The Lower Ramu or Ottilien–Misegian languages consist of two branches in the Ramu language family. They are all spoken in Yawar Rural LLG, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.
Classification The Lower Ramu languages as classified by Usher and by Foley (2018) are:Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, Lower Ramu River
Lower Ramu languages Ottilien languages Watam, Kaian Gamay (Borei) Bosmun, Awar Misegian languages (Ruboni languages) Mikarew (Aruamu) Sepen, Kirei
Lower Ramu as presented in Foley (2018) has been reduced in scope from the classification given in Foley (2005), which is as follows.
Lower Ramu Watam-Awar-Gamay (WAG) = Ottilien Watam, Kaian Gamay Bosmun, Awar Mikarew-Kire (MK) = Misegian (Ruboni) Tangu, Igom
The Ataitan languages, including Tangu and Igom, are not included in Foley (2018).
Pronouns Tentative proto-Lower Ramu pronoun reconstructions by Foley (2005) are:
! !! singular !! dual !! plural |- ! 1st person | *ŋgu || *aŋga || *ai |- ! 2nd person | *nu || *(n)oŋgo(a) || *ni/e |- ! 3rd person | *ma(n) || *mani(ŋg) || *mV(n)
Cognates Like cognates between proto-Lower Sepik and proto-Lower Ramu listed by Foley (2005) are:
{| class="wikitable" ! gloss !! proto-Lower Sepik !! proto-Lower Ramu |- | tongue || *minɨŋ || *mi(m) |- | ear || *kwand- || *kwar |- | lime || *awi(r) || *awi(r) |- | eat || *am(b) || *am(b)
References
Further reading Paris, Brian. 2015. A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Lower Ramu Languages of Papua New Guinea. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2015-009.