West Papuan languages

Language family of Indonesia

Not to be confused with West Trans–New Guinea languages.

West Papuan

(proposed)
Geographic
distribution| Halmahera (North Maluku) and Bird's Head Peninsula (West Papua and Southwest Papua)
Linguistic classification| One of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions|

* Amberbaken (Mpur)
* North Halmahera
* Yawa
* ? East Bird's Head
* West-Central Bird's Head

Language codes
Glottolog| None

Distribution of the West Papuan languages

The West Papuan languages are a proposed language family of about two dozen non-Austronesian languages of the Bird's Head Peninsula (Vogelkop or Doberai Peninsula) of far western New Guinea, the island of Halmahera and its vicinity, spoken by about 220,000 people in all. It is not established if they constitute a proper linguistic family or an areal network of genetically unrelated families.

The best known "West Papuan" language is Ternate (50,000 native speakers) of the island of the same name, which is a regional lingua franca. Along with neighboring Tidore, they were the languages of the rival medieval Ternate and Tidore sultanates, famous for their role in the spice trade.

## Origins and contact

[edit]

The North Halmahera (NH) languages, spoken in the Maluku Islands, share some structural similarities with certain Papuan families in Melanesia, which was noted as far back as 1900.[1]: 193  In addition, there is a number of lexical and morphemic correspondences between NH and West Bird’s Head (WBH).[2]: 78  These are not easily explainable as chance resemblance. The question then is whether they are due to language contact (i.e., borrowing) or to common descent (i.e., genealogical inheritance). On the other hand, there is little evidence linking the individual families of the Vogelkop Peninsula to each other, with the relationship perhaps better considered areal (i.e., a Sprachbund).[3]: 626  In spite of the shared morpho-syntactic features, many of these languages exhibit little in the way of lexical resemblance.[4]

It is not clear if East Bird’s Head (Mantion–Meyah and Hatam–Mansim), Maybrat, Mpur, and Abun are related to any of the remaining groups.[3] However, a connection between WBH/NH and the Yawa languages appears to be relatively likely.[3]: 626  The South Bird’s Head and Timor–Alor–Pantar families, while included in older formulations of the proposal, are no longer thought of as part of West Papuan.[5]

All of these languages show traces of old Austronesian influence.[4] Much of the basic vocabulary in NH (~30%) can be linked with various Austronesian sources, suggesting a long period of contact.[1]: 194–195  The languages of the Bird’s Head have undergone extensive contact with the Cenderawasih Bay languages, such as Biak.[3]: 625

The term "West Papuan" has also been used in an areal sense, encompassing most of the non-Austronesian languages of Halmahera and Bird's Head.[5]

## Languages

[edit]

* West Papuan
* North Halmahera (Halmahera – West Makian)
* Core North Halmahera
* West Makian
* Amberbaken (Mpur)
* Yawa (Yapen)
* West–Central Bird's Head
* West Bird's Head
* Abun
* Maybrat (Central Bird's Head)
* East Bird's Head
* Burmeso
* Hatam–Mansim (Hatam – Moi Brai)
* Mantion–Meax (Southeast Bird's Head)

## History

[edit]

The German linguist Wilhelm Schmidt first linked the West Bird's Head and North Halmahera languages in 1900. In 1957 H.K.J. Cowan linked them to the non-Austronesian languages of Timor as well. Stephen Wurm believed that although traces of West Papuan languages were to be found in the languages of Timor, as well as those of Aru and Great Andaman, this was due to a substratum and that these languages should be classified as Trans–New Guinea, Austronesian, and Andamanese, respectively. Indeed, most of the languages of East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku appear to have some non-Austronesian influence.[6]

In 2005, Malcolm Ross made a tentative proposal, based on the forms of their pronouns, that the West Papuan languages form one of three branches of an extended West Papuan family that also includes the Yawa languages, and a newly proposed East Bird's Head – Sentani family as a third branch.

Søren Wichmann (2013)[7] considers West Bird's Head, Abun, and Maybrat to form a unified family, but does not accept West Papuan as a coherent language family.

