Trans–New Guinea (TNG) is an extensive

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 ...

Papuan languages The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands in Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. It is a strictly geographical grouping, and does not imply ...

spoken on the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and neighboring islands, a region corresponding to the country

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 ...

as well as parts of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Trans–New Guinea is perhaps the third-largest language family in the world by number of languages. The core of the family is considered to be established, but its boundaries and overall membership are uncertain. The languages are spoken by around 3 million people. There have been several main proposals as to its internal classification.

History of the proposal

Although Papuan languages for the most part are poorly documented, several of the branches of Trans–New Guinea have been recognized for some time. The

Eleman languages The Eleman languages are a language family, family spoken around Kerema Bay, Papua New Guinea. Languages and classification The five languages of Eleman proper are clearly related. They were identified as a family by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1907, ...

were first proposed by S. Ray in 1907, parts of Marind were recognized by Ray and JHP Murray in 1918, and the

Rai Coast languages The Rai Coast languages are a family of languages in the Madang stock of New Guinea. Sidney Herbert Ray identified what was then known of the Rai Coast languages as a unit in 1919. They were linked with the Mabuso languages in 1951 by Arthur ...

in 1919, again by Ray. The precursor of the Trans–New Guinea family was

Stephen Wurm Stephen Adolphe Wurm (, ; 19 August 1922 – 24 October 2001) was a Hungarian-born Australian linguist. Early life Wurm was born in Budapest, the second child to the German-speaking Adolphe Wurm and the Hungarian-speaking Anna Novroczky. ...

's 1960 proposal of an East New Guinea Highlands family. Although broken up by Malcolm Ross in 2005, it united different branches of what became TNG for the first time, linking Engan, Chimbu–Wahgi, Goroka, and Kainantu. (Duna and Kalam were added in 1971.) Then in 1970,

Clemens Voorhoeve Clemens Lambertus Voorhoeve (born 1930; also known as "Bert" Voorhoeve) is a Dutch linguist who specializes in Papuan languages. Education He completed his higher education in the Netherlands. He obtained his PhD in linguistics at Leiden Universi ...

and Kenneth McElhanon noted 91 lexical resemblances between the Central and South New Guinea (CSNG) and Finisterre–Huon families, which they had respectively established a few years earlier. Although they did not work out regular sound correspondences, and so could not distinguish between cognates due to genealogical relationship, cognates due to borrowing, and chance resemblances, their research was taken seriously. They chose the name ''Trans–New Guinea'' because this new family was the first to span New Guinea, from the

Bomberai Peninsula Bomberai Peninsula () is located in the Western New Guinea region. It is south of the Bird's Head Peninsula, and Bintuni Bay separates the two peninsulas. To the west lies the Sebakor Bay and to the south Kamrau Bay. On the southeast Arguni ...

of western West Irian to the

Huon Peninsula Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The peninsula is dominated by the steep Saruwaged and Finist ...

of eastern PNG. They also noted possible cognates in other families Wurm would later add to TNG: Wurm's East New Guinea Highlands, Binandere in the ' Bird's Tail' of PNG, and two families that John Z'graggen would later (1971, 1975) unite in his 100-language Madang–Adelbert Range family. In 1975, Wurm accepted Voorhoeve and McElhanon's suspicions about further connections, as well as Z'graggen's work, and postulated additional links to, among others, the languages of the island of

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

to the west of New Guinea, Angan, Goilalan, Koiarian, Dagan, Eleman, Wissel Lakes, the erstwhile Dani-Kwerba family, and the erstwhile Trans-Fly–Bulaka River family (which he had established in 1970), expanding TNG into an enormous language phylum that covered most of the island of New Guinea, as well as Timor and neighboring islands, and included over 500 languages spoken by some 2,300,000 people. However, part of the evidence for this was typological, and Wurm stated that he did not expect it to stand up well to scrutiny. Although he based the phylum on characteristic

personal pronoun Personal pronouns are pronouns that are associated primarily with a particular grammatical person – first person (as ''I''), second person (as ''you''), or third person (as ''he'', ''she'', ''it''). Personal pronouns may also take different f ...

s, several of the branches had no pronouns in common with the rest of the family, or even had pronouns related to non-TNG families, but were included because they were grammatically similar to TNG. Other families that had typical TNG pronouns were excluded because they did not resemble other TNG families in their grammatical structure. Because grammatical typology is readily borrowed—many of the

Austronesian languages The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken ...

