Melpa language
Encyclopedia
Melpa 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
.
Melpa has a voiceless velar lateral fricative
, written double-barred L, l. It is notable for its binary counting system.
Papuan languages
The Papuan languages are those languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The term does not presuppose a genetic relationship. The concept of Papuan peoples as distinct from Melanesians was first suggested and named by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1892.-The...
spoken by about 130,000 people predominantly in Mount Hagen
Mount Hagen
Mount Hagen is third largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is the capital of the Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in central mainland Papua New Guinea, at an elevation of ....
and the surrounding district
Mount Hagen District
Mount Hagen District is a district of the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Mount Hagen. The population of the district was 86,517 at the 2000 census....
of Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
Melpa has a voiceless velar lateral fricative
Voiceless velar lateral fricative
The voiceless velar lateral fricative is a very rare speech sound. As one element of an affricate, it is found for example in Zulu and Xhosa. However, a simple fricative has only been reported from a few languages in the Caucasus and New Guinea....
, written double-barred L, l. It is notable for its binary counting system.
| Decimal | Medlpa | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | tenda | "one" |
| 2 | ragl | "two" |
| 3 | ragltika | "twone" |
| 4 | tembokak | "four" |
| 5 | pömp tsi gudl | "one past four" |
| 6 | pömp ragl gudl | "two past four" |
| 7 | pömp ragltika gudl | "twone past four" |
| 8 | engak | "eight" |
| 9 | pömp tsi pip | "one past eight" |
| 10 | pömp ragl pip | "two past eight" |