Ambel language

Ambel
Waigeo
Native toIndonesia
RegionWaigeo
Native speakers
1,600 (2018)
Language codes
ISO 639-3wgo
Glottologwaig1244
Approximate location where Ambel is spoken
Approximate location where Ambel is spoken
Ambel
Coordinates: 0°11′S 130°55′E / 0.18°S 130.92°E / -0.18; 130.92

Ambel (Amber), also known as Waigeo after the island where it is primarily spoken, is a heavily Papuan-influenced Austronesian language spoken on the island of Waigeo in the Raja Ampat archipelago near the northwestern tip of West Papua, Indonesia. It is spoken by approximately 1,600 people. It is endangered, as the population is shifting to Papuan Malay and few people born after the year 2000 have any knowledge of the language.

Dialects

Ambel is spoken by approximately 1,600 people on Waigeo, an island in the Raja Ampat archipelago near the northwestern tip of West Papua, Indonesia. There are two dialects of Ambel:

  • Metsam Ambel, spoken in the two villages of Warsamdin and Kalitoko on Waigeo Island
  • Metnyo Ambel, spoken in the nine villages of Warimak, Waifoi, Kabilo, Go, Kapadiri, Kabare, Bonsayor, Darumbab, and Andey on Waigeo Island

Ambel speakers live alongside Biak speakers in the three villages of Warsamdin, Kabare, and Andey.

Distribution

Ambel is spoken in the following locations within Raja Ampat Regency:

  • Waigeo Utara District: Kabare and Kapadiri villages.
  • Teluk Manyalibit District: Kabilol, Go, Waifoy, Warimak, Kalitoko and Warsamdin villages.

Phonology

The sounds of the Ambel language are as follows:

Consonant sounds
Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar
Plosive p b d k g
Fricative s h
Nasal m n
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Glide j w

/h/ can be heard as [f] or [ɸ] in free variation.

Vowel sounds
Front Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

Proto-language

Arnold (2018) reconstructs two tonemes for proto-Ambel, high /3/ and rising /12/, which is similar to the tonal system of Ma'ya.

Below are some monosyllabic proto-Ambel reconstructed lexical forms that have cognates with Matbat and Ma'ya. The Misool dialect is given for some Ma'ya forms; they are otherwise from the Salawati dialect.

gloss Proto-Ambel Matbat Ma'ya
'betel leaf' *nyan na¹n ˈnya¹²n
'breast' su³ ˈsu³s
'canoe' *wan wa³ŋ ˈwa¹²k
'come' bo³t ˈbo³t
'die' *mna³t ma¹²t ˈma¹²t
'eight' *wa³l -wa³l ˈwa³l
'enter' *sun hu³ŋ ˈsu³n
'fire' *lap ya³p ˈla¹²p
'fish' *dun ˈdo³n
'five' *lim li³m ˈli³m
'four' *fa³t fa³t ˈfa¹²t
'full' *fon fo³n ˈfo¹²n
'give' *bi be²¹ ˈbe (Misool)
'good' *fi fi³ ˈfi³
'green/blue' *bya³w bla¹²w
'ground, earth' *ba³t ba³t ˈba¹²t
'hear' no⁴¹ŋ ˈdo¹²n
'kill' *bun bu³n ˈbu³n
'know' *un -u²¹n -ˈun (Misool)
'louse' *o¹²wt wu³t ˈu³t
'man' *ma³n (wa³y)ma²¹n ˈma¹²n (Misool)
'mother' *ne³n ne³n ˈne¹²n
'mountain' *i³l he³l ˈye³l
'mouth' ga²¹l ˈgal
'much' to¹² ˈmo¹²t
'needle' *yam la¹m
'night' *gam ka¹m
'person' *me³t ma³t ˈmat
'rice' *fa fa³s ˈfa¹²s
'rise, ascend' *sa ha³ ˈsa³
'sago' *bi¹² ˈbi³
'sand' *layn ye³n ˈle¹²n
'sea turtle' *fi³n fe³n ˈfe³n
'seawards' lo³l ˈlo³l
'see' *e³m -ɛ³ŋ -ˈe¹²m
'shoot' -a¹n ˈfa¹²n
'snake' *kok ko³k ˈko¹²k
'swim' *la³ la³s -ˈa¹²s (Misool)
'three' *tu³l to³l ˈto³l
'tree, wood' *a³y ha³y ˈai
'two' *lu lu³ ˈlu³
'village' *nu 'house' nu³ ˈpnu³
'walk' *ta³n ˈdak (Misool)
'white' *bus bu³ ˈbu³s
'woman' *bin (wa¹t)bi³n
'kind of mangrove'
ˈpi³n

Further reading

  • Arnold, Laura (2022). "Ambel". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 52 (2): 368–388. doi:10.1017/S0025100320000237, with supplementary sound recordings.

This page was last updated at 2023-12-26 09:08 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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