Ok languages

Ok
Geographic distribution:	New Guinea
Linguistic classification:	Trans–New Guinea Central & South New Guinea ? Ok–Oksapmin Ok
Subdivisions:	Tangko Western Ngalum Lowland Mountain

The Ok languages are a family of a score of clearly related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in a contiguous area of eastern Irian Jaya and western Papua New Guinea. They are:

• the Tangko language
• Western branch: Burumakok, Kwer, Kopkaka
• Ngalum branch: Ngalum, Komyandaret–Tsaukambo
• Lowland branch: Iwur, North Muyu (Northern Kati), South Muyu (Southern Kati), Ninggerum, Yonggom
• Mountain branch: Bimin, Faiwol, Mian, Nakai, Setaman, Suganga, Tifal, Telefol, Urapmin

Loughnane and Fedden (2011)^[1] demonstrate that Oksapmin is related.

Alan Healey identified Ok in 1962. He later noted connections with the Asmat languages and Awyu–Dumut families (Healey 1970). Voorhoeve developed this into a Central and South New Guinea (CSNG) proposal. As part of CSNG, the Ok languages form part of the original proposal for Trans–New Guinea, a position tentatively maintained by Malcolm Ross, though reduced nearly to Healey's original conception. Ross states that he cannot tell if the similarities in CSNG are shared innovations or retentions from proto-TNG. Voorhoeve argues specifically for an Awyu–Ok relationship, and Foley believes that these two families may be closest to Asmat among the TNG languages.

The Ok languages have dyadic kinship terms.^[2] The most numerous language is Ngalum, with some 20,000 speakers; the best known is probably Telefol.

References

1. ^ Loughnane, Robyn and Fedden, Sebastian (2011) 'Is Oksapmin Ok?-A Study of the Genetic Relationship between Oksapmin and the Ok Languages', Australian Journal of Linguistics, 31: 1, 1-42.
2. ^ The Oksapmin Kinship System, retrieved May 21, 2009.

• 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. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.