Woria is a nearly extinct
Papuan language
The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non-Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...
of the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n province of
Papua, on the eastern shore of
Cenderawasih Bay
Cenderawasih Bay ( id, Teluk Cenderawasih, "Bird of Paradise Bay"), also known as Sarera Bay ( id, Teluk Sarera) and formerly Geelvink Bay ( nl, Geelvinkbaai), is a large bay in northern Province of Papua, Central Papua and West Papua, New Guin ...
. It is spoken in Botawa village,
Waropen Regency
Waropen Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in Papua Province, Indonesia. The Regency covers an area of 10,847.97 km2, and it had a population of 24,639 at the 2010 Census and 33,943 at the 2020 Census. The official estimate as at mid ...
, where the Lakes Plain language
Saponi
The Saponi or Sappony are a Native American tribe historically based in the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia.Raymond D. DeMaillie, "Tutelo and Neighboring Groups," pages 286–87. They spoke a Siouan language, related to the languages of ...
was also spoken.
Woria is lexically similar to the
East Geelvink Bay languages and presumably belongs in that family, but is too poorly attested to be sure.
External links
Paradisec's open access collection from
Bert Voorhoeve include
Woira language materials
References
Critically endangered languages
East Geelvink Bay languages
Languages of western New Guinea
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