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. 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. The
Great Andamanese languages may be related to some western Papuan languages, but are not themselves covered by the term Papuan. 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. 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 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) 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. •
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) •
Yélî Dnye (Yele) (isolate) •
Anêm (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 isolates Sorted by location
north 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 •
Yalë language (Nagatman)
Sepik River: •
Taiap language (Gapun), located on what had been an offshore island 4000 BCE
Bismarck Archipelago: •
Sulka language, on
New Britain •
Kol language, on New Britain •
Kuot language (Panaras), on
New Ireland ;Other Former 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) 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 (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) •
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 •
Yalë • 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) • 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) An automated computational analysis (
ASJP 4) by Müller, Velupillai, Wichmann et al. (2013) found lexical similarities among the following language groups. Note that some of these automatically generated groupings are due to chance resemblances. •
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. Further datails in the Spanish version),
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) 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
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 (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 Merah ;North coast / hinterland (12) •
Abinomn •
Burmeso •
Elseng •
Kapauri •
Kembra •
Keuw •
Kimki •
Massep •
Mawes •
Molof •
Usku •
Yetfa ;Central
West Papua (2) •
Dem •
Uhunduni ;
Sepik-
Ramu basin (3) •
Busa •
Taiap •
Yadë ;
Gulf of Papua / hinterland (8) •
Dibiyaso •
Kaki Ae •
Kamula •
Karami •
Pawaia •
Porome •
Purari •
Tabo ;
Bismarck Archipelago (6) •
Anêm •
Ata •
Kol •
Kuot •
Makolkol •
Sulka ;
Rossel Island (
Louisiade Archipelago) (1) •
Yélî Dnye Glottolog 4.0 (2019) Glottolog 4.0 (2019), based partly on Usher, recognizes 70 independent families and 55 isolates. ;Families (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. Further datails in the Spanish version) •
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 •
Yetfa Usher & Suter (2024) The following families are identified by Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter in their NewGuineaWorld project: •
Abinomn •
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) •
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 •
Torricelli Range – Sepik Coast (= Torricelli) •
Trans–New Guinea •
West Papuan 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.
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==