Meriam (also Miriam, Meryam, Mer, Mir, Miriam-Mir, etc. and East Torres) is the language of Meriam people of Murray Island (Mer) in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia.

Classification

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Although Meriam is located in Australian territory, it is regarded as a Papuan language, not an Australian language.

Meriam was placed in the Eastern Trans-Fly family of Trans-New Guinea by Stephen Wurm, and this is followed by Ethnologue (2005). In 2005 Malcolm Ross concluded that the Eastern Trans-Fly languages were not part of Trans-New Guinea, but kept the family itself with Meriam as a member. R.M.W. Dixon (2002) regards claims of a relationship between the Fly River languages and Meriam as unproven.

The other Eastern Trans-Fly languages are Bine, Gizra, and Wipii.

References

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External links

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• Ethnologue report for language code:ulk

Eastern Trans-Fly languages | Languages of Australia