Timothy Usher, also somewhat tentatively, accepts Yawa and East Bird's Head, but not Sentani, as part of West Papuan itself, so the family can remain under that name.[8]

Holton and Klamer (2018) do not unequivocally accept the unity of West Papuan, but note that certain proposals linking "West Papuan" groups together may eventually turn out to be fruitful.[3] Ger Reesink suggests that the West Papuan family should be considered an areal network of unrelated linguistic families, noting the lack of adequate evidence for genetic relatedness.[5]

## Pronouns

[edit]

The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-West Papuan are,

I | *da, *di- | exclusive we | *mam, *mi-

|
|
|

inclusive we | *po-
thou | *ni, *na, *a- | you | *nan, *ni-
she | *mV | they | *yo, *ana, *yo-

These are shared by the "core" West Papuan families. Hattam reflects only "I" and "thou", and Amberbaken only "thou", "you", and "she".

Ross's Extended West Papuan languages have forms in *d for "I" and *m for "we". (Most Yawa forms of "we" have m, such as imama, but they are too diverse for an easy reconstruction.) These are found in all branches of the family except for the Amberbaken isolate.

Ross's West Papuan proper is distinguished from Yawa and EBH-Sentani in having forms like na or ni for the second-person singular ("thou") pronoun.

family | I | thou | we

|
|
|

West Papuan | *da, *di- | *na, *ni, *a- | *mam, *mi
EBH-Sentani | *da, *di | *ba~wa, *bi | *meme, *me
Yava | *rei | *wein | (imama etc.)

## Word order

[edit]

Word order is SVO in the West Bird's Head family and in western North Halmahera languages (Ternate, Tidore, West Makian, and Sahu; due to Austronesian influence). SVO word order is also present in the isolates Abun, Mpur, and Maibrat.[3]

The South Bird's Head family generally has SOV word order, although SVO word order is also permitted in transitive clauses. The Timor-Alor-Pantar languages also have verb-final word order.[3]

## Phonology

[edit]

All Papuan languages of East Nusantara have five or more vowels.[3]

Abun and Mpur are fully tonal languages, with Mpur having 4 lexical tones, and Abun having 3 lexical tones. Meyah and Sougb are pitch-accent languages. All other languages of the Bird's Head Peninsula are non-tonal.[9]: 134–135

Of all the Papuan languages spoken in the Bird's Head Peninsula, Abun has the largest consonant inventory with 20 consonants, while neighboring Maybrat has the smallest with 11 consonants. Large consonant inventories similar to that of Abun are also found in the North Halmahera languages, such as Tobelo, Tidore, and Sahu.[3]: 583

## Lexical comparison

[edit]

The following is a basic vocabulary table of two West Bird's Head languages (WBH) (Moi and Tehit) and three language isolates (Mpur, Abun, Maibrat), quoted by Holton & Klamer (2018)[3] from Miedema & Reesink (2004: 34) and (Reesink 2005: 202); these show diverse non-cognate forms among Papuan languages of the Bird's Head Peninsula:[10][11]

West Bird's Head family and Bird's Head isolates:
basic vocabulary  gloss | Moi (WBH) | Tehit (WBH) | Mpur | Abun | Maibrat

|
|
|
|
|

arm/hand | nin | naa | wom | cim | atem
leg/foot | eelik | deit | pet | wis | ao
house | keik | mbol | jan | nu | amah
good | bok | hnjo | mafun | ndo | mof
dog | oofun | mqaan | per | ndar | mtah
pig | baik | qorik | dwaw | nok | fane
chicken | kelem tole | kokok | kokor | dam kukur | kok
louse | -jam | hain | im | im | sruom
water/river | kla | kla | war |  | aja
banana | o | ogo | fa | weu | apit

Below are lexical lookalikes between North Halmahera languages (NH) (Galela and Pagu) and West Bird's Head languages (WBH) (Moi and Tehit) from Voorhoeve (1988: 194), as quoted by Holton & Klamer (2018):[1][3]

