Lower Ramu languages explained

Lower Ramu
Also Known As:	Ottilien–Misegian
Region:	Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Ramu
Fam2:	Ramu proper
Child1:	Ottilien
Child2:	Misegian (Ruboni)
Glotto:	lowe1439
Glottorefname:	Lower Ramu

The Lower Ramu or Ottilien–Misegian languages consist of two branches in the Ramu language family. They are all spoken in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.^{[1] [2]}

Classification

The Lower Ramu languages as classified by Usher and by Foley (2018) are:^{[3] [4]}

Lower Ramu languages

• Ottilien languages
  • Watam, Kaian
  • Gamay (Borei)
  • Bosmun, Awar
• Misegian languages (Ruboni languages)
  • Mikarew (Aruamu)
  • Sepen, Kirei

Lower Ramu as presented in Foley (2018) has been reduced in scope from the classification given in Foley (2005), which is as follows.^[5]

Lower Ramu

• Watam-Awar-Gamay (WAG) = Ottilien
  • Watam, Kaian
  • Gamay
  • Bosmun, Awar
• Mikarew-Kire (MK) = Misegian (Ruboni)
• Tangu, Igom

The Ataitan languages, including Tangu and Igom, are not included in Foley (2018).

Pronouns

Tentative proto-Lower Ramu pronoun reconstructions by Foley (2005) are:^[5]

	singular	dual	plural
1st person	ŋgu	aŋga	ai
2nd person	nu	(n)oŋgo(a)	ni/e
3rd person	ma(n)	mani(ŋg)	mV(n)

Cognates

Like cognates between proto-Lower Sepik and proto-Lower Ramu listed by Foley (2005) are:^[5]

gloss		proto-Lower Ramu
tongue	minɨŋ	mi(m)
ear	kwand-	kwar
	awi(r)	awi(r)
eat	am(b)	am(b)

Further reading

• Paris, Brian. 2015. A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Lower Ramu Languages of Papua New Guinea. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2015-009.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Papua New Guinea languages . Ethnologue

   Languages of the World

   . 22nd . Eberhard . David M. . Simons . Gary F. . Fennig . Charles D. . 2019 . Dallas . SIL International.
2. Web site: Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup . United Nations in Papua New Guinea . Humanitarian Data Exchange . 1.31.9 . 2018.
3. Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Lower Ramu River
4. Book: Foley, William A. . Palmer . Bill . 2018 . The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide . The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs . The World of Linguistics . 4 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 197–432 . 978-3-11-028642-7.
5. Book: Foley, William A. . William A. Foley . 2005 . Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin . Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples . Canberra . Pacific Linguistics . 0858835622 . 67292782 . Andrew Pawley . Andrew Pawley . Robert Attenborough . Robin Hide . Jack Golson . 109 - 144 .