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14-607: Two primary branches are typically accepted: However, Foley (2018) also considers the possibility of Grass being a third primary branch. Usher classifies some of the Grass languages (the Keram languages ) as being coordinate with Ramu, and some (the Porapora languages ) as being part of Ramu. The relatedness of the three branches are held together by morphological evidence, as very few lexical cognates are shared among them. The family

28-588: A Ramu–Lower Sepik language family. Foley (2005) tentatively proposes that Chambri and Angoram may be primary branches: Nor, Chambari, Karawari–Yimas, Angoram. Usher, following Foley, keeps Nor together and breaks up Pondo. Neither accept the connection to Ramu. Foley (2018) and Usher (2020) agree on the following classification. Foley notes that Angoram appears to be closer to Murik–Kopar, and Chambri to Karawari–Yimas, but Foley (2018: 213) leaves them as separate branches pending further evidence. Except for Yimas - Karawari , Lower Sepik languages typically have

42-435: A feature not found in most other Papuan languages. This typological feature has diffused from Yuat into the Grass languages. The original Grass language proposal, also known as Keram , included several languages, such as Banaro and Kambot (Ap Ma), that are no longer thought to be closely related to Adjora and Gorovu. Laycock (1973) rejected Kambot and noted that Banaro was lexically divergent, and therefore grouped it with

56-664: Is also accepted by Glottolog. Grass languages are lexically divergent, sharing very few cognates with the other Ramu languages. 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 . Although the Lower Sepik and Ramu groups are related, Ramu is morphologically much simpler than Lower Sepik due to differing historical contact scenarios. The Ndu , Yuat , and Ramu groups all have relatively simple morphology, while

70-559: The Lower Sepik family has some of the most complex morphology seen among Papuan languages. Foley posits that morphological simplification among these disparate languages families had occurred due to creolization through widespread language contact . He notes that the most spread-out languages with wide geographical distributions are also the ones with the simplest morphologies: Abau , Iwam , Kwanga , Ambulas , Boiken , Iatmul , Ap Ma , Mikarew , Adjora , and Rao (these are all Sepik and Ramu languages). The internal coherence of

84-552: The Grass family in a higher-level Grass stock , a position accepted by Pawley (2005). Grass/Keram (Laycock) Timothy Usher (as reported in Glottolog ) broke it up still further, with only Abu (Adora) and Gorovu kept together (in a " Porapora River " or "Agoan" branch), Aion (Ambakich) and Kambot (Ap Ma) grouped with the Mongol–Langam languages , and Banaro left as a primary branch of Ramu proper. Foley (2018) provides

98-566: The family, under the name Nor–Pondo , is as follows: Murik (Nor) Kopar Chambri Karawari ( Tabriak ), Yimas Angoram (Pondo) Malcolm Ross (2005) broke up the Nor branch (and thus renamed the family Lower Sepik ) because Murik does not share the characteristic /p/ s of the first- and second-person pronouns of Kopar and the Pondo languages, so the latter may form a group: Murik vs Kopar–Pondo. Ross classified Lower Sepik as one branch of

112-592: The following classification. Foley (2005) did not include the Koam languages within Grass, but added them to Grass in 2018. Lower Sepik languages The Lower Sepik a.k.a. Nor–Pondo languages are a small language family of East Sepik Province in northern Papua New Guinea . They were identified as a family by K Laumann in 1951 under the name Nor–Pondo, and included in Donald Laycock 's now-defunct 1973 Sepik–Ramu family. The original conception of

126-700: The forms. Lexical resemblances are few. The most likely lexical cognates are ‘tongue’, ‘ear’, ‘lime’, and ‘eat’. Grass languages The Grass languages are a group of languages in the Ramu language family. It is accepted by Foley (2018), but not by Glottolog . They are spoken in East Sepik Province , Papua New Guinea , with a small number of speakers also located just across the provincial border in Madang Province . Foley (2018) notes that Grass languages share very few lexical items with

140-680: The non-singular affix *-ŋk- ( dual in Ramu and paucal in Lower Sepik: See Ramu languages#Pronouns and Lower Sepik languages#Pronouns for details). Whereas the Ramu languages have *ŋgo ‘ 1sg ’ and *nu ‘ 2sg ’, the Lower Sepik languages have *ama ‘ 1sg ’ and *mi ‘ 2sg ’. Reconstructions of proto- Lower Sepik and proto- Ottilien (proto-Watam-Awar-Gamay, a Lower Ramu branch) from Foley (2005) are as follows. Uncertain reconstructions are marked by question marks following

154-476: The other Ramu languages, with virtually no lexical cognates Banaro and Ap Ma . However, the Grass languages are still classified as Ramu due to widely shared morphosyntax and typology. 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 . Like the neighboring Yuat languages , Grass languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first person pronouns,

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168-615: The speakers of Proto–Ramu – Lower Sepik may have lived in the northern foothills of the New Guinea highlands and moved into the Sepik Basin as the inland Sepik Sea started to recede six thousand years ago. The Ramu-Lower Sepik family is not accepted by Søren Wichmann (2013), who splits it into 4-5 separate groups. Foley (2018) accepts that Ramu and Lower Sepik are related on the basis of morphological evidence, although they are typologically still very different from each other. It

182-479: The two branches, Ramu and Lower Sepik, is based on similar pronoun paradigms , which however do not connect the two branches to each other. Foley was able to connect them lexically, but the primary evidence for a Ramu – Lower Sepik family is a number of irregular plural markers shared by the Lower Sepik languages and the Ramu languages Watam and Bosman . The pronouns themselves have little in common except for 3sg *man (proto-Ramu) ~ *mɨn (proto–Lower Sepik) and

196-448: Was proposed by William A. Foley and accepted by Malcolm Ross . Its two branches, Ramu and Lower Sepik , had belonged to Donald Laycock 's now-defunct 1973 Sepik–Ramu proposal. If related, they are not close. The connection is not accepted by Timothy Usher. Based on oral histories of the Lower Sepik peoples, which record that Yimas is spoken near their homeland, as well as the conservative nature of Yimas itself, Ross suggests that

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