The Kutubuan languages are a small family of neighboring languages families in Papua New Guinea. They are named after Lake Kutubu in Papua New Guinea.

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There has been some debate over whether they are closer to each other than to other languages, but Usher includes them both in the Kikorian branch of the tentative Papuan Gulf stock. Within the two branches, the lexicostatistical figures are 60–70%. Between the two branches, they are 10–20%.

• East Kutubuan
  • Foe, Fiwaga
• West Kutubuan
  • Fasu, Some, Namumi

Some lexical reconstructions by Usher (2020) are:^[1]

The following basic vocabulary words are from Franklin (1975), Franklin & Voorhoeve (1973), McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970), and Shaw (1986), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:^[2]

Proposed Kutubu reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:^[3]

Foi language:

• gage- ‘carry on back’ < *kak(i,u)
• ku- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• na- ‘eat’ < *na-
• korage ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ondok[V]
• gariko ‘neck’ < *k(a,e)(nd,t)ak
• ira ‘tree’ < *inda
• kuba ‘wind’ < *kumbutu
• ya ‘bird’ < *yaka(i)
• babo ‘mother’s sister’ < *mbamba ‘older same sex sibling’

Fasu language:

• ku- ‘die’ < *kumV-
• na- ‘eat’ < *na-
• reke- ‘stand’ < ta,e,i)k[V]
• ama ‘mother’ < *am(a,i)
• apa ‘father’ < *apa
• himu ‘heart, stomach’ < *simb(i,u)
• iti ‘hair’ < *iti[C]
• korake ‘leg’ < *k(a,o)ndok[V]
• kinu ‘shoulder’ < *kinV
• kau ‘skin’ < *k(a,o)(nd,t)apu
• sikini ‘hand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)(a,i)l
• pisi ‘urine’ < *pisi
• mane(raka) ‘make the law’ < *mana ‘instructions’
• horop ‘long’ < *k(o,u)ti(mb,p)V
• api(a) ‘husband’ < *ambi ‘man’
• papa ‘mother’s sister’ < *mbamba ‘older same sex sibling’
• ira ‘tree’ < *inda
• sakipu ‘sand’ < *sa(ŋg,k)asiŋ
• kupa ‘wind’ < *kumbutu