Yuat languages
Language family spoken in Papua New Guinea
title: "Yuat languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["yuat-languages", "language-families", "papuan-languages", "languages-of-east-sepik-province"] description: "Language family spoken in Papua New Guinea" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuat_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Language family spoken in Papua New Guinea ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language family"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Yuat |
| altname | Middle Yuat River |
| region | Yuat River area, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea |
| familycolor | Papuan |
| family | One of the world's primary language families |
| glotto | yuat1252 |
| glottorefname | Yuat |
| child1 | Changriwa |
| :: |
|name=Yuat |altname=Middle Yuat River |region=Yuat River area, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea |familycolor=Papuan |family=One of the world's primary language families |glotto=yuat1252 |glottorefname=Yuat |child1=Changriwa|child2=Mekmek|child3=Kyenele|child4=Biwat|child5=Bun}}
The Yuat languages are an independent family of five Papuan languages spoken along the Yuat River in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. They are an independent family in the classification of Malcolm Ross, but are included in Stephen Wurm's Sepik–Ramu proposal. However, Foley and Ross could find no lexical or morphological evidence that they are related to the Sepik or Ramu languages.
It is named after the Yuat River of northern Papua New Guinea. Yuat languages are spoken mostly in Yuat Rural LLG of East Sepik Province.
Languages
The Yuat languages proper are:
Classification
Foley (2018) provides the following classification.
;Yuat family
Changriwa and Mekmek are attested only by short words, and are tentatively grouped as separate branches by Foley (2018: 226) due to scanty evidence.
Pronouns
The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for proto-Yuat are:
:{| class=wikitable |- | I || *ŋun || we || *amba |- | thou || *ndi || you || *mba |- | s/he || *wu || they || ? |}
Mundukumo and Miyak pronouns are:
:{| ! person !! Mundukumo !! Miyak |- ! | ŋə || ŋə |- ! | də || də |- ! | u || u |- ! | i || ni |- ! | abə || aba |- ! | ya || be |- ! | wa || vara |}
Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Davies & Comrie (1985), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database.
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. ŋkaᵐbaᵐgat∘, ŋgambaŋ for “leg”) or not (e.g. fufuimaye, ϕə'ziru for “hair”).
:{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Biwat !! Kyenele (Kyaimbarang dialect) !! Kyenele (Miyak dialect) |- ! head | fop; fopeh || ϕɔp∘ || ᵽop |- ! hair | fufuimaivi; fufuimaye || ϕə'ziru || fusibɩľu |- ! ear | tuanhe; tundu || 'twan || tandu |- ! eye | siketeh; sipta || 'ɕikɯ || sɩpʰala |- ! nose | gerekeh; ŋerek || 'ŋəŋərɩ || nʌnɛlɩŋ |- ! tooth | andu; andusivahe || 'ŋandu || ŋandu |- ! tongue | be; behe || 'mbᴶe || mpe |- ! leg | gambang; geambangeh || ŋkaᵐbaᵐgat∘ || ŋgambaŋ |- ! louse | uta; utaeh || uta || wututʰoma |- ! dog | ken; kenhe || kᴶɛn || gɛn |- ! pig | vereh; vre || βɛrɩ || ƀeǏe |- ! bird | kaok; kaokhek || hɔpᴶɛ || wanma |- ! egg | momoateh; mumuat || 'majmuma || wanmuma |- ! blood | amberaeh; ambra || ambara || ambala |- ! bone | amfuva; amfuvaheh || amϕu || amᵽuwa |- ! skin | gamfuin; iaveteh || 'vɨza || nᵽɩsakʰ |- ! breast | meru; meruhe || mi || miřu |- ! tree | mung; mungeh || mu || mï |- ! man | foakpa; fuakpahe || aβɨd || aƀɷt |- ! woman | arepa; arepahe || mᴶe || miandu |- ! sun | va; vaeh || βanma || ƀanma |- ! moon | mumere; mumereh || 'gəŋat∘ || ŋgɨŋat |- ! water | mam; mumeh || 'maŋam || maŋam |- ! fire | mehen; men || mɨn || mɨn |- ! stone | ghateh; yiak || mɨndəm || mɨndɩm |- ! road, path | maikua; miakuahe || maj || mayt |- ! name | vu'geh; vuŋ || wuŋ || |- ! eat | ueh jiveh; u-u give || ɕɛnɕɛn || tšɛntšɛntšuƀa |- ! one | nategeh; natek || ŋajkə || ŋaykʰʌkʰ |- ! two | arauu; aravueh || aɽawi || aǏawin |}
Grammar
Yuat languages distinguish inclusive and exclusive first person pronouns, a feature not found in most other Papuan languages. This tyopological feature has also diffused from Yuat into the Grass languages, which are spoken contiguously to the Yuat languages.
Yuat grammar and phonology are similar to those of the neighboring Ramu languages. Yuat verbal morphology is relatively simple.
Yuat languages are accusative, unlike many other Papuan languages, e.g., Trans New Guinea, East Cenderawasih Bay, Lakes Plain, South Bougainville, which are all ergative.
Word order in Yuat languages, like in the Yawa languages, is rigidly SOV, whereas in many other Papuan families, OSV word order is often permitted (as long as the verb is final).
References
References
- (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". [[SIL International]].
- United Nations in Papua New Guinea. (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange.
- Foley, William A.. (2018). "The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide". De Gruyter Mouton.
- Davies, J. and Comrie, B. "[http://dx.doi.org/10.15144/PL-A63.275 A linguistic survey of the Upper Yuat]". In Adams, K., Lauck, L., Miedema, J., Welling, F., Stokhof, W., Flassy, D., Oguri, H., Collier, K., Gregerson, K., Phinnemore, T., Scorza, D., Davies, J., Comrie, B. and Abbott, S. editors, ''Papers in New Guinea Linguistics'' No. 22. A-63:275-312. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1985. {{doi. 10.15144/PL-A63.275
- Greenhill, Simon. (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea".
- SIL (1975) & SIL (1976)
- Foley, William A.. (2018). "The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide". De Gruyter Mouton.
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