The Paniai Lakes languages, also known by the older name Wissel Lakes languages, are a small family of closely related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in the highlands of Irian Jaya in the Paniai

Western New Guinea

West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...

 district. Foley (2003) considers their Trans–New Guinea status to be established.

The languages are Wolani, Moni

Moni language

Moni, also Djonggunu~Jonggunu or Migani, is a Papuan language spoken by about 20,000 people in the Paniai lakes region of the Indonesian province of Papua. Awembak is a dialect....

, Ekari

Ekari language

Ekari is a Trans–New Guinea language spoken by about 100,000 people in the Paniai lakes region of the Indonesian province of Papua, including the villages of Mapia and Moanamani. This makes it the second-most populous Papuan language in Indonesian New Guinea after Western Dani. Language use is...

, Auye, and Dao.

They may be most closely related to the Dani languages

Dani languages

The Dani languages are a family of clearly related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken by the Dani and related peoples in the highlands of Irian Jaya. Foley considers their TNG status to be established. They may be most closely related to the languages of Paniai Lakes, but this is not yet clear...

, but this is not yet clear.