Papua language are a set of languages spoken in and around New Guinea. The territory included the whole island of New Guinea and the outlying islands of New Britain, New Ireland, Sorenarwa (Yapen), and Biak, as well as the bordering territories of eastern Indonesia, including the islands of Timor, Alor, and Halmahera.
This region is home to around 1,100 languages, accounting for almost a quarter of the world’s known languages. These comprise over 800 Papuan languages and about 300 Austronesian languages.
The Complexity of the Papua Language Group
Approximately three to four million people speak Papuan languages. The typical Papuan language family consists of roughly 25 languages. Because there are hundreds of Papuan languages, the majority of them are spoken by a small number of people: the number of speakers of each language is often fewer than 3,000. Although Enga is the most widely spoken Papuan language, with around 165,000 speakers, several Papuan languages have fewer than 100 speakers, and others have fewer than 50.
Papua Languages Classification
There are numerous additional important language groups spoken around the north coast of Papua and the Mamberamo River valley, including the Sentani family, which is spoken directly to the west of Jayapura. The Lakes Plain family is a phonologically exotic family spoken in the Mamberamo River basin’s flooded plains. The Cenderawasih Bay family, spoken on Yava Island in Cenderawasih Bay and the adjacent mainland. The language may constitute part of a broader genetic grouping with the Lakes Plain family.
Moreover, the East Bird’s Head family is spoken on the eastern side of the Doberai (Vogelkop or Bird’s Head) Peninsula in Papua’s extreme west. The West Bird’s Head family, is spoken on the western side and central portion of the Doberai Peninsula. The West Bird’s Head language family is most likely connected to Papuan languages. It is spoken on the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera.
Papua Language Phonology
The phonology of Papuan languages is often basic. Although there are other systems, the traditional system of five phonemic vowels (/i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/) is the most widely used. There are no Papuan languages that contain more than ten vowel phonemes. Many Papuan languages, particularly those in the Sepik-Ramu basin, feature peculiar vowel systems with a strong emphasis on core vowels.
Consonantal systems are also often essential. Consonants are often articulated at one of three locations:
- The lips (bilabial)
- The back of the teeth (dental)
- The rear of the roof of the mouth (velar)
Most techniques have a fourth articulation point at the high roof of the mouth (palatal). Most languages distinguish between two kinds of consonants: oral (/p/) and nasal (/m/). However, nasal consonants may be totally absent in some Lakes Plain languages, an exceptionally unusual feature among language groups.
Papuan languages limit continuous sounds like /f/ and /s/. Some languages have none at all. Some just have /s/, while others have a limited set consisting of /f/, /s/, and in some cases, one additional. No other Papuan language comes close to English’s eight continuous sounds. Papuan languages often do not distinguish between /l/ and /r/; the spoken word frequently fluctuates freely between these two articulations with no difference in meaning.
Conclution
Tone, the characteristic use of differences in pitch to differentiate words, is also used in some Papua languages, as it is in Chinese or Southeast Asian languages. This is found in the Eastern Highlands family, the Sko family, the Lakes Plain family, and other families throughout New Guinea.
For example, in Obokuitai of the Lakes Plain family, /ti/ means string bag. However, it refers to a sort of butterfly when pronounced with a decreasing pitch. This is a fun part when you learn Papua Languages: when uttered at a high tone, the word /di/ denotes red,’ yet when said at a low level, it means ‘you.’ The form /ku/ has three separate pitches: spoken in a high pitch, it denotes ‘cassowary,’ said in a low tone, ‘wood,’ and expressed in a falling pitch, it refers to a type of soil.