Lexical comparisons between North Halmahera and
West Bird's Head families  gloss | Galela (NH) | Pagu (NH) | Moi (WBH) | Tehit (WBH)

|
|
|
|

‘head’ | sahe | saek | sawa | safakos
‘fruit’, ‘eye’ | sopo | sowok | suwo | sfuon
‘egg’ | gosi | – | – | esyen
‘man’ | ya-nau | naul | ne | nau
‘meat’ | lake | lakem | kem | qan
‘tree’ | gota | – | – | kot
‘water’ | ake | akel | kala | kla
‘drink’ | oke | okel | ook | ooqo
‘stab’ | saka | sakal | saa | sqaa

## See also

[edit]

* Papuan languages
* West Trans–New Guinea languages
* Districts of West Papua for a list of districts and villages with respective languages
* List of ethnic groups of West Papua

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Voorhoeve, Clemens L. 1988. The languages of the northern Halmaheran stock. In: Geoffrey P. Smith, Tom Dutton, Clemens L. Voorhoeve, Stephen Schooling, Janice Schooling, Robert Conrad, Ron Lewis, Stephen A. Wurm and Theo Baumann (eds.), Papers in New Guinea Linguistics 26: 181–209.
2. ^ Voorhoeve, Clemens L. (1984–1994), "Comparative Linguistics and the West Papuan Phylum", in Masinambow, E.K.M. (ed.), Maluku dan Irian Jaya, Buletin LEKNAS 3.1, Jakarta: LEKNAS-LIPI, pp. 65–90
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Holton, Gary; Klamer, Marian (2018). "The Papuan languages of East Nusantara and the Bird's Head". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4\. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 569–640\. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
4. ^ a b Reesink, Ger P. (1998). "The Bird's Head as Sprachbund". In Miedema, Jelle; Odé, Cecilia; Dam, Rien A.C. (eds.). Perspectives on the Bird's Head of Irian Jaya, Indonesia; Proceedings of the Conference, Leiden, 13–17 October 1997. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi. pp. 603–642\. ISBN 9789042006447.
5. ^ a b c Reesink, G. (2009), "West Papuan languages", in Brown, E.K.; Ogilvie, Sarah (eds.), Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World, Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 1176–1178, ISBN 978-0-08-087774-7, retrieved 2023-07-05
6. ^ Arthur Capell, 'The "West Papuan Phylum", Stephen Wurm 1977 [1975], New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study, volume 1.
7. ^ Wichmann, Søren. 2013. A classification of Papuan languages Archived 2020-11-25 at the Wayback Machine. In: Hammarström, Harald and Wilco van den Heuvel (eds.), History, contact and classification of Papuan languages (Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, Special Issue 2012), 313-386. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.
8. ^ NewGuineaWorld - West Papuan
9. ^ Klamer, Marian; Ger Reesink; and Miriam van Staden. 2008. East Nusantara as a Linguistic Area. In Pieter Muysken (ed.), From linguistic areas to areal linguistics, 95-149. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
10. ^ Miedema, Jelle and Ger P. Reesink. 2004. One Head, Many Faces: New perspectives on the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea. Leiden: KITLV.
11. ^ Reesink, Ger P. 2005. West Papuan languages: roots and development. In: Pawley et al. (eds.) 185–218.

* Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66\. doi:10.15144/PL-572. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
* Voorhoeve, C. L. (1988). "The languages of the northern Halmaheran stock". Papers in New Guinea Linguistics. 26: 181–209\. ISSN 0078-9135. OCLC 2729642.

## External links

[edit]

* West Papuan sound comparisons
* Papuans on the move: The linguistic prehistory of the West Papuan languages (OUTOFPAPUA project)

* v
* t
* e

West Papuan languages

West Papuan|

| West Bird's Head|

* Kalabra
* Kuwani
* Moi
* Moraid
* Seget
* Tehit

|

Central Bird's Head|

Maybrat

North Halmahera|

| Sahu|

* Gamkonora
* Sahu
* Waioli

|

Galela–Tobelo|

* Galela
* Loloda
* Modole
* Pagu
* Tabaru
* Tobelo

Ternate-Tidore|

* Ternate
* Tidore

Others|

* West Makian

Others|

* Abun
* Hatam
* Mpur

Extended
West Papuan|

| East Bird's Head
–Sentani|

| East Bird's Head|

* Meax
* Moskona
* Saponi
* Sougb

|

Demta–Sentani|

* Demta
* Sentani
* Nafri
* Tabla

Others|

* Burmeso
* Tause

Yawa|

* Saweru
* Yawa

* v
* t
* e

Papuan language families
(Palmer 2018 classification)

