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Language Family

Left May

New Guinea and Pacific Language Families

The Left May, or Arai, languages are a small family of about half a dozen closely related but not mutually intelligible languages spoken in the watershed of the Left May River at the extreme western end of East Sepik Province and in neighboring Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea, with roughly 2,000 speakers combined. Its members include Iteri, also called Rocky Peak, Nakwi, Ama, Nimo, Owiniga and possibly Bo, with Ama the best documented. William Foley's 2018 classification treats the family as independent, while Timothy Usher's 2020 classification links it to the Amto-Musan languages within a broader Arai-Samaia grouping.

Facts
Region
East Sepik Province and Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea, in the watershed of the Left May River 1
Speaker Count
2000 1
Proto-Language Status
No proto-language has been reconstructed for the family. Foley (2018) classifies Left May as an independent family, while Usher (2020) links it with the Amto-Musan languages within a broader Arai-Samaia grouping; neither analysis proposes a unified proto-form. 1
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Africa, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Australia, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Left May Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    The Left May or Arai languages are a small language family of half a dozen closely related but not mutually intelligible languages in the centre of New Guinea, in the watershed of the Left May River.
  • Lead section, second paragraph
    The Left May languages are spoken at the extreme western end of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.
  • Lead section, second sentence
    There are only about 2,000 speakers in all.
  • Lead section, third sentence
    Foley (2018) classifies them separately as an independent language family, while Usher (2020) links them with the Amto-Musan languages.
View the Source
Wikidata: Left May
Wikidata Q614468, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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