family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of three clearly related languages:
* Kwoma
*Kwanga–Mende
** Kwanga
** Seim
They are generally classified among the
Sepik languages
The Sepik or Sepik River languages are a family of some 50 Papuan languages spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea, proposed by Donald Laycock in 1965 in a somewhat more limited form than presented here. They tend to have ...
of northern
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
; Malcolm Ross places them in a Middle Sepik branch of that family.
They are spoken to the north of the
Sepik River
The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the second largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provinces of Sandaun (formerly West Se ...
near
Ambunti
Ambunti is a town in Ambunti-Dreikikier District of East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea. It has a population of 2,110.
The town serves as a gateway to April Salome Forest Management Area.Ambulas-speaking region of Mapr (near Wosera town).
Pronouns
Pronouns in Nukuma languages:
:
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Foley (2005) and Laycock (1968), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:
:
See also
*
Kwoma people
The Kwoma are a people of northeastern New Guinea who live in the Peilungupo mountains north of the Sepik River. They speak the Kwoma language.
Land
The climate is warm and humid, with rain falling almost every day, so that crops may be planted ...