The South Pauwasi languages are a likely small language family of New Guinea, potentially consisting of
Yetfa,
Kimki,
Lepki,
Murkim and
Kembra.
[New Guinea World, South Pauwasi River]
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Classification
Usher (2020) classifies the languages as follows,[
;Yetfa – South Pauwasi River
* Yetfa
*South Pauwasi River
** Kimki
** Lepki–Murkim
*** Kembra
*** Lepki
*** Murkim
The relationship of the five languages was recognized in the early 2000s as Paul Whitehouse assembled unpublished data from the ]Summer Institute of Linguistics
SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is an evangelical Christian non-profit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to ex ...
. Usher classifies them as a branch of the Pauwasi language family.[ ]Søren Wichmann
Søren Wichmann (born 1964) is a Danish linguist specializing in historical linguistics, linguistic typology, Mesoamerican languages, and epigraphy. Since June 2016, he has been employed as a University Lecturer at Leiden University Centre for Li ...
(2013) agrees that Murkim and Lepki at least appear to be very closely related.[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. Foley (2018) accepts that Kembra, which is very poorly attested, may be related as well.
Cognates
Some cognates connecting the languages are as follows. There are also loanwords in common with Pyu
Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township
Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...
.[
:
]
References
External links
*Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
proto–South Pauwasi River
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namla-Tofanma languages
Pauwasi languages