One of the world’s most diverse language variations is the Papua language family. The island of Papua is home to rich cultural variations in the world, largely because of its mountainous terrains which gave rise to isolated tribes. Read this article to find more about the languages spoken in the two easternmost provinces of Indonesia, West Papua and Papua.
Papua Language Situation
Indonesian, the country’s official language, is the lingua franca uniting the many tribes in Papua. This is beneficial as even neighboring tribes can have vastly different languages. Not only that, but the region’s population is becoming diverse due to migration and urbanization. Both Papuan provinces are seeing an increase in the number of migrants from other ethnic groups in Indonesia, such as the Javanese, Sundanese, Chinese Indonesians, and many more.
Based on the data collected by the Papua and West Papua Language Center from 2006 to 2019, there are 428 regional languages in Tanah Papua, which consists of two provinces: 326 languages in Papua and 102 languages in West Papua. Of all the indigenous languages, more and more are experiencing a decrease in the number of speakers. However, many others are still preserved well and actively spoken by their native tribes.
Papua Language Family Maps
The Papuan language family encompasses the languages spoken in the island of Papua and the surrounding area. Nonetheless, this linguistic classification is only geographical. Some Papuan languages are language isolates, meaning they are unrelated to others in the same group. The largest group of this family is the West Papuan languages.
West Papua Language Family
The West Papua linguistic family consists of the languages spoken in the West Bird’s Head Peninsula, one of the two large peninsulas that form the West Papua Province. It also includes the languages of the people of Northern Halmahera in the Moluccas. This linguistic group has roughly 220,000 speakers and is divided into three groups.
The first member of the West Papua language family is the North Halmahera group, comprising the 16 languages spoken by the people in the northern part of the Maluku Islands. The second, the West Bird’s Head group, is made up of the languages in the peninsula. Lastly, there’s the Yawa group of the languages spoken in Yapen Island and the neighboring inlets in the Cenderawasih Bay.
Papua Language Status
According to UNESCO, a language is considered safe if it is spoken by at least 50,000 people. However, in the two Papuan provinces, there are only two languages with that status. The first one is the West Dani language used by people in mountainous areas, such as in the Jayawijaya area and its surroundings. The second one is the Mee language spoken by the Ekagi or Ekari tribes in Nabire Regency and its surroundings.
In fact, most regional languages in Papua only have around 100 to 5,000 speakers. With this condition, some languages with small numbers of speakers will eventually end up in extinction. However, those spoken by Papua and West Papua tribes living in very remote areas are likely to survive in the future. This is because the tribes remain largely untouched by outside influence, despite their small number of people.
Preserving Diversity through West Papua Travel
One of the ways to maintain the linguistic diversity of Papua is by learning the indigenous cultures. By immersing yourself in the native people’s lives, you’re encouraging them to preserve their rich traditions. There are Papua and West Papua travel packages that include an immersion experience and English-speaking tour guides, So, do not hesitate to participate in cultural tourism activities to see authentic Papua language diversity.