in New Guinea have grammatical structures similar to their Papuan neighbors, for example, and conversely many Papuan languages resemble typical Austronesian languages typologically—other linguists were skeptical. William A. Foley rejected Wurm's and even some of Voorhoeve's results, and he broke much of TNG into its constituent parts: several dozen small but clearly valid families, plus a number of apparent isolates. In 2005, Malcolm Ross published a draft proposal re-evaluating Trans–New Guinea, and found what he believed to be overwhelming evidence for a reduced version of the phylum, based solely on lexical resemblances, which retained as much as 85% of Wurm's hypothesis, though some of it tentatively. The strongest lexical evidence for any language family is shared morphological paradigms, especially highly irregular or

suppletive In linguistics and etymology, suppletion is traditionally understood as the use of one word as the inflection, inflected form of another word when the two words are not cognate. For those learning a language, suppletive forms will be seen as "irre ...

paradigms with bound morphology, because these are extremely resistant to borrowing. For example, the fact that German words ''gut'' "good" and ''besser'' "better" resemble their English counterparts would be stronger evidence that German is related to English than the mere lexical correspondence between German ''rot'' and English ''red'' for the color. However, because of the great morphological complexity of many Papuan languages, and the poor state of documentation of nearly all, in New Guinea this approach is essentially restricted to comparing

pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...

s. Ross reconstructed pronouns sets for Foley's basic families and compared these reconstructions, rather than using a direct mass comparison of all Papuan languages; attempted to then reconstruct the ancestral pronouns of the proto-Trans–New Guinea language, such as ''*ni'' "we", ''*ŋgi'' "you", ''*i'' "they"; and then compared poorly supported branches directly to this reconstruction. Families required two apparent cognates to be included. However, if any language in a family was a match, the family was considered a match, greatly increasing the likelihood of coincidental resemblances, and because the plural forms are related to the singular forms, a match of 1sg and 1pl, although satisfying Ross's requirement of two matches, is not actually two independent matches, again increasing the likelihood of spurious matches. In addition, Ross counted forms like *a as a match to 2sg *ga, so that all counted as matches to *ga. And although and occur in Papuan pronouns at twice the level expected by their occurrence in pronouns elsewhere in the world, they do not correlate with each other as they would if they reflected a language family. That is, it is argued that Ross's pronouns do not support the validity of Trans–New Guinea, and do not reveal which families might belong to it.Harald Hammarström (2012) "Pronouns and the (Preliminary) Classification of Papuan languages", ''Journal of the Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea'' Ross also included in his proposal several better-attested families for non-pronominal evidence, despite a lack of pronouns common to other branches of TNG, and he suggested that there may be other families that would have been included if they had been better attested. Several additional families are only tentatively linked to TNG. Because the boundaries of Ross's proposal are based primarily on a single parameter, the pronouns, all internal structure remains tentative.

The languages

Most TNG languages are spoken by only a few thousand people, with only seven ( Melpa, Kuman, Enga, Huli, Western Dani, Makasae, and Ekari) being spoken by more than 100,000. The most populous language outside of mainland New Guinea is Makasae of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, with 100,000 speakers throughout the eastern part of the country. Enga is the most populous Trans-New Guinea language spoken in

, with more than 200,000 speakers. Golin, Sinasina, Mid Grand Valley Dani, Kamano, and Bunaq have between 50,000 and 100,000 speakers ( Galela of

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

, usually not classified as Trans-New Guinea, also has between 50,000 and 100,000 speakers.) All other Trans–New Guinea languages have fewer than 50,000 speakers. The greatest linguistic diversity in Ross's Trans–New Guinea proposal, and therefore perhaps the location of the proto-Trans–New Guinea homeland, is in the interior highlands of Papua New Guinea, in the central-to-eastern New Guinea cordillera where Wurm first posited his East New Guinea Highlands family. Indonesian Papua and the

Papuan Peninsula The Papuan Peninsula, also known as the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Papua New Guinea, southeast of the city of Lae, that makes up the southeastern portion of the island of New Guinea. The peninsula is the easternmost extent of ...

of Papua New Guinea (the "bird's tail") have fewer and more widely extended branches of TNG, and were therefore likely settled by TNG speakers after the

proto-language In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unatte ...

broke up. Ross speculates that the TNG family may have spread with the high population densities that resulted from the domestication of

taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

, settling quickly in the highland valleys along the length of the cordillera but spreading much more slowly into the

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

l lowlands, and not at all into areas such as the

Sepik River The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the third largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River, Fly and Mamberamo River, Mamberamo. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provi ...

valley where the people already had yam agriculture, which thus supported high population densities. Ross suggests that TNG may have arrived at its western limit, the islands near

, perhaps four to 4.5 thousand years ago, before the expansion of Austronesian into this area.

Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and work ...

associates the spread of Trans–New Guinea languages with the domestication of the

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

.Roger Blench (2017) "Things your classics master never told you: a borrowing from Trans New Guinea languages into Latin", ''McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research''

Classification

Wurm, Voorhoeve & McElhanon (1975)

Wurm et al. identify the subdivisions in their Papuan classification as ''families'' (on the order of relatedness of the

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...

), ''stocks'' (on the order of the

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

), and ''phyla'' (on the order of the

Nostratic Nostratic is a hypothetical language macrofamily including many of the language families of northern Eurasia first proposed in 1903. Though a historically important proposal, it is now generally considered a fringe theory. Its exact compositi ...

hypothesis). Trans-New Guinea is a phylum in this terminology. A language that is not related to any other at a ''family'' level or below is called an isolate in this scheme. ('Family-level' groups are listed in boldface) * ? Oksapmin isolate nclusion dubious * Morwap isolate * Molof isolate * Usku isolate * Tofamna isolate * Eleman stoc

** Eleman family ** Purari language, Purari isolate (Koriki, Namau) **

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

isolate * Inland Gulf stoc

** Ipiko language, Ipiko isolate ** Minanibai family (incl. Karami) * Kaure stoc

** Kaure languages, Kaure family ** Kapori isolate ** Sause isolate * Kolopom (Frederik Hendrik Island) family *

Nimboran Nimboran (Nambrong, Namblong, Namlong) is a Papuan language of Nimboran District, Jayapura Regency, Indonesia spoken by mostly older adults. Younger generations have shifted to Papuan Malay Papuan Malay or Irian Malay is a Malay-based creole, ...

family *

Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...

family (Mek) * Northern, or Border–Tor–Lake Plain super-stock ** Border stoc

*** Waris languages, Waris family *** Taikat family *** Bewani family ** Tor – Lake Plain stoc

*** Tor languages, Tor family *** Turu family *** Central Lake Plain family *** Uria isolate *** Mawes isolate * Pauwasi stock ** Eastern family **

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

family ( Dubu, Towei) * Senagi famil

* South Bird's Head (Vogelkop) stoc

** South Bird's Head languages, South Bird's Head family ** Inanwatan family ** Konda–Yahadian family * Timor–Alor–Pantar stoc

** Bunak language, Bunak isolate ** Makasai isolate ** Oirata isolate ** Fataluku (Dagodá) isolate ** Lovaea isolate ** Kairui isolate ** Alor–Pantar family * Teberan–Pawaian superstock ** Teberan family ** Pawaia isolate * Turama–Kikorian stoc

** Mena languages, Mena or Turama–Omatian family ** Kairi (Dumu) isolate * Trans-Fly – Bulaka River superstock ** Bulaka River family (Yelmek–Maklew) ** Trans-Fly stoc

*** Kiwaian languages, Kiwaian family *** Tirio family *** Eastern Trans-Fly family *** Pahoturi River family *** Morehead & Upper Maro Rivers family: **** Nambu subfamily **** Tonda subfamily **** Yey isolate **** Moraori isolate * Madang – Adelbert Range subphylu

** Madang superstock *** Rai Coast languages, Rai Coast stock **** Evapia family ( Asas, Dumpu, Kesawai, Sausi, Sinsauru) **** Mindjim family **** Kabenau family ( Arawum, Kolom, Siroi, Lemio, Pulabu) **** Yaganon family **** Peka family ( Usino, Sumau, Urigina, Danaru) **** Nuru family ( Usu, Erima, Duduela, Kwato, Rerau, Jilim, Yangulam) *** Mabuso stock **** Kare isolate **** Kokon family **** Gum family **** Hanseman family ** Adelbert Range superstock ***

Mugil ''Mugil'' is a genus of mullet in the family Mugilidae found worldwide in tropical and temperate coastal marine waters, but also entering estuaries and rivers. Species There are currently 16 recognized species in this genus: * '' Mugil bananen ...

isolate *** Isumrud stock **** Dimir isolate **** Kowan family **** Mabuan family *** Pihom stock **** Amaimon isolate **** Kaukombaran family **** Kumilan family **** Numagenan family **** Omosan family **** Tiboran family *** Josephstaal stock ****