Trans-New Guinea
subgroups|

| Central Papua, Indonesia|

* Ok-Oksapmin
* Dani
* Asmat-Kamoro
* Mek
* Paniai Lakes
* West Bomberai
* Somahai

|

Southeast Papua, Indonesia|

* Anim
* Greater Awyu
* Kayagaric
* Kolopom
* Marori

Southwest Papua New Guinea|

* Gogodala-Suki
* Turama-Kikori
* Kiwaian
* Awin-Pa

Central Papua New Guinea|

* Madang
* Finisterre-Huon
* Kainantu-Goroka
* Chimbu-Wahgi
* Enga-Kewa-Huli
* Bosavi
* East Strickland
* Kutubu
* Duna-Bogaya
* Wiru

Papuan Peninsula|

* Angan
* Greater Binanderean
* Dagan
* Mailuan
* Koiarian
* Goilalan
* Yareban
* Kwalean
* Manubaran

Eastern Nusantara
families and isolates|

* Timor-Alor-Pantar
* North Halmahera

* Tambora†

Bird's Head Peninsula
families and isolates|

* South Bird's Head
* Nuclear South Bird's Head
* Inanwatan–Duriankere
* Konda–Yahadian
* East Bird's Head
* Nuclear East Bird's Head
* Hatam–Mansim
* West Bird's Head

* Abun
* Mpur
* Maybrat
* Mor
* Tanah Merah

Northern Western New Guinea
families and isolates|

* Tor-Kwerba
* Lakes Plain
* Border
* Sko
* East Cenderawasih Bay
* Pauwasi
* East
* West
* Nimboran
* Sentani
* Mairasi
* Kaure
* Lepki-Murkim
* Senagi (Angor-Dera)
* Tofanma-Namla
* Yapen

* Abinomn
* Burmeso
* Elseng
* Kapauri
* Kembra
* Keuw
* Kimki
* Massep
* Mawes
* Molof
* Usku
* Yetfa

Central Western New Guinea
families and isolates|

* Bayono-Awbono

* Dem
* Uhunduni

Sepik-Ramu basin
families and isolates|

* Torricelli
* Sepik
* Lower Sepik-Ramu
* Lower Sepik
* Ramu
* Kwomtari
* Leonhard Schultze (Walio-Papi)
* Upper Yuat (Arafundi-Piawi)
* Yuat
* Left May
* Amto-Musan

* Busa
* Tayap
* Yadë

| Torricelli subgroups|

* Marienberg
* Arapesh
* Urim
* Maimai
* Wapei
* Palei
* One (West Wapei)
* Monumbo?

|

Sepik subgroups|

* Middle Sepik
* Ndu
* Nukuma
* Yellow River
* Yerakai
* Upper Sepik
* Wogamus
* Iwam
* Abau
* Sepik Hill
* Tama
* Ram
* Amal

Ramu subgroups|

* Lower Ramu
* Ottilien
* Misegian
* Middle Ramu
* Grass?
* Tamolan
* Ataitan (Tanggu)

Gulf of Papua and southern New Guinea
families and isolates|

* Yam
* Pahoturi River
* Eleman
* Oriomo
* Teberan
* Doso-Turumsa
* Komolom
* Yelmek-Maklew

* Dibiyaso
* Kaki Ae
* Kamula
* Karami
* Pawaia
* Porome
* Purari
* Tabo

Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands
families and isolates|

* Baining
* North Bougainville
* South Bougainville
* Central Solomons
* Butam-Taulil

* Anêm
* Ata
* Kol
* Kuot
* Makolkol
* Sulka

Rossel Island
isolate|

* Yélî Dnye

Proposed groupings|

* West Papuan
* Northwest Papuan
* South Pauwasi
* East Papuan
* Southeast Papuan
* Papuan Gulf
* Binanderean–Goilalan
* Arai–Samaia
* Asmat–Mombum
* Trans-Fly–Bulaka River
* Trans-Fly
* Dani–Kwerba
* East Bird's Head – Sentani
* Kwomtari–Fas
* Left May – Kwomtari
* Tor–Kwerba–Nimboran
* West Trans–New Guinea
* West Papuan Highlands
* Central and South New Guinea
* Central West New Guinea
* East New Guinea Highlands
* Yele – West New Britain
* Sepik–Ramu
* Indo-Pacific

