Mongol–Langam languages

Mongol–Langam
West Keram River Ulmapo Kaima, Koam
Geographic distribution	East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classification	Ramu–Keram Keram Mongol–Langam
Language codes
Glottolog	mong1343

The Mongol–Langam, Koam, or Ulmapo languages are a language group of Keram Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea belonging to the Ramu language family. Foley (2018) includes them within the Grass languages,^[1] but they were not included in Foley (2005).^[2]

The Koam languages are spoken next to the Yuat languages, but two groups are unrelated.^[1]

Names

The name Koam is used by Foley (2018), while the name Ulmapo (coined from the first two letters of each of the three daughter languages) is used by Barlow (2018) and Glottolog 4.0.^[3]

Languages

According to Summer Institute of Linguistics data from 2003, the member languages had the following number of speakers:

• Mongol (Mwakai), 340 speakers^[4]
• Langam (Pondi), 420 speakers^[5]
• Yaul (Ulwa), 1,210 speakers^[6]

Classification

Donald Laycock (1973) noted that the Mongol–Langam languages mark nouns for pluralisation, like the Lower Sepik languages (Nor–Pondo languages) and Yuat languages, and also that the lexicon also shows many resemblances to Yuat languages, while pronouns are similar to the Grass (Keram) languages (Ramu).^[7] Malcolm Ross (2005) accepts them as Ramu languages based on their pronouns.^[8] With additional data from recent research, Usher confirms their position in the Keram branch of the Ramu family.^[9]

Notes

1. Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
2. Foley, William A. (2005). "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". 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. 109–144. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
3. Barlow, Russell. 2018. A grammar of Ulwa. Doctoral dissertation, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/62506
4. Lewis 2009, p. 626
5. Lewis 2009, p. 621
6. Lewis 2009, p. 643
7. Laycock 1973, p. 36
8. Ross 2005
9. West Keram River – NewGuineaWorld

References

• Laycock, Donald C. (1973), Sepik languages – checklist and preliminary classification, Pacific linguistics Ser. B Monographs, The Australian National University, Research School of Pacific Studies, Dept. of Linguistics, ISBN 978-0-85883-084-4
• Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009) [first published 1951 by SIL], Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16 ed.), Dallas: SIL International, ISBN 9781556712166, OL 19636399W
• Ross, Malcolm (2005), "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages", in Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; et al. (eds.), Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 15–66, ISBN 0-85883-562-2, OCLC 67292782

External links

• Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Proto–West Keram River