Osum The Osum is a river in southern Albania, one of the source rivers of the Seman. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . Its source is in the southwestern part of the Korçë County, near the village of Vithkuq at an a ...

isolate **** Wadaginam isolate **** Sikan family **** Pomoikan family *** Wanang stock **** Paynamar isolate **** Atan family ( Atemble, Angaua) **** Emuan family ( Emerum, Musak) ***

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...

family (membership per Z'graggen) * Main Section: ** Eastern TNG subphylu

*** Binandere stock **** Guhu-Semane language, Guhu-Semane isolate **** Binandere family *** Goilalan family *** Koiarian family *** Kwalean family *** Manubaran family *** Yareban family *** Mailuan family *** Dagan family ** Central and Western TNG subphylum *** Finisterre-Huon superstoc

**** Huon stock ***** Kovai language, Kovai isolate ***** Eastern Huon family ***** Western Huon family ****Finisterre stock ***** Erap family ***** Wantoat family ***** Gusap–Mot family ***** Warup family ***** Yupna family ***** Uruwa family ***** Abaga isolate *** East New Guinea Highlands stoc

**** Kainantu languages, Eastern family (= Kainantu) ***** Gadsup–Auyana–Awa subfamily ***** Tairora subfamily ***** Owena isolate **** East-Central family (= Goroka) ***** Gende (Bundi) isolate ***** Siane subfamily ***** Gahuku subfamily ***** Kamano subfamily ***** Fore subfamily **** Central family (= Chimbu–Wahgi) ***** Chimbu subfamily ***** Wahgi subfamily ***** Jimi subfamily ***** Hagen subfamily **** West-Central family (= Engan) ***** Enga subfamily ***** Huli isolate ***** Angal (Mendi)–Kewa subfamily ****

Kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

family **** Wiru isolate **** Kenati (Aziana) isolate *** Central and South New Guinea – Kutubuan superstock **** Kutubuan stoc

***** West Kutubu languages, West Kutubu family ***** East Kutubu family **** Central and South New Guinea stock (in the Central Highlands and Arafura Coas

***** Bosavi languages, Bosavi family ***** East Strickland family ***** Awin–Pa family ***** Duna or Duna–Bogaya family ***** Ok family ***** Awyu–Dumut family ***** Asmat–Kamoro family ***** Somahai isolate ***** Mombum family *** Angan famil

**** Angaataha language, Angaataha isolate **** Angan subfamily *** Gogodala–Suki stock **** Suki isolate **** Gogodala family *** Marind stoc

**** Boazi languages, Boazi family **** Marind family **** Yaqay family *** Kayagar family *** Sentani stoc

**** Sentani languages, Sentani family **** Demta isolate *** Dani or Dani–Kwerba stoc

**** Dani languages, Dani family **** Kwerba family **** Samarokena isolate **** Saberi isolate *** Dem isolate *** Wissel Lakes – Kemandoga stoc

**** Uhunduni language, Uhunduni (Amung) isolate **** Ekagi–Wodani–Moni family *** Mairasi – Tanah Merah stoc

**** Mairasi languages, Mairasi family **** Tanah Merah isolate *** West Bomberai stoc

**** Karas language, Karas isolate **** West Bomberai family *** Mor isolate

Foley (2003)

As of 2003, William A. Foley accepted the core of TNG: "The fact, for example, that a great swath of languages in New Guinea from the Huon Peninsula to the highlands of Irian Jaya mark the object of a transitive verb with a set of verbal prefixes, a first person singular in /n/ and second person singular in a

velar stop In phonetics and phonology, a velar stop is a type of consonantal sound, made with the back of the tongue in contact with the soft palate (also known as the velum, hence velar), held tightly enough to block the passage of air (hence a stop consona ...

, is overwhelming evidence that these languages are all genetically related; the likelihood of such a system being borrowed vanishingly small." He considered the relationship between the Finisterre–Huon, Eastern Highlands (Kainantu–Gorokan), and Irian Highlands (Dani – Paniai Lakes) families (and presumably some other smaller ones) to be established, and he said that it is "highly likely" that the Madang family belongs as well. He considered it possible, but not yet demonstrated, that the Enga, Chimbu, Binandere, Angan, Ok, Awyu, Asmat (perhaps closest to Ok and Awyu), Mek, Sentani, and the seven small language families of the tail of Papua New Guinea (Koiarian, Goilalan, etc., which he maintains have not been shown to be closely related to each other) may belong to TNG as well.

