Awyu–Ok languages

The Awyu–Ok languages are a group of Trans–New Guinea families in central New Guinea established by Timothy Usher, though with precedents in earlier studies.

Awyu–Ok
Digul River – Ok
Geographic distribution	central New Guinea
Linguistic classification	Trans–New Guinea Central West New Guinea Awyu–Ok
Proto-language	Proto-Awyu–Ok
Subdivisions	Digul River (Greater Awyu) Kamula–Elevala Ok
Glottolog	None

Languages

The three language families in Awyu–Ok are as follows:[1]

• Digul River (Greater Awyu)
• Kamula–Elevala
• Ok

The Oksapmin language is sometimes classified as the nearest relative of Ok. However, it's unclear whether the similarities are due to relationship or to contact between Oksapmin and Mountain Ok (or both).

Reconstruction

Proto-Awyu–Ok
Reconstruction of	Awyu–Ok languages
Reconstructed ancestor	Proto-Trans–New Guinea
Lower-order reconstructions	Proto-Digul River Proto-Kamula–Elevala Proto-Ok

Phonemes

Usher (2020) reconstructs the consonant inventory as follows:[1]

*m	*n
*p	*t	*s	*k	*kʷ
*mb	*nd	*ndz	*ŋg	*ŋgʷ
	*s
*w	*ɾ	*j

Pronouns

Usher (2020) reconstructs the pronouns as:[1]

	sg	pl
1excl	*ne	*nu
1incl		*nup
2m	*ŋgep	*ŋgip
2f	*ŋgup
3m	*eː	*i
3f	*u

The third-person pronouns are an innovation shared with the neighboring branch of Trans–New Guinea, Anim. The Awyu–Ok second-person pronouns show the same vowel ablaut for gender as well.

References

1. New Guinea World