Huon Gulf languages

The Huon Gulf languages are Western Oceanic languages spoken primarily in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. They may form a group of the North New Guinea languages, perhaps within the Ngero–Vitiaz branch of that family.

Huon Gulf
Geographic distribution	Papua New Guinea
Linguistic classification	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Western Oceanic North New Guinea Huon Gulf
Subdivisions	Markham North Huon Gulf Numbami South Huon Gulf
Glottolog	huon1245

Unusually for Oceanic languages, two North Huon Gulf languages, Bukawa and Yabem, are tonal. The only other tonal Oceanic languages are found in New Caledonia.[1]

Classification

According to Lynch, Ross, & Crowley (2002), the structure of the family is as follows:[2]

• North Huon Gulf linkage
• Markham family
• South Huon Gulf linkage
• Numbami

References

1. Blust, Robert (2013). The Austronesian languages. A-PL 008 (revised ed.). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. hdl:1885/10191. ISBN 9781922185075.
2. Lynch, John, Malcolm Ross & Terry Crowley. 2002. The Oceanic languages. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press.

• Ross, Malcolm (1988). Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian languages of western Melanesia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.