Ross (2005)

Ross does not use specialized terms for different levels of classification as

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 ...

and

did. In the list given here, the uncontroversial families that are accepted by Foley and other Papuanists and that are the building blocks of Ross's TNG are printed in boldface. Language isolates are printed in ''italics''. Ross removed about 100 languages from Wurm's proposal, and only tentatively retained a few dozen more, but in one instance he added a language, the isolate Porome. Ross did not have sufficient evidence to classify all Papuan groups. In addition, the classification is based on a single feature – shared pronouns, especially 1sg and 2sg – and thus is subject to false positives as well as to missing branches that have undergone significant sound changes, since he does not have the data to establish regular sound correspondences. ;Unclassified Wurmian languages Although Ross based his classification on pronoun systems, many languages in New Guinea are too poorly documented for even this to work. Thus there are several isolates that were placed in TNG by Wurm but that cannot be addressed by Ross's classification. A few of them (Komyandaret, Samarokena, and maybe Kenati) have since been assigned to existing branches (or ex-branches) of TNG, whereas others (Massep, Momuna) continue to defy classification. * '' Kenati'' (→ Kainantu?) * '' Komyandaret'' (→ Greater Awyu) * '' Massep'' isolate * '' Molof'' isolate * Momuna family (2) * '' Samarokena'' (→ Kwerba) * '' Tofamna'' isolate * '' Usku'' isolate ;Reclassified Wurmian languages Ross removed 95 languages from TNG. These are small families with no pronouns in common with TNG languages, but that are typologically similar, perhaps due to long periods of contact with TNG languages. * Border and Morwap (Elseng), as an independent

Border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

family (15 languages) * '' Isirawa (Saberi),'' as a language isolate (though classified as Kwerba by Clouse, Donohue & Ma 2002) * Lakes Plain, as an independent Lakes Plain family (19) * Mairasi, as an independent Mairasi languages, Mairasi family (4) * Nimboran, as an independent

family (5) * Piawi, as an independent Piawi family (2) * Senagi, as an independent Senagi family (2) * Sentani (4 languages), within an East Bird's Head – Sentani family * Tor and Kwerba, joined as a Tor–Kwerba family (17) * Trans-Fly – Bulaka River is broken into five groups: three remaining (tentatively) in TNG (Kiwaian, Moraori, Tirio), plus the independent South-Central Papuan and Eastern Trans-Fly families (22 and 4 languages). * West Trans–New Guinea linkage ? suspected old dialect continuum">dialect_continuum.html" ;"title=" suspected old dialect continuum"> suspected old

Timor–Alor–Pantar families (22) *** West Bomberai family (2) ** Paniai Lakes languages">Paniai Lakes The Paniai Lakes, originally known as the Wissel Lakes, are the three large, freshwater lakes in Central Papua, Indonesia: Paniai, Tigi, and Tage. Lakes Paniai and Tage are located in the Paniai Regency, while Lake Tigi is located in Deiyai Regen ...

(Wissel Lakes) family (5) ** Dani languages, Dani family (13) * South Bird's Head languages, South Bird's Head (South Doberai) family (12) * '' Tanah Merah (Sumeri)'' isolate * '' Mor'' isolate * '' Dem'' isolate * ''Amung language, Uhunduni'' (''Damal, Amungme'') isolate * Mek family (13) * ? Kaure–Kapori (4) [Inclusion in TNG tentative. No pronouns can be reconstructed from the available data.] ** '' Kapori'' isolate ** Kaure languages, Kaure family (3) * ? Pauwasi family (4) Karkar, which is well attested and not TNG">Karkar language">Karkar, which is well attested and not TNG* Kayagar family (3) * Kolopom family (3) * '' Moraori'' isolate * ? Kiwai–Porome (8) NG identity of pronouns suspect** Kiwaian languages, Kiwaian family (7) ** '' Porome (Kibiri)'' isolate * Marind family (6) * Central and South New Guinea ? (49, reduced) art of the original TNG proposal. Not clear if these four families form a single branch of TNG. Voorhoeve argues independently for an Awyu–Ok relationship.** Asmat–Kamoro family (11) ** Awyu–Dumut family (8–16) ** Mombum family (2) ** Ok family (20) * '' Oksapmin'' isolate ow linked to the Ok family* Gogodala–Suki family (4) * Tirio family (4) * Eleman family (7) * Inland Gulf family (6) * Turama–Kikorian family (4) * ? Teberan family nclusion in TNG tentative(2) * ? '' Pawaia'' isolate as proto-TNG vocabulary, but inclusion questionable* Angan family (12) * ? '' Fasu (West Kutubuan)'' family (1–3) as proto-TNG vocabulary, but inclusion somewhat questionable* ? East Kutubuan family (2) as proto-TNG vocabulary, but inclusion somewhat questionable* Duna–Pogaya family (2) * Awin–Pa family (2) * East Strickland family (6) * Bosavi languages, Bosavi family (8) * '' Kamula'' isolate * Engan family (9) * '' Wiru'' isolate (lexical similarities with Engan) * Chimbu–Wahgi family (17) * Kainantu–Goroka (22) lso known as East Highlands; first noticed by Capell 1948** Goroka family (14) ** Kainantu family (8) * Madang (103) ** Southern Adelbert Range–Kowan *** Kowan family (2) *** Southern Adelbert Range **** Josephstaal (7) ***** ''

