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Waropen language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Waropen
Native toIndonesia
RegionWest Papua and Papua
Native speakers
(6,000 cited 1987)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3wrp
Glottologwaro1242

Waropen is an Austronesian language spoken at the Cendrawasih Bay of Indonesian Papua. It is a primary branch of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea languages.

Dialects are Waropen Kai, Napan, and Ambumi.

Phonology

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Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative f s ɣ (h)
Rhotic r
Approximant w j

/w/ can also be heard as a fricative [β].

/h/ may also exist phonemically in other dialects.[2]

Sounds /w, j/ can be heard as vowels [ʊ, ɪ] when after vowel sounds.[3]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ~ e ə ɔ
Open a

/ɛ/ may be pronounced as [ɛ] or [e].[2]

Distribution

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In Papua province, it is spoken in Mamberamo Raya Regency and Waropen Regency. The Ambumi dialect also called Waruri is spoken in Ambumi village in Wondama Bay Regency, West Papua.[4] Waropen is also spoken southwest to the Rombak River mouth.

References

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  1. ^ Waropen at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Held, Gerrit J. (1942). Grammatica van het Waropensch (Nederlandsch Noord Nieuw-Guinea). A.C. Nix, Bandoeng.
  3. ^ Flassy, Don A.L.; Animung, Lisidus; Sawaki, Rachel (1994). Fonologi bahasa Waropen. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
  4. ^ Suryawan, I Ngurah (2018-10-27). "Kampung Papua, Antara Eksploitasi dan Konservasi (1)". tatkala.co. Retrieved 2024-06-07.