Yam languages

The Yam languages, also known as the Morehead River languages, are a family of Papuan languages. They include many of the languages south and west of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian Western New Guinea (South Papua).

Yam
Morehead River
Geographic distribution	Morehead River watershed, New Guinea
Linguistic classification	A primary language family Yam
Subdivisions	Yey Nambu Tonda
Language codes
Glottolog	more1255
Map: The Yam languages of New Guinea   Yam languages   Trans–New Guinea languages   Other Papuan languages   Austronesian languages   Australian languages   Uninhabited

Name

The name Morehead and Upper Maro River, or Morehead–Maro, refers to the area around the Morehead and Maro rivers. Most of the languages are found between these rivers, but the Nambu subgroup are spoken east of the Morehead. Evans (2012) refers to the family instead with the more compact name Yam. This name is motivated by a number of linguistic and cultural items of significance: yam (and cognates) means "custom, tradition"; yəm (and cognates) means "is"; and yam tubers are the local staple and of central cultural importance.

External relationships

Ross (2005) tentatively includes the Yam languages in the proposed Trans-Fly – Bulaka River family. More recently (Evans 2012) has argued that this is not justified and more data has to be gathered. Evans (2018) classifies the Pahoturi River languages as an independent language family.^[1]

Yam languages have also been in intensive contact with Marind and Suki speakers, who had historically expanded into Yam-speaking territories via headhunting raids and other expansionary migrations.^[1]

Classification

Internal classification of the Yam languages:^[2]

• Yei
• Tonda languages (a dialect chain)
• Nambu languages (a dialect chain)

Wichmann (2013) did not find a connection between the branches in his automated comparison.^[3]

Languages

Yam languages are spoken by up to 3,000 people on both sides of the border in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In Papua New Guinea, Yam languages are spoken in Morehead Rural LLG, Western Province. In Papua, Indonesia, Yam languages are spoken in Merauke Regency.^[1]

Yam languages and respective demographic information listed by Evans (2018) are provided below.^[1] Geographical coordinates are also provided for some villages.^[4]

List of Yam languages

Language	Alternative names	Subgroup	Speakers	Villages or hamlets
Anta	Tokwe, Upper Morehead, Thamnga	Tonda	150	Ufarua (8.635484°S 141.633236°E / -8.635484; 141.633236 (Uparua)), Forzitho, Thamgakar (8.626232°S 141.611057°E / -8.626232; 141.611057 (Damgar)) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Komnzo	Kamundjo, Upper Morehead, (Mema, Ranzér), Zókwasi, Farem	Tonda	200	Rouku (8.701793°S 141.598485°E / -8.701793; 141.598485 (Rouku)), Gunana, Morehead (8.708915°S 141.634593°E / -8.708915; 141.634593 (Morehead Station)), Firra, Masu, Kanathér in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Wára	Tjokwe, Upper Morehead, Wära, Mät	Tonda	350	Yokwa (8.700472°S 141.523053°E / -8.700472; 141.523053 (Iokwa)), (Mäwsa, Kwaikér, Zäzér Ménz) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Wérè	Tokwe, Upper Morehead, Wórä	Tonda	100	Tokwa (8.643291°S 141.436129°E / -8.643291; 141.436129 (Tokwa)), Kanfok in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Kémä	Upper Morehead	Tonda	130	Wämnefér (8.74137°S 141.415826°E / -8.74137; 141.415826 (Wemnevere)) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Kánchá	Kunja, Lower Morehead, Peremka, Kénzä	Tonda	350*	Bondobol (8.929521°S 141.338469°E / -8.929521; 141.338469 (Bondobol)), Bula (9.128337°S 141.340513°E / -9.128337; 141.340513 (Bula)), Jarai (9.196839°S 141.584426°E / -9.196839; 141.584426 (Jarai)) in southeast Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Ránmo	Tonda, Renmo, Blafe	Tonda	200*	Yéndorodoro (8.59196°S 141.29677°E / -8.59196; 141.29677 (Indorodoro)), Mengete (8.657045°S 141.284029°E / -8.657045; 141.284029 (Mengete)) in west Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Mblafe	Blafe, Blafe Wonana, Tonda	Tonda	350*	Weam (8.618919°S 141.134728°E / -8.618919; 141.134728 (Weam Village)), Kandarisa (8.621418°S 141.2194°E / -8.621418; 141.2194 (Kandarisa)), Wereaver (8.596603°S 141.123567°E / -8.596603; 141.123567 (Wereavere)) (only recently in Wereaver) in west Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Warta Thuntai	Guntai, Kan	Tonda	430	Wando (8.885893°S 141.258528°E / -8.885893; 141.258528 (Wando)), Bensbach (8.8493°S 141.249855°E / -8.8493; 141.249855 (Bensbach Lodge)), Balamuk, Korombo 1, Korombo 2 (8.754213°S 141.265672°E / -8.754213; 141.265672 (Korombo)) in mid southwest Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Arammba	None	Tonda	750	Fwasam, Gowi, Kiriwa (8.437511°S 141.515843°E / -8.437511; 141.515843 (Kiriwo)), Meru (8.471963°S 141.466349°E / -8.471963; 141.466349 (Merru)), Sedefi (8.514592°S 141.610694°E / -8.514592; 141.610694 (Setavi)), Serki (8.250688°S 141.766022°E / -8.250688; 141.766022 (Serki)) in north central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Nggarna	Ngar, Kanum, Sota	Tonda	unknown	Vicinity of Sota in west Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Rema		Tonda	10? (moribund or extinct)	Wereaver (8.596603°S 141.123567°E / -8.596603; 141.123567 (Wereavere)) in west Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Smerki	Smärki, Kanum, Barkari	Tonda	150	Rawu Biru, Tomer, Tomerau, Yakiw in southeast Merauke Regency, Indonesia
Tamer	Smerki, Smärki, Kanum	Tonda	120	Yanggandur (recently moved there) in southeast Merauke Regency, Indonesia
Ngkontar	Ngkontar, Ngkolmpu	Tonda	100	Yanggandur in southeast Merauke Regency, Indonesia and into PNG
Ngkolmpu	Kiki, Ngkntra Kiki, Kanum, Enkelembu, Kenume, Knwne	Tonda		east Merauke Regency, Indonesia and into PNG
Bedi Ngkolmpu	Kanum, Enkelembu, Kenume, Knwne	Tonda	5 (moribund or extinct)	Onggaya in south central Merauke Regency, Indonesia
Yei		Yei	1278	Po, Torai, Bupul, Tanas, Kwel in east Merauke Regency, Indonesia
Nen		Nambu	350	Bimadeben (8.701793°S 141.598485°E / -8.701793; 141.598485 (Bimadeben Vill/ Comm. Sch)) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Nama		Nambu	1200	Daraia (8.61637°S 141.733576°E / -8.61637; 141.733576 (Darava)), Mata (8.674546°S 141.743133°E / -8.674546; 141.743133 (Mata)), Ngaraita (8.599511°S 141.714869°E / -8.599511; 141.714869 (Garaita)) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Namat	Mibini	Nambu	170*	Mibini (8.838849°S 141.637931°E / -8.838849; 141.637931 (Mibini)) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Nambo	Nmbo, Keraki; Namna, Yarne	Nambu	710	Nambo variety: Gubam (8.619428°S 141.922509°E / -8.619428; 141.922509 (Gubam)), Bebdeben (8.667668°S 141.925772°E / -8.667668; 141.925772 (Bebdeben)), Arufi (8.760576°S 141.913707°E / -8.760576; 141.913707 (Arufi)) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG; Namna variety: Pongarki (8.664295°S 141.827064°E / -8.664295; 141.827064 (Pongariki)), Derideri (8.686837°S 141.85624°E / -8.686837; 141.85624 (Derideri)) in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Neme		Nambu	200	Keru (8.483752°S 141.788348°E / -8.483752; 141.788348 (Keru)), Mitere in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Dre	Ndre	Nambu	1	Ramar in central Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Namo	Nä	Nambu	374*	Tais (9.167526°S 141.905733°E / -9.167526; 141.905733 (Tais)), Mari (9.193532°S 141.70247°E / -9.193532; 141.70247 (Mari)) in south Morehead Rural LLG, PNG
Len	Lä	Nambu	8–10	Now living in Tais (9.167526°S 141.905733°E / -9.167526; 141.905733 (Tais)), original village was Yaoga in south Morehead Rural LLG, PNG