(Utarmbung)'' isolate ***** '' Wadaginam'' isolate ***** Sikan family (2) ***** Pomoikan family (3) **** Wanang (5) ***** '' Paynamar'' isolate *****

Atan Atan may refer to: Mathematics * arctangent (), a trigonometric function ** atan2, the two-argument function implementing the arctangent in many computer languages Places * Atan, Armenia * Atan, Iran Atan () is a village in Alamut-e Pain ...

family (2) ***** Emuan family (2) **** '' Faita'' isolate ** Rai Coast–Kalam *** Rai Coast languages, Rai Coast family (31) ***

family (4; perhaps part of Rai Coast) ** Croisilles linkage *** Dimir-Malas (2) *** Kaukombar (4) *** Kumil (5) *** Tibor-Omosa (6) *** '' Amaimon'' isolate ***Numugen-Mabuso **** Numugen family (6) **** Mabuso family (29) * Finisterre–Huon (62)

per the person and number of the object.] ** Finisterre languages, Finisterre family (41) ** Huon languages, Huon family (21) * ? Goilalan family (6) nclusion in TNG tentative* Southeast Papuan (Bird's Tail) ? hese families have not been demonstrated to be related to each other, but have in common ''ya'' for 'you lural">hese families have not been demonstrated to be related to each other, but have in common ''ya'' for 'you[plural instead of proto-TNG ''*gi''** Koiarian family (7) ** Kwalean family (3) ** Manubaran family (2) ** Yareban family (5) ** Mailuan family (6) ** Dagan family (9) * Binanderean (16) ** ''Guhu-Samane language">Guhu-Samane'' isolate ** Binandere family (15) [a recent expansion from the north]

Pawley and Hammarström (2018)

TransNewGuineaPawleyHammerstromVSUsherConsensus

Andrew Pawley Andrew Kenneth Pawley (born 1941 in Sydney) is an Australian–New Zealand linguist and Emeritus Professor at the School of Culture, History and Language of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. Career Paw ...

and Harald Hammarström (2018) accept 35 subgroups as members of Trans-New Guinea. ;Trans-New Guinea subgroups (strong evidence): 35 subgroups, 431 languages *

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. History Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai was probably the first Eur ...

(107) * Finisterre-Huon (62) * Kainantu-Goroka (29) * Ok-Oksapmin (20) * Anim (17) * Chimbu-Wahgi (17) * Greater Awyu (17) * Enga-Kewa-Huli (14) * Angan (13) * Dani languages, Dani (13) * Greater Binanderean (13) * Asmat-Kamoro (11) * Dagan (9) * Mailuan (8) * Bosavi languages, Bosavi (7) * Koiarian (7) * Mek (7) * East Strickland (6) * Kiwaian languages, Kiwaian (6) * Goilalan (5) *

Paniai Lakes The Paniai Lakes, originally known as the Wissel Lakes, are the three large, freshwater lakes in Central Papua, Indonesia: Paniai, Tigi, and Tage. Lakes Paniai and Tage are located in the Paniai Regency, while Lake Tigi is located in Deiyai Regen ...

