Meriam language
Language
name=Meriam | region=Murray Island, Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia | speakers=~300â€"400 (1991) | iso2=paa | iso3=ulk | familycolor=Papuan | fam1=Eastern Trans-Fly
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.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.
**Ethnologue report for language code:ulk
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