Wurm's Classification
The most widely used classification of Papuan languages is that of Wurm, listed below with the approximate number of languages in each family in parentheses. This was the scheme used by Ethnologue prior to Ross's classification (below). It is based on very preliminary work, much of it typological, and Wurm himself has stated that he doesn't expect it to hold up well to scrutiny. Other linguists, including William Foley, have suggested that many of Wurm's phyla are based on areal features and structural similarities, and accepted only the lowest levels of his classification, most of which he inherited from prior taxonomies. Foley (1986) divides Papuan languages into over sixty small language families, plus a number of isolates. However, more recently Foley has accepted the broad outline if not the details of Wurm's classification, as he and Ross have substantiated a large portion of Wurm's Trans–New Guinea phylum.
According to Ross (see below), the main problem with Wurm's classification is that he did not take contact-induced change into account. For example, several of the main branches of his Trans–New Guinea (TNG) phylum have no vocabulary in common with other TNG languages, and were classified as TNG because they are similar grammatically. However, there are also many Austronesian languages that are grammatically similar to TNG languages due to the influence of contact and bilingualism. Similarly, several groups which do have substantial basic vocabulary in common with TNG languages are excluded from the phylum because they do not resemble it grammatically.
Wurm believed the Papuan languages arrives in several waves of migration with some of the earlier languages (perhaps including the Sepik–Ramu languages) being related to the Australian languages, a later migration bringing the West Papuan, Torricelli and the East Papuan languages and a third wave bringing the most recent pre-Austronesian migration, the Trans–New Guinea family.
Papuan families proposed by Wurm (with approximate number of languages)
- Amto–Musan languages (2)
- Burmeso language (isolate)
- Busa language (isolate)
- East Bird's Head languages (3)
- East Papuan languages (36)
- Geelvink Bay languages (12)
- Yuri language (isolate)
- Porome language (isolate)
- Kwomtari–Baibai languages (6)
- Left May languages (7)
- Sepik–Ramu languages (104)
- Sko languages (7)
- Torricelli languages (48)
- Trans–New Guinea languages (598)
- West Papuan languages (26)
- Yalë language (isolate)
Two of Wurm's isolates have since been linked as the
- Lower Mamberamo languages (2),
and since Wurm's time another isolate and two languages belonging to a new family have been discovered,
- Abinomn language (isolate)
- Bayono–Awbono languages (2).
Read more about this topic: Papuan Languages