(5) * Yareban (5) * Gogodala-Suki (4) * Turama-Kikori (4) * Kayagaric (3) * Kolopom (3) * Kutubu (3) * Kwalean (3) * West Bomberai (3) * Awin-Pa (2) * Duna-Bogaya (2) * Manubaran (2) * Somahai (2) *'' Marori'' (isolate) *'' Wiru'' (isolate) Groups and isolates considered by Pawley and Hammarström (2018) as having weaker or disputed claims to membership in Trans-New Guinea (some of which they suggest may ultimately turn out to be Trans-New Guinea, but further evidence is needed): * Bayono-Awbono (2) * Komolom ( Mombum) (2) * Mairasi languages, Mairasi (3) * Pauwasi (5) *'' Pawaian'' (isolate) * Sentanic (4) * South Bird's Head languages, South Bird's Head (12) *'' Tanah Merah'' (isolate) * Teberan (2) * Timor-Alor-Pantar (20+) *'' Uhunduni language, Uhunduni'' ('' Damal'') (isolate) Groups and isolates sometimes classified as Trans-New Guinea, but rejected by Pawley and Hammarström (2018) as Trans-New Guinea: *'' Dem'' (isolate) * Eleman (5) *'' Kaki Ae'' (isolate) *'' Kamula'' (isolate) * Kaure-Narau (2) *'' Mor'' (isolate) *'' Porome'' (isolate) *'' Purari language, Purari'' (isolate)

''Glottolog'' 5.0 (2024)

Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is an open-access online bibliographic database of the world's languages. In addition to listing linguistic materials ( grammars, articles, dictionaries) describing individual languages, the database also contains the most up-to-d ...

'', of which Hammarström is one of the editors, accepts 10 groups as part of a ''Nuclear Trans–New Guinea'' family, based on Foley (2000), Pawley (2005) and Edgar Suter (1997). *

(108 languages) * Finisterre-Huon (61) * Asmat-Awyu-Ok (49) * Kainantu-Goroka (28) * Chimbu-Wahgi (17) * Enga-Kewa-Huli (14) * Dani languages, Dani (13) * Greater Binanderean (13) * Mek (8) *

(5)

Dryer (2022)

Matthew Dryer Matthew S. Dryer is a professor of linguistics at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, State University of New York at Buffalo who has worked in typology, syntax, and language documentation. He is best known for his resear ...

used

lexicostatistics Lexicostatistics is a method of comparative linguistics that involves comparing the percentage of lexical cognates between languages to determine their relationship. Lexicostatistics is related to the comparative method but does not reconstruct a ...

to evaluate Pawley and Hammarström (2018), based on 40-word

Swadesh list A Swadesh list () is a compilation of cultural universal, tentatively universal concepts for the purposes of lexicostatistics. That is, a Swadesh list is a list of forms and concepts which all languages, without exception, have terms for, such as ...

data from the ASJP database. Dryer concludes that the following language families are likely to be Trans–New Guinea. They are listed in order of highest to lowest score, i.e. starting with the most likely. Dryer does not consider that evidence based solely on pronouns and the word for 'louse' is sufficient to conclude that a family is a member of Trans-New Guinea. This is because they are more likely to be an areal form (''

Wanderwort A ( , sometimes pluralized as , usually capitalized following German practice) is a word that has spread as a loanword among numerous languages and cultures, especially those that are far away from one another. As such, are a curiosity in histo ...

'') in the case of the word for 'louse' or to be highly conservative in the case of pronouns. Dryer states that similarities solely in pronouns mean that the families are related but that the relationship is so distant as to be "undetectable". Dryer notes that this is a preliminary quantitative analysis and only gives a rough prediction of the families that may or may not belong within Trans–New Guinea, and that the lexical similarities it is based on may be due to loanwords, areal forms (''Wanderwörter'') and so forth. *

* Chimbu–Wahgi * Awyu–Ok * Enga–Kewa–Huli * Kiwaian languages, Kiwaian * Finisterre–Huon * Dagan * Yareban *'' Wiru'' * Bayono–Awbono *

* Turama–Kikorian * Kainantu–Goroka * Dani languages, Dani * Angan * Somahai * East Strickland * Koiarian *'' Fuyug'' *'' Fasu'' * Gogodala–Suki *'' Damal'' * Manubaran * Anim * Greater Binanderean (Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not classify Bayono–Awbono and Damal as Trans–New Guinea.) Dryer lists the following families as "borderline". They have a somewhat higher basic lexical similarity with Trans–New Guinea than with non-Trans–New Guinea families: * Bosavi languages, Bosavi * Goilalan * South Bird's Head languages, South Bird's Head * Timor–Alor–Pantar *'' Fasu'' *'' Bogaya'' * Teberan (Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not classify South Bird's Head languages, South Bird's Head, Timor–Alor–Pantar or Teberan as Trans–New Guinea.) Dryer lists the following families as less likely to be Trans–New Guinea. They have few basic vocabulary items in common with Trans–New Guinea: * Mailuan *'' Duna'' * Asmat–Kamrau Bay * Kwalean * Kolopom * West Bomberai * Mek * Elevala *'' Moraori'' * Kayagaric *'' Mulaha''

