Nimboran languages

The Nimboran languages are a small family of Papuan languages, spoken in the Grime River and Nawa River watershed in Jayapura Regency, that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal. However, when proto-Nimboran pronouns are reconstructed (*genam "I" and kom or komot "thou"), they have little resemblance to the proto-TNG pronouns *na and *ga. Usher places them in a North Papuan stock that resembles Cowan's proposal.

Foley (2018) classifies the Nimboran languages separately as an independent language family.

Classification
The languages are:
 * Nimboran (Grime River)
 * East
 * Mekwei (Moi)
 * Gresi–Kemtuik
 * Kemtuik
 * Gresi
 * West
 * Mlap (Kuangsu)
 * Namblong (Nimboran)

Pronouns
The pronouns Ross (2005) reconstructs for proto-Nimboran are,


 * {| class=wikitable


 * I || *genam
 * thou || *kom, komot
 * s/he || ?
 * }
 * s/he || ?
 * }
 * }

Below are pronouns in the Nimboran languages as given by Foley (2018):



! !! Nimboran !! Kemtuik !! Gresi !! Mlap !! Mekwei ! 1excl ! 1incl ! 2 ! 3
 * + Nimboran pronouns
 * ngo || gənam || ganam || ngam || kə ~ kat
 * yo || imot || ||
 * ko || mot || ko || kom || kmot
 * no || nemot || ||
 * }

As in Kaure, pronouns are not specified for number in the Nimboran language.

Basic vocabulary
Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:


 * {| class="wikitable sortable"

! gloss !! Proto-Grime River
 * head || *jaŋkaMBʉ
 * leaf/head hair || *ndɜp
 * ear || *kam[a/ɔ]; *kəni[n/ŋ]
 * eye || *namuɔ
 * tooth || *səɺiŋ; *wasəɺa[ŋ]
 * tongue || *anəmbəɺ[i/ɛ]ŋ; *mambəɺ[ɜ/ɔ]p
 * foot/leg || *masi
 * blood/red || *kin
 * seed/bone || *ndɜn
 * skin/bark || *asu[p/k]
 * breast/milk || *min
 * louse || *səna[ŋ]
 * dog || *unduɔ
 * pig || *inəmbuɔ
 * bird || *jʉ
 * egg || *səwip[i]
 * tree/wood || *ndi
 * man/male || *səɺu
 * woman || *kambuŋ; *ki
 * sun || *wɔj
 * moon || *mbanu
 * water/river || *mbu
 * fire || *kip; *kɜj
 * stone || *ndəmuɔ
 * path || *tap
 * name || *sʉ
 * eat || *ndam
 * one || *kapəɺaj[a]
 * two || *namuan
 * }
 * egg || *səwip[i]
 * tree/wood || *ndi
 * man/male || *səɺu
 * woman || *kambuŋ; *ki
 * sun || *wɔj
 * moon || *mbanu
 * water/river || *mbu
 * fire || *kip; *kɜj
 * stone || *ndəmuɔ
 * path || *tap
 * name || *sʉ
 * eat || *ndam
 * one || *kapəɺaj[a]
 * two || *namuan
 * }
 * fire || *kip; *kɜj
 * stone || *ndəmuɔ
 * path || *tap
 * name || *sʉ
 * eat || *ndam
 * one || *kapəɺaj[a]
 * two || *namuan
 * }
 * eat || *ndam
 * one || *kapəɺaj[a]
 * two || *namuan
 * }
 * two || *namuan
 * }

Vocabulary comparison
The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1975), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:


 * {| class="wikitable sortable"

! gloss !! Gresi !! Kemtuik !! Mekwei !! Mlap !! Nimboran ! head ! hair ! eye ! tooth ! leg ! louse ! dog ! pig ! bird ! egg ! blood ! bone ! skin ! tree ! man ! sun ! water ! fire ! stone ! name ! eat ! one ! two
 * yaŋkabu || iŋkabu || yekembu || yaŋkambu || iŋgiambu
 * bətə-dop || dop || bəterep || məndü-pra || mendü-pro
 * nam || nmu-tugon || namo-den || nuŋgroŋ || nuŋgroŋ
 * səriŋ || wasraŋ || siŋyaŋ || səriŋ-dowŋ || hriŋ-douŋ
 * masi || masi || masi || mesi || mesi
 * səna || səne || səne || səne || hnaŋ
 * udo || udo || ando || undo || unduo
 * nəmbu || nəmbo || mbo || ibo || ibwo
 * iü || iü || ü || iü || iü
 * si || si || səbi || süp || süp
 * kiŋ || kiŋ || kiŋ || kiŋ || kiŋ
 * don || don || den || dowŋ || douŋ
 * suk || saisuk || asuk || sup || sub
 * di || di || di || di || di-tim
 * sərə || səruə || si || sru || hru
 * woy || woy || woy || woy || uai
 * bu || bu || bu || bu || bu
 * koy || koy || kei-sini || kip || kip
 * dom || dəmu || dəmo || dəmu || demue
 * sü || siü || siu || sü || sü
 * dam || dam || anime || dam || dam
 * kray || kraya || kapray || tendu || tendü
 * namon || namon || naman || namoŋ || namuan
 * }