The Left May – Kwomtari or Arai–Kwomtari languages are a possible small family

Language family

A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...

 of Papuan languages

Papuan languages

The Papuan languages are those languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The term does not presuppose a genetic relationship. The concept of Papuan peoples as distinct from Melanesians was first suggested and named by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1892.-The...

 proposed by Malcolm Ross

Malcolm Ross

Malcolm David Ross is a linguist and professor at the Australian National University. He has published work on Austronesian and Papuan languages, historical linguistics, and language contact.-External links:**...

, which links the Left May (Arai)

Left May languages

The Left May or Arai languages are a small language family of half a dozen closely related but not mutually intelligible languages in the centre of New Guinea, along the left bank of the May River...

 family with the Kwomtari–Fas proposal (Loving & Bass 1964).

Classification

• Left May
  Left May languages
  The Left May or Arai languages are a small language family of half a dozen closely related but not mutually intelligible languages in the centre of New Guinea, along the left bank of the May River...
  
  or Arai family
• Fas
  Fas languages
  The Fas languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea. They are generally classified as part of a larger as-yet unproven Kwomtari–Fas family.-Classification:...
  
  family: Baibai
  Baibai language
  Baibai is one of two Fas languages of Papua New Guinea. It is the eponymous language of the spurious Baibai languages, which was posited when the Fas language was mistakenly swapped for the Kwomtari language Biaka in published data. It actually has little in common with Kwomtari, but is 40% cognate...
  
  , Fas
  Fas language
  Fas is the eponymous language of the small Fas language family of Papua New Guinea.Fas was once mistakenly placed in the Kwomtari family, confusing their classification. Its only demonstrated relative is actually Baibai, with which it is 40% cognate. See Fas languages for details.-References:*...
  
  
• ? Kwomtari
  Kwomtari languages
  The Kwomtari languages are a small language family of Papua New Guinea.-Classification:The family consists of the highly divergent language Guriaso, and the two closely related languages Kwomtari and Nai:*Kwomtari stock**Guriaso...
  
  family:
  • Guriaso
    Guriaso language
    Guriaso is a language of Papua New Guinea. Only described in 1983, it is distantly related to the Kwomtari and Nai languages....
    
    language
  • Kwomtari–Nai: Kwomtari
    Kwomtari language
    Kwomtari is the eponymous language of the Kwomtari family of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in six villages in Amanab District, Sandaun Province....
    
    , Nai
    Nai language
    Nai or Biaka is a language of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in Amanab District, Sandaun Province, in three villages: Konabasi, Biaka, and Amini....
    
     (Biaka)
• ? Pyu
  Pyu language
  Pyu language may refer to:*Pyu language , Papua New Guinea, different from Piu*Pyu language , ancient...
  
  family-level isolate (included in the Kwomtari languages by Laycock (1973), but not addressed by Ross)

Baron (1983) notes that most classifications, including Ross's, perpetuate an early copy error, placing Fas in the Kwomtari family and Nai in the Baibai family. This contradicts the original classification of Loving and Bass, which is supported by their field notes. (See Kwomtari–Baibai languages.) Taking this into account weakens the case for the Left May-Kwomtari proposals. Some relevant pronouns are shown below (Baron 1983):

family	language	I	thou	he	she	they
Kwomtari	Kwomtari	mɔro	ɔno	ɛto		topai
	Nai	nɔmbwirɛ	wonɔ	ɛni		tɔmwɔ
	Guriaso	nan	waw	amo
Fas	Baibai	ɛtjɛ	aŋɡi	nɛfɛ, wɔ		anjɛ
	Fas	tɛ	haj	wɔ(β)		nəb
Arai	Yinibu	asi, na-	na, nɛni, nan-	ani, w-	wa, tat-	mwa
Pyu		kwa	no	na

It appears that for proto-Arai and proto-Fas a pronoun *atie might be reconstructed for "I", and a *wa for "s/he", while for Arai and Kwomtari only a pronoun *amwa might be reconstructed for "they". No pronouns obviously connect Kwomtari and Fas, nor is there enough to connect any of these families to Pyu.