Yuat languages

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Yuat
Geographic
distribution:		 New Guinea
Linguistic classification: a primary family of Papuan languages
Subdivisions:
Yuat proper
Ethnologue code: 17-2333

The Yuat languages are an independent family of six Papuan languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Sepik–Ramu proposal. However, Foley and Ross could find no lexical or morphological evidence that they are related to the Sepik or Ramu languages.

Languages

The Yuat languages proper are Changriwa, Kyenele (Miyak), Mekmek, Biwat (Mundugumor), Bun.

Ethnologue (2005) classified the erstwhile near-isolate Maramba as closest to the Yuat family, and Ethnologue (2009) lists it as simply one of the Yuat languages, but the basis for this is unknown.

Pronouns

The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-Yuat are:

I *ŋun we *amba
thou *ndi you *mba
s/he *wu they  ?

References

  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide, Jack Golson, eds. Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. 
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