Mpur, also known as Amberbaken, Kebar, Ekware or Dekwambre, is a language isolate spoken by about 5,000 people, as of 2002, across the Mpur and Amberbaken districts of Tambrauw Regency in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia, on the north coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea. It has two dialects, Sirir and Ajiw, and is listed in the Endangered Languages Project database as vulnerable. Malcolm Ross tentatively proposed in 2005 that it belonged to the West Papuan language family on the strength of pronoun similarities, but later authorities including Bill Palmer in 2018, Ethnologue and Glottolog classify it instead as a standalone isolate.
Facts
RegionMpur and Amberbaken Districts, Tambrauw Regency, Southwest Papua province, Indonesia, on the north coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula, New Guinea 1 Speaker Count Proto-Language StatusRoss (2005) tentatively linked it to the West Papuan languages on pronoun evidence; Palmer (2018), Ethnologue and Glottolog classify it as a language isolate. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mpur Language
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
is a language isolate spoken in and around Mpur and Amberbaken Districts in Tambrauw Regency of the Bird's Head Peninsula, New Guinea.
Infobox, speakers field, 2002
5,000
Lead section, location sentence
is a language isolate spoken in and around Mpur and Amberbaken Districts in Tambrauw Regency of the Bird's Head Peninsula, New Guinea.
Lead section, classification sentence
though Ross (2005) tentatively assigned it to the West Papuan languages, based on similarities in pronouns, Palmer (2018), Ethnologue, and Glottolog list it as a language isolate.
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