Proto-language|

* Proto-Trans–New Guinea

* v
* t
* e

Primary language families

Africa|

* Afroasiatic
* Austronesian
* Khoe–Kwadi
* Kx'a
* Niger–Congo
* Nilo-Saharan(?)
* Tuu
* Dogon?
* Ijoid?
* Kadu?
* Katla?
* Kru?
* Lafofa?
* Mande?
* Rashad?
* Songhay?
* Talodi–Heiban?
* Ubangian?

Isolates|

* Bangime
* Gule
* Hadza
* Jalaa
* Sandawe
* Laal?
* Mimi of Decorse?
* Ongota?
* Shabo?

Eurasia
(Europe
and Asia)|

* Afroasiatic
* Ainu
* Austroasiatic
* Austronesian
* Chukotko-Kamchatkan
* Dravidian
* Eskaleut
* Great Andamanese
* Hmong–Mien
* Hurro-Urartian
* Indo-European
* Japonic
* Kartvelian
* Koreanic
* Kra–Dai
* Mongolic
* Nivkh
* Northeast Caucasian
* Northwest Caucasian
* Ongan
* Sino-Tibetan
* Tungusic
* Turkic
* Tyrsenian
* Uralic
* Yeniseian
* Yukaghir
* Arunachal?
* Digaro?
* Kho-Bwa?
* Mijiic?
* Miju?
* Siangic?

Isolates|

* Basque
* Burushaski
* Elamite
* Hattic
* Kusunda
* Nihali
* Rutulian
* Sumerian
* Vedda
* Bugun?
* Eteocretan?
* Eteocypriot?
* Hruso?
* Kenaboi?
* Minoan?
* Puroik?
* Shompen?
* Tambora?

New Guinea
and the Pacific|

* Arai–Samaia
* Austronesian
* Berau Gulf
* Binanderean–Goilalan
* Border
* Bulaka River
* Central Solomons
* Chimbu–Wahgi
* Demta–Sentani
* Doso–Turumsa
* East Geelvink Bay
* East New Britain
* East Strickland
* Eleman
* Engan
* Fas
* Foja Range
* Gogodala–Suki
* Hatam–Mansim
* Kaure–Kosare
* Kiwaian
* Kutubuan
* Lakes Plain
* Lower Mamberamo
* Lower Sepik
* Madang
* Mairasi
* Mantion–Meax
* North Bougainville
* North Halmahera
* Pauwasi
* Ramu
* Senagi
* Senu River
* Sepik
* Skou
* South Bougainville
* Teberan–Pawaian
* Torricelli
* Trans-Fly
* Trans–New Guinea
* Turama–Kikorian
* Upper Yuat
* West Bird's Head
* Yam
* Yawan
* Yuat
* Northwest Papuan?
* Papuan Gulf?
* West Papuan?

Isolates|

* Abinomn
* Abun
* Burmeso
* Kol
* Kuot
* Maybrat
* Mpur
* Porome
* Anêm?
* Ata?
* Sulka?
* Taiap?
* Tambora?
* Yele?

Australia|

* Bunuban
* Eastern Daly
* Eastern Tasmanian
* Garawan
* Gunwinyguan
* Iwaidjan
* Jarrakan
* Maningrida
* Mirndi
* Northeastern Tasmanian
* Northern Tasmanian
* Nyulnyulan
* Pama–Nyungan
* Southern Daly
* Tangkic
* Wagaydyic (Northern Daly?)
* Western Daly
* Western Tasmanian
* Worrorran
* Arnhem/Macro-Gunwinyguan?
* Darwin Region?
* Marrku–Wurrugu?
* Yangmanic (incl. Wagiman)?

Isolates|

* Giimbiyu
* Malak-Malak (Northern Daly?)
* Tiwi
* Gaagudju?
* Kungarakany?