See also: Districts of Papua (Indonesian Wikipedia)

Pronouns

The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for the family are,

Proto-Yam (Proto–Morehead – Upper Maro)

I/we	*ni
you	*bu
s/he/they	*be

Typology

Many Yam languages display vowel harmony, including in Nambu and Tonda languages.^[1]

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970)^[5] and Voorhoeve (1975),^[6] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.^[7]

The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. tor, ter for “tooth”) or not (e.g. sento, yarmaker for “bird”).

gloss	Kanum	Yei
head	mel	kilpel
hair	mel-kata	peab
eye	si	cur
tooth	tor	ter
leg	tegu	cere
louse	neːmpin	nim
dog	krar	jeu
pig	kwer	becek
bird	sento	yarmaker
egg	bel	mekur
blood	mbel	gul
bone	mbaːr	gor
skin	keikei	paːr
tree	per	per
man	ire	el-lu
sun	koŋko	mir
water	ataka	kao
fire	mens	benj
stone	melle	mejer
name	iu	ore
eat	anaŋ	cenye
one	namper	nampei
two	yempoka	yetapae

Further reading

• Carroll, Matthew J., Nicholas Evans, I Wayan Arka, Christian Döhler, Eri Kashima, Volker Gast, Tina Gregor, Julia Miller, Emil Mittag, Bruno Olsson, Dineke Schokkin, Jeff Siegel, Charlotte van Tongeren & Kyla Quinn. 2016. Yamfinder: Southern New Guinea Lexical Database.
• Döhler, Christian (2018) A grammar of Komnzo. (Studies in Diversity Linguistics 22). Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1477799. ISBN 978-3-96110-125-2. Accessed on 2019-11-12.
• Evans, Nicholas, I Wayan Arka, Matthew Carroll, Christian Döhler, Eri Kashima, Emil Mittag, Kyla Quinn, Jeff Siegel, Philip Tama & Charlotte van Tongeren. 2017. The languages of Southern New Guinea. In Bill Palmer (ed.), The languages and linguistics of the New Guinea area, 641–774. Berlin; Boston: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-029525-2. Accessed on 2019-11-12.
• Kaiping, Gereon A. & Edwards, Owen & Klamer, Marian (eds.). 2019. LexiRumah 2.2.3. Leiden: Leiden University Centre for Linguistics. Available online at https://lexirumah.model-ling.eu/lexirumah/. Accessed on 2019-09-14.
• Greenhill et al., 2008. In: Kaiping, Gereon A. & Edwards, Owen & Klamer, Marian (eds.). 2019. LexiRumah 2.2.3. Leiden: Leiden University Centre for Linguistics. Available online at https://lexirumah.model-ling.eu/lexirumah/. Accessed on 2019-09-14.