Ambel language
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.[1] 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.[2]
| Ambel | |
|---|---|
| Waigeo | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Waigeo |
Native speakers | c. 1600 (2018) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wgo |
| Glottolog | waig1244 |
  Ambel | |
| Coordinates: 0.18°S 130.92°E | |
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:[3]
- 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.[4]
Distribution
Locations within Raja Ampat Regency:[5]
- Waigeo Utara District: Kabare and Kapadiri villages.
- Teluk Manyalibit District: Kabilol, Go, Waifoy, Warimak, Kalitoko and Warsamdin villages.
Phonology
Sounds of the Ambel language:[6]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | |
| Fricative | ɸ | s | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ||
| Rhotic | r | |||
| Lateral | l | |||
| Glide | j | w |
| 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.[7]
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.[7]
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, *sa ascend’ ha³ ˈsa³ ‘sago’ *bi¹² – ˈbi³ ‘sand’ *layn ye³n ˈle¹²n ‘sea *fi³n turtle’ 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, *a³y wood’ 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
References
- Arnold 2018, p. 12.
- Arnold 2018, pp. 9–10.
- Arnold 2018, p. 6
- Arnold 2018
- Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0.
- Arnold 2016.
- Arnold, Laura (2018). "A preliminary archaeology of tone in Raja Ampat". In Antoinette Schapper (ed.). Contact and substrate in the languages of Wallacea, Part 2. NUSA. 64. pp. 7–37. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1450778.
Bibliography
- Arnold, Laura (2016). Lexical tone in Ambel. Paper presented at the 8th Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference.CS1 maint: location (link)
- Arnold, Laura Melissa (2018). Grammar of Ambel, an Austronesian language of Raja Ampat, west New Guinea (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/31120.
- Arnold, Laura (2018b). "Lexical Tone in Metnyo Ambel". Oceanic Linguistics. 57 (1): 199–220. doi:10.1353/ol.2018.0007.