Torricelli languages
The Torricelli languages are a family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast, spoken by about 80,000 people. They are named after the Torricelli Mountains. The most populous and best known Torricelli language is Arapesh, with about 30,000 speakers.
| Torricelli | |
|---|---|
| Torricelli Range – Sepik Coast | |
| Geographic distribution | Torricelli Range and coast, northern Papua New Guinea (East Sepik, Sandaun, and Madang provinces) |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | nucl1708 (Nuclear Torricelli) |
The Torricelli languages as classified by Foley (2018) | |
They are not clearly related to other Papuan language families; however, attempts have been made to establish external links. The most promising external relationship for the Torricelli family is the Sepik languages. (In reconstructions of both families, the pronouns have a plural suffix *-m and a dual suffix *-p.)
C.L. Voorhoeve (1987) has proposed that they are related to the North Halmahera languages and most of the languages of the Bird’s Head Peninsula, thus forming the easternmost extension of the postulated West Papuan family.