North
America|

* Algic
* Caddoan
* Chimakuan
* Chinookan
* Chumashan
* Comecrudan
* Coosan
* Eskaleut
* Iroquoian
* Kalapuyan
* Maiduan
* Muskogean
* Na-Dene
* Palaihnihan
* Plateau Penutian
* Pomoan
* Salishan
* Shastan
* Siouan
* Tanoan
* Tsimshianic
* Utian
* Uto-Aztecan
* Wakashan
* Wintuan
* Yuki–Wappo
* Yuman–Cochimí
* Coast Oregon Penutian?
* Yok-Utian?

Isolates|

* Alsea
* Atakapa
* Cayuse
* Chimariko
* Chitimacha
* Coahuilteco
* Cotoname
* Esselen
* Haida
* Karuk
* Kutenai
* Salinan
* Seri
* Siuslaw
* Takelma
* Timucua
* Tonkawa
* Tunica
* Waikuri
* Washo
* Yana
* Yokuts
* Yuchi
* Zuni
* Keres?
* Natchez?

Mesoamerica|

* Arawakan
* Chibchan
* Jicaquean
* Lencan
* Mayan
* Misumalpan
* Mixe–Zoque
* Oto-Manguean
* Tequistlatecan
* Totonacan
* Uto-Aztecan
* Xincan

Isolates|

* Cuitlatec
* Huave
* Tarascan/Purépecha

South
America|

* Alacalufan
* Andoque–Urequena
* Araucanian
* Arawakan
* Arawan
* Arutani–Sape
* Aymaran
* Barbacoan
* Boran
* Cahuapanan
* Cañari–Puruhá
* Cariban
* Catacaoan
* Chapacuran
* Charruan
* Chibchan
* Choco
* Chonan
* Esmeralda–Yaruro
* Guaicuruan
* Guajiboan
* Harákmbut–Katukinan
* Hibito–Cholón
* Huarpean
* Jirajaran
* Jivaroan
* Katembri–Taruma
* Lule–Vilela
* Macro-Jê
* Mascoian
* Matacoan
* Nadahup
* Nambikwaran
* Otomákoan
* Pano-Tacanan
* Peba–Yaguan
* Piaroa–Saliban
* Puquina
* Quechuan
* Ticuna–Yuri
* Timotean
* Tiniguan
* Tucanoan
* Tupian
* Uru–Chipaya
* Witotoan
* Xukuruan
* Yanomaman
* Zamucoan
* Zaparoan
* Bora-Witoto?
* Bororoan?
* Chimuan?
* Kamakã?
* Kariri?
* Mataco–Guaicuru?
* Mosetén–Chon?
* Purian?
* Saparo–Yawan?
* Sechura–Catacao?
* Tequiraca–Canichana?
* Wamo–Chapakúra?
* Waroid?

Isolates|

* Camsá
* Candoshi-Shapra
* Canichana
* Cayubaba
* Chimane
* Cofán
* Guamo
* Hodï/Joti
* Irantxe
* Itonama
* Kanoê
* Kunza
* Kwaza
* Leco
* Maku (Maku-Auari/Jukude)
* Matanawi
* Mochica
* Movima
* Mura-Pirahã
* Omurano
* Otí
* Páez
* Puinave
* Sechura
* Taushiro
* Tequiraca
* Trumai
* Urarina
* Waorani/Huaorani
* Warao
* Yahgan
* Yuracaré
* Aikanã?
* Betoi?
* Chiquitano?
* Fulniô?
* Guató?
* Munichi?
* Nukak–Kakwa?
* Sanavirón?

Sign
languages|

* Arab
* Australian Aboriginal
* BANZSL
* Chinese
* Francosign
* Germanosign
* Hand Talk
* Indo-Pakistani
* Japanese
* Original Thai
* Swedish
* Paraguay–Uruguay?
* Providencia–Cayman?
* Sudanese?
* Tanzanian?

Isolates|

* See list of sign languages
* Village sign languages

See also|

* Constructed languages
* Creoles
* Language isolates
* Mixed languages
* Pidgins
* Spurious languages
* Unclassified languages
* Whistled languages

* Families with question marks (?) are disputed or controversial.
* Families in italics have no living members.
* Families with more than 30 languages are in bold.

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