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Sepik

New Guinea and Pacific Language Families

The Sepik or Sepik River languages are a family of some 50 Papuan languages spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea, first proposed by Donald Laycock in 1965.

Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language Status
Originally proposed by Donald Laycock in 1965 as part of a broader Sepik-Ramu family; Malcolm Ross argues the most promising external relationship is instead with the Torricelli family, and Palmer (2018) classifies the Leonhard Schultze languages as an independent phylum separate from Sepik proper. 1
Region
Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea. 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Sepik Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Introduction, first sentence
    The Sepik or Sepik River languages are a family of some 50 Papuan languages spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea, proposed by Donald Laycock in 1965 in a somewhat more limited form than presented here.
  • Introduction, first sentence, region clause
    spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea
  • Classification section, first paragraph
    the most promising external relationship is not with Ramu, pace Laycock, but with the Torricelli family
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