known family of the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea. The Torricelli languages are a relatively young Language family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast spoken by only about 80000 people
See also
References
- Dye, Wayne; Patricia Townsend; William Townsend (1969). The term Papuan languages refers to those Languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The Sepik-Ramu languages are a hypothetical Language family linking the Sepik, Ramu, Nor-Pondo (Lower Sepik, Leonhard Schultze (Walio-Papi Dr Donald Laycock was an Australian linguist and anthropologist "The Sepik Hill languages: a preliminary report". Oceania 34: 146–156. ISSN 0029-8077. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication. OCLC 1761006. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Foley, William A. (1986). William Foley is a linguist and professor at the University of Sydney. The Papuan Languages of New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521286212. OCLC 13004531. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Foley, William A. (2005). William Foley is a linguist and professor at the University of Sydney. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin", in Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide, Jack Golson, eds. Andrew Kenneth Pawley (born 1941 is Head of the Department of Linguistics at the Australian National University, Australia. : Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 109–144. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Laycock, Donald C. (1965). Dr Donald Laycock was an Australian linguist and anthropologist The Ndu language family (Sepik District, New Guinea). Canberra: Australian National University. OCLC 810186. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Laycock, Donald C. (1973). Dr Donald Laycock was an Australian linguist and anthropologist Sepik languages: checklist and preliminary classification. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistcs, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 9780858830844. OCLC 5027628. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Laycock, Donald C.; John Z'graggen (1975). Dr Donald Laycock was an Australian linguist and anthropologist "The Sepik-Ramu phylum", in Stephen A. Wurm, ed. Stephen Adolphe Wurm ( August 19, 1922 – October 24, 2001) was a Hungarian -born Australian linguist. : Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene: New Guinea area languages and language study 1. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, pp. 731-763. OCLC 37096514. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Ross, Malcolm (2005). Malcolm David Ross (born 1942 is a linguist and professor at the Australian National University. "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages", in Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide, Jack Golson, eds. Andrew Kenneth Pawley (born 1941 is Head of the Department of Linguistics at the Australian National University, Australia. : Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 15-66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
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