The Ottilien or Watam-Awar-Gamay languages are a small
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of clearly related languages,
:
Watam–
Kaian,
Gamei (Mbore), and
Bosman–
Awar.
They are generally classified among the
Ramu languages of northern
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
.
The Ottilien languages are all spoken in
Yawar Rural LLG, in locations mostly along the coast of
Madang Province
Madang is a Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province of Papua New Guinea. The province is on the northern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea and has many of the country's highest peaks, active volcanoes and its biggest mix of languages. The capi ...
,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
.
Watam and Bosman share plural morphology with
Lower Sepik (Nor–Pondo), supporting the
Ramu – Lower Sepik language-family proposal.
The family is named for the mouth of the
Ottilien River, now known as 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 ...
.
Phonemes
Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:
[New Guinea World, Ramu Coast]
/ref>
:
:
Pronouns
Pronouns in proto-Watam-Awar-Gamay (proto-Ottilien) reconstructed by Foley (2005) are:[
:
]
Proto-Ottilien
A phonological reconstruction of proto-Watam-Awar-Gamay (proto-Ottilien) has been proposed by Foley (2005).Misegian languages
The Misegian, also known as Mikarew or Ruboni Range languages, are a small family of clearly related languages,
: Giri, Sepen, and Mikarew (Aruamu).
They are generally classified among the Ramu languages of northern Papua New Guinea. The Mi ...
Kire
Kire may refer to:
People with the name
* Kire (surname)
* Kire Grozdanov (born 1970), Macedonian football player for FK Pelister
* Kire Markoski (born 1995), Macedonian football player for AEL Limassol
* Kire Ristevski (born 1990), Macedonian f ...
and Mikarew, and the Tanggu languages Tangu and Igom.
References
*
External links
* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Proto–Ramu Coast
{{Ramu–Lower Sepik languages
Lower Ramu languages
Languages of Madang Province