Waropen language

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Wikipedia

Waropen
Wonti
Native toIndonesia
RegionWest Papua, Central Papua, and Papua
Native speakers
(6,000 cited 1987)[1]
Dialects
  • Ambumi
  • Mo'or (Moor)
  • Napan
  • Waropen Kai
Language codes
ISO 639-3wrp
Glottologwaro1242
Distribution of the Waropen language on the north coast of Papua, Indonesia.

Waropen (Wonti) is an Austronesian language spoken at the Cendrawasih Bay of Papua, Indonesia. It is a primary branch of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea languages.

Dialects are Ambumi, Napan, Mo'or (Moor), and Waropen Kai.

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative f s ɣ (h)
Rhotic r
Approximant w j

/w/ can also be heard as a fricative [β].

/h/ may also exist phonemically in other dialects.[2]

Sounds /w, j/ can be heard as vowels [ʊ, ɪ] when after vowel sounds.[3]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ~ e ə ɔ
Open a

/ɛ/ may be pronounced as [ɛ] or [e].[2]

Distribution

In Papua province, it is spoken in Mamberamo Raya Regency and Waropen Regency. The Ambumi dialect, also called Waruri, mainly spoken in Ambumi village in Wondama Bay Regency, West Papua.[4] Waropen is also spoken southwest to the Rombak River mouth.

Among the Ambumi dialect, there are two groups of speech areas, namely in Nabire Regency, including the villages of Napan (considered a separate dialect), Weinami, Masipawe, Makimi, Moor (separate dialect), Mambor, and Ambumi. In addition, there is a speech group that enters the Manokwari Regency, inhabits the villages of Yendeman, Saybes, War, Kayob, and Menarbu. Meanwhile, Waropen Kai dialect speakers inhabit the villages of Semanui, Wapoga, Desawa, Waren, and the villages of Paradoi, Sanggei, Mambui, and Nubuai, which are combined in several settlement, namely Urei Faisei, Risei Sayati, Wonti, Bokaro, and Koweda.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Waropen at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Held, Gerrit J. (1942). Grammatica van het Waropensch (Nederlandsch Noord Nieuw-Guinea). A.C. Nix, Bandoeng.
  3. ↑ Flassy, Don A.L.; Animung, Lisidus; Sawaki, Rachel (1994). Fonologi bahasa Waropen. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
  4. ↑ Suryawan, I Ngurah (2018-10-27). "Kampung Papua, Antara Eksploitasi dan Konservasi (1)". tatkala.co. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  5. ↑ Mampioper, Dominggus (22 July 2017). "Sistem kepemimpinan Sera orang Waropen". arsip.jubi.co.id (in Indonesian). Jubi. Retrieved 18 October 2025.