Papuan Languages of New Guinea

Papuan men

Papuan sculpture

Introduction
The term Papuan refers to those languages of the western Pacific that do not belong to either the Austronesian or the Australian group. Most of the Papuan languages are spoken on the island of New Guinea which is divided between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG). A few are spoken in the Solomon Islands and in the various islands of Indonesia. One Papuan language is spoken in the eastern Torres Straits.

Papuan languages exhibit great diversity. Scholars have yet to demonstrate that they descended from the same ancestral language. Although less is known about Papuan languages than about those belonging to the Austronesian and Australian families, linguists have identified a number of distinct genetic groups, referred to as phyla. One commonly-used classification system for Papuan language is used by Ethnologue. The list includes 13 phyla and 6 languages isolates that have no linguistic affiliation. The largest is the Trans-New Guinea phylum, consisting of 552 languages running mainly along the highlands of New Guinea. Other classification systems posit as many as 60 distinct language families. The dispute will, no doubt, continue, as scholars learn more about individual Papuan languages.

Papuan children

Papuan man

Status
The western half of the island of New Guinea is a province of Indonesia and the eastern part constitutes Papua New Guinea. The island has 820 languages. Most have fewer than 5,000 speakers, and many have under 500 speakers. Although some languages exhibit features that resemble those of Austronesian languages, most are classified as Non-Austronesian, or Papuan languages.

The official languages of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, and English.

Tok Pisin is an English-based creole spoken as a first language by 121,000 and as a second language by 4 million speakers. It is the lingua-franca for speakers of different languages, and is the most frequently used language in government and business.
Hiri Motu (also called Police Motu) is a Motu-based pidgin, mostly used as a second language. It is a pidginization of True Motu, a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by about 14,000 people around Port Moresby, the capital of PNG. Hiri Motu is influenced by English, Tok Pisin, and various Polynesian languages. Differences in phonology and grammar make Motu and Hiri Motu mutually unintelligible, even though their vocabularies are very similar. Hiri Motu has both Austronesian and Papuan dialects, with the latter is considered to be the standard.

Of the 820 languages spoken in PNG, the following have the largest numbers of speakers.

20,000- 29,000	30,000- 39,000	40,000- 45,000	50,000- 51,000	61,000- 70,000	130,000	165,000
Adzera Yagaria Alekano Gadsup Gimi Halia Angal Enen Agarabi Ipili Kilivila Menya Takia Tawala Terei Toaripi Siane	Dano Boikin Orokaiva Wahgi	Benabena Kewa East Kewa West Ambulas Angal Heneng Hamtai Imbongu	Sinasina Golin	Kuanua Kamano Huli Kuman	Melpa	Enga

Music from Papua New Guinea
In Papua New Guinea, traditional musical instruments exhibit considerable diversity, not only in form but also in the uses to which they are put, in their social and ceremonial importance, and in the meanings that may be attributed to their sounds. The symbolic nature of the instruments is underscored by names that equate them with birds and by extension, with spirits.

Click here to learn more.

Click here to listen to music samples from Papua New Guinea.

Resources
The World-Wide Web Virtual Library - Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea FAQs
Bibliography of Descriptions of Papuan Languages

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