The Yam languages, also known as the Morehead River languages, are a

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 ...

Papuan languages The Papuan languages are the non-Austronesian and non- Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...

. They include many of the languages south and west of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian West Papua.

Name

The name ''Morehead and Upper Maro River'' refers to the area around the Morehead and Maro rivers. Most of the languages are found between these rivers, but the Nambu subgroup are spoken east of the Morehead. Evans (2012) refers to the family instead with the more compact name ''Yam''. This name is motivated by a number of linguistic and cultural items of significance: ''yam'' (and cognates) means "custom, tradition"; ''yəm'' (and cognates) means "is"; and yam tubers are the local staple and of central cultural importance.

External relationships

Ross (2005) tentatively includes the Yam languages in the proposed Trans-Fly – Bulaka River family. More recently (Evans 2012) has argued that this is not justified and more data has to be gathered. Evans (2018) classifies the Pahoturi River languages as an independent language family. Yam languages have also been in intensive contact with Marind and Suki speakers, who had historically expanded into Yam-speaking territories via headhunting raids and other expansionary migrations.

Classification

Internal classification of the Yam languages: * Yei * Tonda languages (a dialect chain) *

Nambu languages Nambu is a cluster of Papuan languages spoken in the Morehead River region of Papua New Guinea. Languages Varieties are distinct but have some mutually intelligibility with their neighbors. Usher (2020) lists the following languages, with Namb ...

(a dialect chain)

Wichmann Wichmann or Wichman may refer to: *Wichmann (crater), a lunar impact crater * Wichmann the Elder (d. 944), medieval German nobleman * Wichmann the Younger (d. 967), son of the Elder, medieval German nobleman * Wichmann von Seeburg (1115–1192), Ar ...

(2013) did not find a connection between the branches in his automated comparison.Wichmann, Søren. 2013
A classification of Papuan languages
In: Hammarström, Harald and Wilco van den Heuvel (eds.), History, contact and classification of Papuan languages (Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, Special Issue 2012), 313-386. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.

Languages

Yam languages are spoken by up to 3,000 people on both sides of the border in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In

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 ...

, Yam languages are spoken in Morehead Rural LLG, Western Province. In Papua,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Yam languages are spoken in Merauke Regency. Yam languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below. Geographical coordinates are also provided for some villages. : See also:

Districts of Papua The province of Papua (''Provinsi Papua'') in Indonesia is divided into eight ''kabupaten'' ( regencies) and one independent ''kota'' (city) which in turn are divided administratively into districts, known as ''distrik'' under the law of 2001 on ...

( Indonesian Wikipedia)

Pronouns

The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for the family are, ;Proto-Yam (Proto–Morehead – Upper Maro) :

Typology

Many Yam languages display

vowel harmony In phonology, vowel harmony is an assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is typically long distance, me ...

, including in Nambu and Tonda languages.

Vocabulary comparison

Basic vocabulary

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970) and Voorhoeve (1975), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database: :

Fauna names

Below are some turtle names in Yam languages, along with names in Suki:Georges, A., Guarino, F., & Bito, B. (2006)
Freshwater turtles of the TransFly region of Papua New Guinea – notes on diversity, distribution, reproduction, harvest and trade
''Wildlife Research'', 33(5), 373. : All species are consumed by humans except for ''

Chelodina novaeguineae The New Guinea snake-necked turtle (''Chelodina novaeguineae'') is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is found almost exclusively within Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Turtle Taxonomy Working Group hodin, A.G.J., Ivers ...

'', which is avoided due to its pungent odor. ''

Carettochelys insculpta The pig-nosed turtle (''Carettochelys insculpta''), also known as the pitted-shelled turtle or Fly River turtle, is a species of turtle native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the only living member of the family Carettochely ...

'' and '' Elseya branderhorsti'' are prized for their large sizes, with ''E. branderhorsti'' particularly valued for its plastron.

References

* *

External links

YamfinderMorehead languages documentation project
(DOBES) * Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
East Morehead River
(under construction 2020) * (ibid.
West Morehead River
(under construction 2020) {{language families Language families Papuan languages Languages of Western Province (Papua New Guinea)