The Finisterre languages are a language family, spoken in the Finisterre Range of Papua New Guinea, classified within the original Trans–New Guinea (TNG) proposal, and William A. Foley considers their TNG identity to be established. They share with the Huon languages a small closed class of verbs taking pronominal object prefixes some of which are cognate across both families (Suter 2012), strong morphological evidence that they are related.

The most populous Finisterre languages are Wantoat, Rawa, and Yopno, with about 10,000 speakers apiece, and Iyo, with about half that number.

Internal structure

Huon and Finisterre, and then the connection between them, were identified by Kenneth McElhanon (1967, 1970). They are clearly valid language families. Finisterre contains six clear branches. Beyond that, classification is based on lexicostatistics, which does not provide precise classification results. The outline below follows McElhanon and Carter et al. (2012).

• Finisterre family
  • Erap branch
    • Boana: Nuk–Nek, Nakama, Numanggang, Munkip
    • Finongan, Gusan, Mamaa
    • Nimi, Sauk (Ma Manda), Uri
  • Gusap–Mot branch
    • Madi (Gira), Neko, Nekgini
    • Ngaing, Rawa, Ufim, Iyo (Nahu)
  • Uruwa branch: Sakam (Kutong) – Som, Nukna (Komutu), Yau, ?Weliki
  • Wantoat branch: Awara–Wantoat (Yagawak, Bam), Tuma-Irumu
  • Warup branch: Asaro'o (Morafa) – Molet, Bulgebi, Degenan–Tanda, Forak, Guya (Guiarak), Gwahatike (Dahating), Muratayak (Asat, Yagomi)
  • Yupna branch: Domung–Ma (Mebu), Nankina, Bonkiman–Yopno (Kewieng, Wandabong, Nokopo, Isan), ?Yout Wam

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from McElhanon & Voorhoeve (1970)^[1] and Retsema et al. (2009),^[2] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:^[3]

	Erap branch		Gusap-Mot branch	Uruwa branch	Wantoat branch	Warup branch	Yupna branch
gloss	Mungkip	Uri (Sintogoro dialect)	Iyo	Yau (Mup dialect)	Tuma-Irumu (Irumu dialect)	Degenan	Yopno (Nokopo dialect)
head	kʰige	dimin	kemba	kuwit	kʌyi	tʌnam	busuŋʌ
hair	sɨsa; sɪsa	sɨsɑ	hu	dzioŋ	pundzi	gɔt	daŋwai
ear	maget; magitnɛ	mɑgi	ɔsumbi	ɔndɔm	sukun	nʌm	kɔsim
eye	dae; da·ge	de	tɔŋi	dan	dapur	dabəl	daƀʌl
nose	miminɛ; mimiŋge	kininiʔ	umi	tanma	inami		tomoni
tooth	ma		miti	man	men	mɛn	gɛn
tongue	mabɛm; mabim	mɨmbɛm	mipi	motbin	mɛmber	mɛlɛ	mel
leg	kada	kʌjoŋ
louse	mi; mīŋ	tumuŋ	imi	imon	imʌn	iməŋ	iat
dog	sap	kuɣɔŋ	isa	sap	aŋ	umʌt	noŋkwak
pig	kare
bird	jāŋ	jɑŋ	nũ
egg	qiliq
blood	we·q	ʌmɑ
bone	kwadi; kwadzi	kʌti:	wimbi	kurat	konzar	doruk; ʌtʌt	kataar
skin	girim	fugu	kowi	gib	gup; kʌndʌp	meᵲ-	gʌp; kandap
breast	nom	nʌm	susu	mum	nonoŋ	mum	naŋ
tree	bɛm	fɨɾi
man	mɛ	ʌmi		amna	ama		amen
woman	tam	tɑmin	pare	ɔƀi
sun	maim; male	mɑjɛm	okisa	sep	kɔmi	ɔm	doran
moon	jaʁip	mɑjɛp
water	ime; imɛ	ɑmɑ	sono	yamo	ome	ɩm	kʌlap
fire	kuduk; kugup	kudip	te	ibdi	kʌndʌp	ɛřap	kandap
stone	qawade	gʷunʌgʌm
road, path	tɛlɛ; tɛrɛpmēŋ	kʌdʌpʌŋ	ore	amsap	kandet	mar̃ʌn	kosit
name	buŋām; wow	wɔp	owe	man	wop	maŋgi	mai
eat	nʌna		ne	na	na	na	na
one	kubugaŋ	kubinik
two	lifɛt	fʌmɑʔ