Maybrat is a Papuan language spoken by about 25,000 people as of 1987, among the most populous languages of Indonesian Papua, centered on the Ayamaru Lakes of the Bird's Head Peninsula in Southwest Papua province, with further speakers in urban areas across the region. It has six recognized dialects, Mayhapeh, Maymaru, Mayasmaun, Maymare, Mayte and Karon Dori, the last sometimes treated as a separate language. No relationship to any other language has yet been established, though Maybrat shares grammatical features with neighboring Bird's Head languages despite lacking demonstrable shared vocabulary, and the language has a comparatively small consonant inventory that avoids most consonant clusters.
Facts
RegionCentral Bird's Head Peninsula, Southwest Papua, Indonesia, concentrated around the Ayamaru Lakes 1 Speaker CountFigure is as of 1987; a more recent count was not found in the cited source. Proto-Language StatusNo proto-language: Maybrat has not been demonstrated to be related to any other language, and so is often considered a language isolate. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Maybrat Language
Wikimedia FoundationClassification section
Maybrat has not been demonstrated to be related to any other language, and so is often considered a language isolate.
Overview section
Maybrat is spoken in a large area in the central parts of the Bird's Head Peninsula, with a large portion of its speakers concentrated around the Ayamaru Lakes.
Overview section, speaker figure
With around 25,000 speakers (as of 1987), Maybrat is among the most populous languages of Indonesian Papua.
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