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Upper Yuat

New Guinea and Pacific Language Families

The Upper Yuat languages consist of two small language families, Arafundi and Piawi, spoken in the region of the upper Yuat River of New Guinea, distinct from the Yuat River family further downstream already live on this atlas as its own entity. William Foley first suggested the connection between Arafundi and Piawi, and Timothy Usher confirmed it and further links the pair to the Madang languages. Upper Yuat shows more typological similarity to Trans-New Guinea than its other neighboring families of the Sepik-Ramu basin, and its Piawi branch is morphologically much simpler than its Arafundi branch.

Facts
Region
Spoken in the region of the upper Yuat River of New Guinea, encompassing the Arafundi and Piawi language families. 1
Proto-Language Status
The grouping of Arafundi and Piawi as Upper Yuat was first suggested by William A. Foley and confirmed by Timothy Usher, who further links Upper Yuat to the Madang languages; the wider Trans-New Guinea connection is not yet demonstrated. Reconstructions of Proto-Upper Yuat personal pronouns have been published. 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Upper Yuat Languages (Family Article)
WikipediaLead section, first paragraph
Quote, Lead section, first paragraph
The connection was first suggested by William A. Foley and confirmed by Timothy Usher, who further links them to the Madang languages.
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