| Ambel | |
|---|---|
| Amber, Waigeo | |
| galí Ambél,galí Mayá | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Waigeo |
Native speakers | 1,600 (2018)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wgo |
| Glottolog | waig1244 |
  Ambel | |
| Coordinates:0°11′S130°55′E / 0.18°S 130.92°E /-0.18; 130.92 | |
Ambel (Amber), also known asWaigeo after the island where it is primarily spoken, is a heavilyPapuan-influencedAustronesian language spoken on the island ofWaigeo in theRaja Ampat archipelago near the northwestern tip ofWest Papua, Indonesia. It is spoken by approximately 1,600 people.[2] It isendangered, as the population is shifting toPapuan Malay and few people born after the year 2000 have any knowledge of the language.[3]
The nameAmbel is probably derived from theBiak wordamber, meaning "foreigner" or "stranger". It was adapted into the language itself, where the designation isgalí Ambél. The alternative nameWaigeo is named after the island.[4]
Speakers ofAmbel consider themselves to be part of the Ma'ya tribe, hence the alternative designationgalí Mayá, despite Ambel only being remotely related toMa'ya via descent fromProto-Raja Ampat–South Halmahera.[5]
Ambel is spoken by approximately 1,600 people onWaigeo, an island in the Raja Ampat archipelago near the northwestern tip of West Papua, Indonesia. There are two dialects of Ambel:[6]
Ambel speakers live alongsideBiak speakers in the three villages of Warsamdin, Kabare, and Andey.[7]
Ambel is spoken in the following locations withinRaja Ampat Regency:[8]
The sounds of the Ambel language are as follows:[9]
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | pb | t̪d | kg | |
| Fricative | s | h | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ||
| Rhotic | r | |||
| Lateral | l | |||
| Glide | j | w |
/h/ can be heard as [f] or [ɸ] in free variation.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | a | |
 | This sectionshould specify the language of its non-English content using{{lang}} or{{langx}},{{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and{{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriateISO 639 code. Wikipedia'smultilingual support templates may also be used.See why.(January 2023) |
Arnold (2018) reconstructs two tonemes for proto-Ambel, high /3/ and rising /12/, which is similar to the tonal system ofMa'ya.[10]
Below are some monosyllabic proto-Ambel reconstructed lexical forms that have cognates withMatbat andMa'ya. TheMisool dialect is given for someMa'ya forms; they are otherwise from the Salawati dialect.[10]
| 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 ofmangrove' | ˈpi³n |
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