| Senu River | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Senu River region, Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | None kwom1263 (Kwomtari–Nai) |
 The neighboring Kwomtari–Nai and Fas language families | |
The Senu River languages are a small language family spoken in the Senu River watershed of Papua New Guinea. They consist at least of the Kwomtari languages, Kwomtari and Nai, with several additional languages more distantly related to them.
The family consists of at least the two relatively closely related languages Kwomtari and Nai.
Baron adds the highly divergent language Guriaso:
Guriaso shares a small number of cognates with Kwomtari–Nai. Baron (1983) considers the evidence to be convincing when a correspondence between /ɾ~l/ and /n/ (from *ɾ) is established:
| Gloss | Guriaso | Kwomtari |
|---|---|---|
| Verb suffixes (1pl, 2pl, 3pl) | -nɔ, -mɛ, -no | -ɾe, -mo, -ɾe* |
| dog | map | mau |
| ear | mətɛnu | futɛne |
| crocodile | mɔməni | maməle |
| small | tɔkəno | tɔkweɾo |
| nose | apədu | tipu** |
* Compare Biaka -ɾo,-mo,-na.
** Metathesis of /p/ and /t/.
Usher further classifies Yale (Nagatman) with Guriaso, and adds Busa, all under the name "Senu River". [1]
There has been confusion over the membership of the Kwomtari family, apparently due to a misalignment in the publication (Loving & Bass 1964) of the data used for the initial classification. (See Baron 1983.) Because of this, Laycock classified the Kwomtari languages as part of a spurious Kwomtari–Fas family, which confusingly was also often called "Kwomtari" in the literature. However, Baron sees no evidence that the similarities are due to relationship. Usher likewise discounts the inclusion of the Fas languages. See Kwomtari–Fas languages for details.
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Indo-Pacific is a hypothetical language macrofamily proposed in 1971 by Joseph Greenberg and now believed to be spurious. It grouped together the Papuan languages of New Guinea and Melanesia with the languages of the Andaman Islands and, tentatively, the languages of Tasmania, both of which are remote from New Guinea. The valid cognates Greenberg found turned out to be reflexes of the less extensive Trans–New Guinea family. Recently the Kusunda language, which is generally seen as a language isolate, is also included in the Indo-Pacific proposal. Greenberg did not include "Australian" in his original 1971 proposal.
The Sepik–Ramu languages are an obsolete language family of New Guinea linking the Sepik, Ramu, Nor–Pondo, Leonhard Schultze (Walio–Papi) and Yuat families, together with the Taiap language isolate, and proposed by Donald Laycock and John Z'graggen in 1975.
The Kwomtari–Fas languages, often referred to ambiguously as Kwomtari, are an apparently spurious language family proposal of six languages spoken by some 4,000 people in the north of Papua New Guinea, near the border with Indonesia. The term "Kwomtari languages" can also refer to one of the established families that makes up this proposal.
The Left May or Arai languages are a small language family of half a dozen closely related but not mutually intelligible languages in the centre of New Guinea, in the watershed of the Left May River. There are only about 2,000 speakers in all. Foley (2018) classifies them separately as an independent language family, while Usher (2020) links them with the Amto–Musan languages.
The Border or Upper Tami languages are an independent family of Papuan languages in Malcolm Ross's version of the Trans–New Guinea proposal.
The Left May–Kwomtari or Arai–Kwomtari languages are a possible small family of Papuan languages proposed by Malcolm Ross, which links the Left May (Arai) family with the Kwomtari–Fas proposal. However, the proposal is problematic; it's not clear if the Arai correspondences are with Kwomtari, with Fas, or with both, as Kwomtari–Fas is itself dubious.
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Nai or Biaka is a language of Papua New Guinea.
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The Fas languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea.
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Fas is the eponymous language of the small Fas language family of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.
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Kwomtari is the eponymous language of the Kwomtari family of Papua New Guinea.
Guriaso or Muno is a language of Papua New Guinea. Only described in 1983, it appears to be distantly related to the Kwomtari and Nai languages. It is spoken in Guriaso ward, Amanab Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.
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Amanab Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. It is located along the border with Keerom Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia.
Green River Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. It is located along the border with Keerom Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia.
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