Melpa (also written Medlpa) is a

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 ...

spoken by about 130,000 people predominantly in

Mount Hagen Mount Hagen ( tpi, Maun Hagen) is the third largest city in Papua New Guinea, with a population of 46,250. It is the capital of the Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea, Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in ...

and the surrounding

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Western Highlands Province Western Highlands is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Mount Hagen. The province covers an area of 4,299 km2, and there are 362,850 inhabitants (2011 census), making the Western Highlands the most densely populated pro ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Melpa is a

Pandanus language A pandanus language is an elaborate avoidance language among several of the peoples of the eastern New Guinea Highlands, used when collecting ''Pandanus'' nuts. Use Annually, people camp in the forest to harvest and cook the nuts of karuka (both ...

used during

karuka The karuka (''Pandanus julianettii'', also called karuka nut and ''Pandanus'' nut) is a species of tree in the family Pandanaceae and an important regional food crop in New Guinea. The nuts are more nutritious than coconuts, and are so popular ...

harvest. Melpa has a

voiceless velar lateral fricative The voiceless velar lateral fricative is a rare speech sound. As one element of an affricate, it is found for example in Zulu and Xhosa (see velar lateral ejective affricate). However, a simple fricative has only been reported from a few lang ...

, written as a double-barred el (Ⱡ, ⱡ). Melpa is notable for its

binary Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two digits (0 and 1) * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical operation that t ...

counting system. A dictionary of Melpa has been compiled by Stewart, Strathern and Trantow (2011).

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Numeral system

Melpa language in films

Temboka, a dialect of Melpa, is the native language of the Ganiga tribe, who featured prominently in the Highlands Trilogy of documentaries by

Robin Anderson Robin Anderson (1950 – 2002) was an Australian award-winning documentary filmmaker. Career Anderson was in born in Perth, Western Australia in 1950. After graduating from high school in 1967 she spent a year in Europe including 6 months in Paris ...

and

Bob Connolly Bob Connolly is an Australian film director, cinematographer and author. He is best known for his documentaries produced over the past 30 years, including '' The Highlands Trilogy'' and ''Rats in the Ranks''. More recent films include '' Facing ...

(''

First Contact First contact may refer to: *First contact (astronomy), the moment in astronomical transit when the apparent positions of the two bodies first touch *First contact (anthropology), the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another ...

'', ''Joe Leahy's Neighbours'', and '' Black Harvest''). The documentary '' Ongka's Big Moka'' also has Melpa dialogue.

References

External links

Melpa laterals
*Kay Owens

section "The Melpa Counting System". ''Mathematics Education Research Journal'' vol. 13 (April 2001),
Melpa Phonology
{{Chimbu–Wahgi languages Chimbu–Wahgi languages Languages of Western Highlands Province Pandanus avoidance registers