Papuan languages
The term 'Papuan languages' refers to those languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The majority of the Papuan languages are spoken on the island of New Guinea, with a few spoken in the Solomon Islands, and a number in various islands of Indonesia, in particular Halmahera, Timor, Alor and Pantar.Although there has been relatively little work on the Papuan languages (compared to, say, Australian or Austronesian languages) it has been established that there are a number of distinct genetic groups. In the field of Papuan linguistics these genetic groups are referred to as 'phyla'. The largest phylum posited for the Papuan region is the Trans-New Guinea phylum, consisting of a large number of languages running mainly along the highlands of New Guinea, from the Indonesian province of Papua (the western half of the island) through to Papua New Guinea (the eastern half).
There are however a number of genetic groups. Some are listed below
- Trans-New Guinea phylum
- West Papuan phylum
- East Bird's Head phylum
- Sepik-Ramu phylum
- Kwomtari
- Sko
- Torricelli phylum
