Each region in Indonesia always has another language, besides the Indonesian language. This other language is an ethnic or local language. West Papua also has ethnic or local language. There are more than 300 Papua languages. Also, around 95 West Papua languages there.
One of them is the Moraid language from West Papua. From this article, you will learn all about the Moraid language from West Papua.
Variety of ethnicities and languages in West Papua
Papua and West Papua have become the most ethnic and local languages in Indonesia. More than 200 ethnicities live in Papua and West Papua. They are a native ethnic from Papua. There are Arfak, Wamesa, Moi, Abun, Yapen, etc.
In Papua, there are more than 300 languages. West Papua has around 95 languages. It happened because there are many ethnic on Papua island.
Each ethnicity has its own language. Some ethnic also has more than 1 language. Sometimes, a district also has its own language.
The Fact of Moraid Language
Moraid language is one of the local languages in West Papua. To know all about the Moraid language, this is some fact about the Moraid language from West Papua.
1. The Native Language of Moraid district
Moraid is a district with 49.901 hectares. It is located in Tambrauw Regency, West Papua. Moraid is one of the districts that has its own language.
Based on the language map by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Moraid language is also spoken in Sallala village, Sayosa district, Sorong, West Papua. But, Moraid language is still the native language of Moraid district.
2. The Language of Moi
There are more than 1.100 people that live here. Moraid is the language that is also spoken by Moi ethnic. The native ethnicity of Moraid district is Moi Kelim.
The ethnic of Moi has 5 sub-ethnic. The first sub-ethnic is Moi Abun, who lives in Tambrauw regency until Moraid district. Moi Kelim is the sub-ethnic that lives in Moraid district until Sorong.
The third sub-ethnic is Moi Segin. They live in Seget and Salawati. Moi Maya lives in Waigeo island, Raja Ampat. And the last is Moi Klabara. They live in Berarur district until South Sorong.
3. Has a big difference between some languages in West Papua
Based on dialectometric calculations, Moraid language has a different percentage 95-100% between Abun, Kalabra, Maibrat, and Tehi. Moraid language has a different percentage 99,5% with Abun and Maibrat language. Abun is the ethnic that lives in Abun district.
The difference between Kalabra language is 96,75%. Kalabra is used in Klamono district, Sorong. And 97,25% with Tehit. Tehit language is mostly used in Wersar village, Teminabuan district. Besides that, Tehit language is also used in Sirbau, Keyen, and Wermit villages.
4. Spoken around 1000 people in 1988
We didn’t know how many the speaker of Moraid language now. But in 1988, Moraid language was spoken by around 1000 people. This data was taken by Wikipedia.
The local language is handed down to their children. But if their children didn’t hand it down again, it would make the language would vanish. Many local or ethnic language vanished in Papua and West Papua.
Language Extinction in West Papua
Some local languages had vanished in West Papua. The speaker of the local language in West Papua is decreasing. It happened because the children didn’t use their ethnic or local language again.
Besides that, there are some factors that can make the language vanish. Natural disaster, urban life, and the use of lingua franca. For example, in the big towns like Manokwari and Sorong, they mostly use the Indonesia language.
The speaker of ethnic or local languages only 100-500 people each language. It makes the preservation become hard. In West Papua, there are some languages that can be vanished. It is Dusner, Doreri, Mansim, and Wowiai language, based on research by The University of Papua.
As a young generation, we have a big role in preserving our language. The variety of ethnicities and languages make Indonesia become unique culture. This is also our advantage. So, we must keep it and continue it.
