Ross (1988) had considered Sarmi and Jayapura Bay (Kayapulau, Orma and Tobati) to be separate but related groups. Ross (1988) listed several additional Sarmi languages:
The inclusion of a supposed Yarsun language[2] appears to be due to confusion of language names with island names. No such language is attested; the island is located between that of the Anus and Podena languages, and all three islands are reported to speak dialects of a single language according to the first source to mention it.[3]
With the exception of certain Micronesian languages, the Sarmi–Jayapura languages have the westernmost distribution out of all Oceanic languages.[4]
Sound correspondences
Grace (1971:34–37) published a table of sound correspondences for the Sarmi languages, from which the following forms are gleaned. The languages are arranged from west to east.