varying across languages: -t (-r in Manambu): allative meaning (‘to’ or ‘toward’) -k: benefactive (beneficiary or recipient) meaning Examples of dative case markers in Ambulas and Manambu: Ambulas ndu mbɨrɨ takwə mbɨr-ət man PL woman PL-ALL ‘toward the men and women’ ɲjɨmba yə-kwə ndu-kɨ work do-PRS man-BEN ‘for the men who work’ Manambu ar-aːr yi-tɨk lake-LINK.ALL go-1DU.SBJ.IMP ‘Let’s both go to the lake.’ a-ndɨ ɲɨnɨk that-M.SG child.LINK.BEN ‘for that child’ Dative case markers are also used to mark animate objects of transitive verbs, which is a Sepik-Ramu areal feature. An example of the Ambulas allative case marker -t: wunɨ ɲan-ɨt kenək-kwə 1SG child-ALL scold-PRS ‘I’m scolding the child.’ Proto-language Pronouns Reconstructed proto-Ndu pronouns by Foley (2005): {| ! !! sg !! du !! pl |- ! 1 | *wɨn || *an || *nan |- ! 2m | *mɨn | rowspan="4" | *mpɨr | rowspan="2" | *ŋkɨwr |- ! 2f | *ɲɨn |- ! 3m | *ntɨ | rowspan="2" | *ntəy |- ! 3f | *lɨ |} Note that there is a gender distinction for first-person pronouns. Lexicon A phonological reconstruction of proto-Ndu has been proposed by Foley (2005). Lexical reconstructions from Foley (2005) are listed below. The homeland of proto-Ndu is located just upstream of Ambunti. Proto-Ndu reconstructions by Foley (2005) {| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! proto-Ndu !! Manambu !! Iatmul !! Abelam !! Sawos !! Boiken !! Ngala |- | one || *nək || nək || kɨta || nek || kɨtak || napə || nək |- | three || || mɨwŋkwɨr || kɨwpɨwk || kɨwpɨwk || kɨwpɨwk || mɨwŋkɨwlɨykŋ || mɨwŋkɨwl |- | man || *ntɨw || ntiw || ntɨw || ntɨw || || tɨw || riw |- | water || *ŋkɨw || ŋkɨw || ŋkɨw || ŋkɨw || ŋkɨw || kɨw || ŋkɨw |- | rain || *mayt || war || mayk || mac || wirɨ || macɲ || mac |- | fire || *ya || ya || ya || ya || || hwɨypa || ya |- | sun || *ɲa || ɲə || ɲa || ɲa || || ɲa || ɲa |- | moon || *mpapmɨw || mpapɨw || mpwap || mpapmɨw || || pwapwə || kamwɨ |- | house || *ŋkəy || wɨy || ŋkəy || ŋkəy || ŋkay || kəy || ŋkəy |- | village || || təp || ŋkəpma || ŋkay || || wɨyə || wɨyə |- | breast || *mɨwɲ || mɨwɲ