The Ramu 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 ...

of some thirty languages 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 ...

. They were identified as a family by John Z'graggen in 1971 and linked with the Sepik languages by Donald Laycock two years later. Malcolm Ross (2005) classifies them as one branch of a Ramu – Lower Sepik language family. Z'graggen had included the Yuat languages, but that now seems doubtful. With no comprehensive grammar yet available for any of the Ramu languages, the Ramu group remains one of the most poorly documented language groups in the Sepik- Ramu basin.

Classification

The small families listed below in boldface are clearly valid units. The first five, sometimes classified together as ''Lower Ramu,'' are relatable through lexical data, so their relationship is widely accepted. Languages of the Ottilien family share plural morphology with Nor–Pondo.

Late 20th century

Laycock Laycock is an English surname, likely originating from the placename Lacock, in Wiltshire (which is pronounced ''Laycock'') or Laycock in West Yorkshire. According to the 1990 United States Census, Laycock is the 22,119th most common surname. No ...

(1973) included the Arafundi family, apparently impressionistically, but Arafundi is poorly known. Ross (2005) retains it in Ramu without comment, but Foley (2005) and Usher reject inclusion. Laycock (1973) also includes the Piawi languages as a branch, but Ross (2005), Foley (2005) and Usher all reject their inclusion.

Usher (2018)

Usher breaks up the Grass/Keram family. His classification of Ramu (with both his own and traditional names) as of 2018 is as follows: ;Ramu and Keram Rivers * Keram River ** Kambot– Ambakich (East Keram River) ** Mongol–Langam (West Keram River) *Ramu River **'' Banaro'' (Waran) **

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

and Moam Rivers *** Guam River (Tamolan) *** Moam River (Ataitan) *** Porapora (Grass proper) ** Lower Ramu River *** Ramu Coast (Ottilien) ***

Ruboni Range The Ruboni Range is a mountain range in Papua New Guinea. Ruboni Rangein Geonames.org (cc-by) post updated 2013-05-07; database downloaded 2015-06-22 Various Ramu languages The Ramu languages are a family of some thirty languages of Northern ...

(Misegian) ** Middle Ramu River (Annaberg)

Foley (2018)

Foley (2018) provides the following classification, with 5 main branches recognized. ;Ramu family * Middle Ramu languages *

Tamolan languages The Tamolan languages are a small family of clearly related languages spoken in the region of the Guam River in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Languages The Tamolan languages are: *Inapang (dialect continuum) ** Midsivindi ** Itutang (Isar ...

Tangu languages The Ataitan languages, also known as the Tanggu or Moam River languages, are a small family of clearly related languages spoken in the region of the Moam River in Papua New Guinea. They are, * Andarum (Kaje) * Tanguat * Igom + Tangu (Tanggu) ...

Lower Ramu languages The Lower Ramu or Ottilien–Misegian languages consist of two branches in the Ramu language family. They are all spoken in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Classification The Lower Ramu languages as classified by Usher an ...

** Ottilien languages **

Ruboni 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 Mise ...

*? Grass languages exically divergent**

Porapora languages The Porapora languages (alternatively the core Grass or Porapora River languages) are a pair of closely related languages in the Ramu language family, Gorovu and Adjora (Abu), spoken along the border of East Sepik Province and Madang Province i ...

** Koam languages ** Banaro ** Ap Ma ( Kambot / Botin)

and

are sparsely documented, and are mostly attested by short word lists. Grass languages are lexically divergent, sharing very few cognates with the other Ramu languages, with Banaro and Ap Ma sharing almost none. Foley (2018: 205) leaves open the possibility of Grass being a third branch of the Lower Sepik-Ramu family, with Lower Sepik and Ramu being sister branches.

Pronouns

The pronouns reconstructed by Ross (2005) for Proto-Ramu are: : However, Grass languages have the innovations *ɲi ‘1sg’ and *re ‘3sg’.

Cognates

Proto-Ramu forms that are widespread across the family (except for the Grass languages) are: : Foley also reconstructs 7 vowels for proto-Ramu: : This 7-vowel system is also typical of Ndu languages.

Classification

Late 20th century

Usher (2018)

Foley (2018)

Pronouns

Cognates

Further reading

References

External links