Talking about culture in West Papua is always an exciting thing. One of the unique things about this province is the language since there are many languages there. Just like in other places, languages in Papua is not only a means of communication, and it is a product of culture. That’s the reason why the languages in Papua are varied in forms and accents.
How Many Languages are in Papua?
The Papuan Language Center (Balai Bahasa Papua) recorded 414 new regional languages in Papua and West Papua from 2008 to 2019. According to Yohanis Sanjoko, a researcher at the Papua Language Center, of all the 384 regional languages, 294 are in Papua Province, then 90 of them are in West Papua Province.
Getting to Know More About Papuan Languages
The Papua languages are formed from a hereditary culture mixed with colonialism and interaction with the surrounding tribes.
The long history of languages in Papua makes many researchers confused to conduct a complete study of all languages in Papua. However, among the many languages in Papua, several languages have undergone in-depth research, and the historical resources are relatively easy to detect.
Of the many languages spoken in Papua, here are some most notable languages in Papua. We will share some languages that are still spoken nowadays.
Abinom language
Abinom is also known as Avinomen, Baso, and Foia. The linguist estimated that there are still only 300 people who speak this language.
Abun Language
Abun (also known as Yimbun, A Nden, Manif, or Karon) is a language in New Guinea. This language is not closely related to other languages. A researcher called Ross grouped this language into the West Papuan language family. However, other linguists and ethnologue classified the Abun language as an isolated language after they classified the pronouns used in this language.
Airoran
Airoran is a regional language spoken in the northern coastal areas downstream of the Apauwer river, Papua, in Subu, Motobiak, Isirania, and several other villages. Not too many sources talk about this language.
Asmat Language
Asmat is a language spoken by the Asmat Tribe in Asmat Regency. This language consists of the Coastal dialects of Casuarina, Central Asmat, North Asmat, and Yaosakor.
Kalabra Language
Kalabra is a Papuan language spoken on the Doberai Peninsula, West Papua. There are only a few sources that cite this language.
Maybrat
The Maybrat language is a Papuan language spoken in the central part of the Doberai Peninsula. So far, Maybrat cannot be genealogically linked to any language in the world, so it is regarded as an isolated language.
Even so, the Maybrat language has some similarities with its neighboring languages in grammatical structure. However, these similarities can also be the effect of interaction between one community to another.
Tebi Language
Dubu, also known as Tebi, is one of the Pauwasi languages spoken in West Papua. The language is mostly used by adults due to its difficulty.
Duriankere Language
Duriankere is an endangered Papuan language spoken in West Papua. Just like Tebi, the people who speak this language are mostly adults.
Dusner Language
Dusner language is an Austronesian language spoken in Dusner village, Teluk Wondama Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia. Dusner is a critically endangered language and has been reported to have only three speakers left.
Andreas J. Deda—The Director of the Center for Research and Culture of Papua—once said that this language was banned and considered a pagan language by an evangelist who came to Dusner village in the 20s. The villagers used this language to talk to ancestral spirits. Those who spoke the language will be sentenced to death by being immersed in the sea or tied to the coconut tree.
Ekari
The Ekari language belongs to the Lake Paniai language family spoken in Paniai, Tage, and Tigi. The language is considered as one of the several subgroups of the language of Trans-New Guinea. It’s also relatively closed to some languages spoken in western Papua, especially those Dani languages family.
Uruangnirin
Uruangnirin is a minor Austronesian language spoken on the west coast of the Bomberai Peninsula, Indonesia.
The Threat to Extinction of Traditional Language of Papua
In an interview with Antara, Yohanis Sanjoko added that most of the regional languages in both provinces have fewer speakers, sometimes between 50 and 200.
Still from the same source, the Head of the Jayapura Language Center, Papua Province, Supriyanto Widodo, said that several regional languages in the region are threatened with extinction.
Based on Antara’s interview with Supriyanto Widodo, several Papuan regional languages are threatened with extinction, namely in Supiori Regency, Teluk Wondama, Kaimana, Merauke, and several other areas.
Less than 1000 people only speak some traditional languages in Papua. That’s the reason why some of those languages went extinct. Only a few languages survive. In addition, modernity has also made some languages extinct.
The extinction of some languages is inevitable, including in West Papua. However, with the cooperation between the government and the community, we can preserve the traditional languages in Papua.
