Taulil–Butam languages

The Taulil–Butam or Butam–Taulil languages are a small language family spoken in East [New Britain Province], Papua New Guinea. They may be related to the Baining languages. Speakers consistently report that their ancestors came from New [Ireland (island)|New Ireland].

Classification

The languages are:

The languages are not close but are clearly related. They are classified with the Baining languages in an East New [Britain languages|East New Britain] family by Ross, based on similarities in their pronominal paradigms, but so far no other work has been done to support such a connection. The Austronesian impact on the languages, or at least on Taulil, is small.