Usher & Suter (2024)

Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter, in consultation with Papuan language researchers such as William Croft,

, John Lynch,

, and Malcolm Ross, have reconstructed low-level constituents of Trans–New Guinea to verify, through the establishment of regular sound changes, which purported members truly belong to it, and to determine their subclassification. In many cases Usher has created new names for the member families to reflect their geographic location. Much of Usher's classification is accepted by ''

'', though under different names. As of 2024, his classification is as follows, including correspondences to the names in earlier classifications. He expects to expand the membership of the family as reconstruction proceeds. * Berau Gulf **'' Mor'' ** North Berau Gulf (= South Bird's Head) *** Yabin *** South Bird's Head languages, South Bird's Head (= nuclear South Bird's Head plus Inanwatan) ** West Bomberai (incl. Timor–Alor–Pantar) * Sumuri * West Papuan Highlands (= Irian Highlands) **Amung–Dem *** Amung (Uhunduni) *** Dem ** Balim Valley (= Dani) **

* Asmat – Muli Strait ** Asmat – Kamrau Bay (= Asmat–Kamoro) ** Muli Strait (= Mombum) *Cook River – Kolopom ** Cook River (= Kayagar) ** Kolopom (incl. Moraori) * Oksap (Oksapmin) *Central West New Guinea **Digul River – Ok *** Digul River (= Greater Awyu, incl. Bayono-Awbono) *** Kamula – Elevala River (= Awin–Pa plus Kamula) *** Ok **Momuna–Mek *** Mek *** Momuna * Papuan Plateau (= Bosavi, incl. Dibiyaso) * Duna–Bogaia * Abom * Fly River (Anim) ** Inland Gulf ** Lake Murray (= Boazi) ** Lower Fly River (= Tirio) ** Marind–Yakhai (= Marind) * Eastern Highlands – Kratke Range **

Eastern Highlands :''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.'' The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe ...

(= Kainantu–Goroka) ** Kratke Range (= Angan) * Finisterre–Huon *

(Southeast Papuan) ** Meneao Range (= Dagan) **Owen Stanley Range *** Koiari – Managalas Plateau (= Koiarian) *** Humene–Uare (= Kwalean) *** Mount Brown (= Manubaran) ***Cloudy Bay – Musa River ****'' Bauwaki'' **** Cloudy Bay (= Mailuan) **** Musa River (= Yareban) These branches may cluster together (the southwestern branches, for example, may group together), but the details are as yet unclear. Branches of Trans-New Guinea

The families from the Ross and Glottolog classifications that are not included are Kaure, Pauwasi, Engan, Chimbu–Wahgi, Madang, Eleman, Kiwaian, Binanderean, Goilalan, and the several

Papuan Gulf The Gulf of Papua is located in the southern coast region of New Guinea. It has a total surface area of . Geography Some of New Guinea's largest rivers, such as the Fly River, Turama River, Kikori River, Purari River, and Wawoi River flow into ...

families. Usher only includes families that have a regular reflex of the 2sg pronoun, so there may be additional TNG families that have changed their pronouns.

Lexical semantics

A number of colexification patterns (called 'semantic conflations' by

), particularly in the nominal domain, are commonly found among Trans–New Guinea languages: * an, husband* oman, wife* ird, bat* air, fur, feather, leaf* ree, firewood, fire* ater, river* ark, skin of animal, peel or skin of fruit* ark, skin, body* gg, fruit, seed; some other round objects, e.g. kidney, eye, heart* and, foreleg of quadruped, wing* eart, seat of emotions* lood, red* arden, work o make gardens, to work* oint, elbow, knee* ilk, sap, semen, white of egg, bone marrow* ose, face* eeth, internal mouth* eg, foot, hindleg* inger, toe* ather, owner; mother, owner

Proto-language

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea
(by Simon Greenhill)
Timothy Usher and Edgar Suter's Newguineaworld site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trans-New Guinea Languages Proposed language families Language families Languages of Indonesia Languages of Papua New Guinea Papuan languages