All the languages had been part of
Stephen Wurm's 1975
Trans–New Guinea proposal, but he did not recognize them as a unit, retaining Kwerba within Capell's 1962
Dani–Kwerba proposal, for example. Foley (2018) classifies the Orya–Tor and Kwerbic languages together, as Tor–Kwerba.[1] Usher (2020) adds Nimboran and Mawes, naming the expanded family Foja Range, after the
Foja mountain range[2] that passes through all four branches of the family.[3]
Reconstructed proto-Tor-Kwerba words that are widely distributed throughout the family (Foley 2018):[1]
*nukwe 'eye'
*tVn 'leg'
*nen 'louse'
*uŋis 'sky'
*ti ~ *it 'tree'
References
^
abcdFoley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568.
ISBN978-3-11-028642-7.
^"Foja" is the Dutch spelling, often rendered "Foya" in English, so one might expect that in modern
Indonesian orthography it would be "Foya" as well. However, the Indonesian spelling remains "Foja", as it was before the
spelling reform. Thus the "j" may be pronounced as either an English "y" or an English "j".
Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In
Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66.
ISBN0858835622.
OCLC67292782.