are reconstructed by Foley (2018) as: {| class="wikitable" ! !! singular !! dual !! plural |- ! masculine | *-r | rowspan="2" | *-f | rowspan="2" | *-m |- ! feminine | *-t ~ *-s |} In Sepik languages, gender-marking suffixes are not always attached to the head noun, and can also be affixed to other roots in the phrase. Typically, the genders of lower animals and inanimate objects are determined according to shape and size: big or long objects are typically classified as masculine (as a result of phallic imagery), while small or short objects are typically classified as feminine. In some languages, objects can be classified as either masculine or feminine, depending on the physical characteristics intended for emphasis. To illustrate, below is an example in Abau, an Upper Sepik language: youk se ‘paddle ’ focuses on the length of the paddle youk ke ‘paddle ’ focuses on the flat nature of the two-dimensional paddle blade Except for the Middle Sepik languages, most Sepik languages overtly mark nouns using gender suffixes. See also Papuan languages Sepik–Ramu languages Donald Laycock William A. Foley References External links Sepik languages database at TransNewGuinea.org Language families Languages of Momase Region Papuan languages Vertical vowel systems