The Keram languages of New Guinea are part of the
Ramu
The Ramu River is a major river in northern Papua New Guinea. The headwaters of the river are formed in the Kratke Range from where it then travels about northwest to the Bismarck Sea.
Along the Ramu's course, it receives numerous tributaries ...
family. They are the
Mongol–Langam languages and a pair of languages sometimes thought to belong to the
Grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...
family. (See
Grass languages for the history of classification.)
Foley (2018) classifies most of them in the
Grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...
branch of the Ramu family,
while Usher classifies them as coordinate with the Ramu family, leaving a reduced number of languages in the Grass branch.
West Keram River – NewGuineaWorld
/ref>
They are named for the Keram River.
Languages
*East Keram River
** Ambakich (Aion)
** Ap Ma (Kambot)
*West Keram River ( Mongol–Langam)
** Mwakai (Mongol)
** Pondi (Langam)
** Ulwa (Yaul)
Pronouns
Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns of East Keram and West Keram as follows:[East Keram RiverWest Keram River]
/ref>
:
See also
* Grass languages
* Keram River
References
External links
* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Proto–East Keram River
*(ibid
Proto–West Keram River
{{Ramu–Lower Sepik languages
Ramu languages