Melpa
Melpa is a Nuclear Trans New Guinea language spoken in Papua New Guinea.
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Melpa (Meldpa, Mbowamb) is a Papuan language spoken by about 130,000 people predominantly in Mount Hagen and the surrounding district of Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. It is spoken by the Kawelka people and other related tribes.
Melpa has a pandanus language used during karuka harvests. Melpa has a velar lateral, written as a double-barred el (Ⱡ, ⱡ). Melpa is notable for its binary counting system. A dictionary of Melpa has been compiled by Stewart, Strathern and Trantow (2011).
From Wikipedia · Melpa language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Melpa
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| person | wamb* | |
| name | mbi* | |
| ear | kum* | |
| tooth | Nu* | |
| tongue | anmbeL* | |
| hand | ki* | |
| blood | mem* | |
| bone | ombeL* | |
| skin | kEN* | |
| knee | kopEtEm* | |
| breast | pepeLombeL* | |
| water | no* | |
| fire | ndip* | |
| sun | anc* | |
| star | mibiL* | |
| stone | ku* | |
| tree | nde* | |
| leaf | Ngom* | |
| night | rumbuL* | |
| dog | oa* | |
| fish | oma* | |
| one | ti* | |
| two | raL* | |
| I | na* | |
| you | nim* | |
| we | ten* | |
| drink | nui* | |
| see | kEni* | |
| hear | piLe* | |
| die | kuL* |
* in the simplified ASJP transcription
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- Bo-UngNuclear Trans New Guinea47% alike
- NiiNuclear Trans New Guinea40% alike
- Umbu-UnguNuclear Trans New Guinea37% alike
- North WahgiNuclear Trans New Guinea26% alike
- WahgiNuclear Trans New Guinea22% alike
- Hills KarbiSino-Tibetan14% alike
Grammar
- Bo-UngNuclear Trans New Guinea87% alike
- Kuku-UwanhPama-Nyungan86% alike
- Southern GhaleSino-Tibetan86% alike
- ZakhringSino-Tibetan85% alike
- OrokaivaNuclear Trans New Guinea85% alike
- LembenaNuclear Trans New Guinea84% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · melp1238 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · med