Waropen language

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.

Waropen
Wonti
Native to	Indonesia
Region	West Papua, Central Papua, and Papua
Native speakers	(6,000 cited 1987)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian Eastern Malayo-Polynesian South Halmahera–West New Guinea Waropen
Dialects	Ambumi Mo'or (Moor) Napan Waropen Kai
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wrp
Glottolog	waro1242
Distribution of the Waropen language on the north coast of Papua, Indonesia.

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]