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Language Family

Kaure-Kosare

New Guinea and Pacific Language Families

The Kaure-Kosare, or Nawa River, languages are a small family spoken along the Nawa River in West Papua, near the northern border with Papua New Guinea. The family comprises two languages, Kaure and Kosare.

Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language Status
Foley (2018) considers a connection between Kaure-Kosare and Trans-New Guinea to be promising but tentatively leaves the family independent pending further evidence. 1
Foley (2018) names Trans-New Guinea membership as a promising but unconfirmed hypothesis; Glottolog treats Kaure-Kosare as an independent family pending further evidence.
Partially Attested
Speaker Count
700 2
Combined estimate across the family's two languages: Kaure approximately 450 speakers (1995, cited here); Kosare approximately 250 speakers (1993, Wikipedia Kosare language, not separately cited in this pass).
Region
Nawa River, New Guinea, near the Papua New Guinea border 1
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Kaure-Kosare languages
Wikipedia
  • Infobox, region field
    Nawa River, New Guinea
  • Classification section
    Foley (2018) considers a connection with Trans-New Guinea to be promising, but tentatively leaves Kaure-Kosare out as an independent language family pending further evidence.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Kaure language
WikipediaInfobox, Native speakers field
Quote, Infobox, Native speakers field
(450 cited 1995)
View the Source
Wikidata: Kaure-Kosare
Wikidata Q48767891, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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