| Nalca | |
|---|---|
| Mek Nalca, Hmanggona | |
| Native to | Highland PapuaIndonesia |
Native speakers | 16,000 (2013)[1] |
Trans–New Guinea
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nlc |
| Glottolog | nalc1240 |
Nalca (Naltya, Naltje) is aPapuan language spoken inYahukimo Regency,Highland Papua,Indonesia. Alternative names are Hmanggona, Hmonono, Kimnyal (Kimyal). The latter is most often used forKorupun-Sela. IndonesianKemendikbud classified Nalca asMek Nalca, whileKimyal is used for Korupun-Sela.[2]
The Nalca language was an unwritten language until missionaries from the USA entered the area in the early 1960s. A literacy program was developed, and many people in the Nalca language group learned to read. Roger Doriot from the USA learned the language and completed the translation of theNew Testament of theBible in 2000.
Nalca belongs to the Western branch of theMek languages, which is a family of closely related languages belonging to the larger grouping ofTrans-New Guinea languages.[3]
The Nalca language is spoken by about 18,000 people inYahukimo Regency, Highland Papua.[4]
Nalca has 15 phonemic consonants:[5]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Laryngeal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | pʰ | b | tʰ | d | kʰ | ɡ | ʔ | |||
| Fricative | s | h | ||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||||
| Tap or flap | ɾ | |||||||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||||||
Nalca has five phonemic vowels:[5]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Nalca is a generally isolating language, but exhibits an elaborate system of agglutination in verb formation.
The usual word order of Nalca issubject-object-verb (SOV).
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