The Papi and Asaba languages form a small
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of two somewhat distantly related 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 ...
, namely
Papi and
Suarmin (Asaba).
Donald Laycock
Donald Laycock (1936–1988) was an Australian linguist and anthropologist. He is best remembered for his work on the languages of Papua New Guinea.
Biography
He was a graduate of University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and later ...
(1973) classified them as part of a
Walio–Papi, a.k.a. Leonhard Schultze, branch of his
Sepik–Ramu proposal.
Malcolm Ross (2005) breaks up Walio–Papi, and suggests that the Papi languages may instead be part of the
Sepik Hill branch of the (now
Sepik
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 Sepi ...
) family. ''Glottolog'' does not find the evidence of a Papi family to be convincing. Foley (2018) and Usher (2020) retain them in Leonhard Schultze.
Frieda and Kenu Rivers
New Guinea World
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papi-Asaba languages
Leonhard Schultze languages