This is a study of the relation between the Greater Awyu (Awyu-Dumut, Ndeiram, and Becking-Dawi) and the Greater Ok (Ok and Oksapmin) languages, both considered part of the Trans-New Guinea (TNG) group of languages. The first part of this paper considers an earlier proposal by Voorhoeve, who argues that the Awyu-Dumut languages and the Ok languages form a (genealogical) subgroup within TNG, basing his conclusion on a combination of lexical evidence and a single piece of evidence from shared bound morphology. We review the lexical evidence, and then look for additional cases of bound morphology shared between the two groups. As we do not find any cases of shared bound morphology that convincingly support a genealogical subgrouping, we conclude that the similarities between the Greater Awyu and Greater Ok languages are more likely to be the result of contact, rather than of genealogical ties below the level of TNG. The second part of this study discusses the question of whether contact was old or more recent, and focuses on contact between the two neighboring languages Muyu (Ok) and Mandobo (Awyu-Dumut). Speakers of the two languages share many cultural traits, and contacts between the two groups, through trade and intermarriage, are rather intensive. We show that, despite contact, linguistic similarities are surprisingly few, and we suggest some explanations for this.

1. THE LANGUAGES AND THEIR SPEAKERS. (1) This paper compares two language families. Greater Awyu and Greater Ok, both considered to belong to the TransNew Guinea (TNG) group of languages (see section 3). The languages of the Greater Awyu family are spoken in southwest New Guinea, on the Indonesian half of the island, from the upper part of the 525-kilometer long Digul River to its estuaiy in the Arafura Sea, but also between die Digul and Eilanden rivets, and from the border area near the Fly River east of Digul all the way to the southwest of the Wildeman River. This vast expanse of lowland covered with swamps and rainforests is the home of around 35,000 speakers of Greater Awyu languages. The Greater Ok languages are spoken right in the center of die island of New Guinea, north and east of the Greater Awyu languages. The area can be seen on map l, (2) which also shows the neighboring areas, where we find speakers of Asmal-Kamoro and Marind languages. While almost all of the Mountain Ok languages and Oksapmin are spoken on the Papua New Guinea side of the border, most of the Lowland Ok and Western Ok languages and Ngalum (also known as Nalum) are spoken on the Indonesian side. The Ok languages have approximately 60,000 speakers and Oksapmin has about 8,000. To the west and the south, we find predominantly Asmat-Kamoro and Marind languages, respectively, while the languages to the north are isolates, or belong to other language groups. (3)

The Greater Ok and Greater Awyu languages have relatively simple phonologies, with no languages having more than 15 consonants and seven vowels. The only exception is Kombai, which is analyzed...