Kei

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A language of Indonesia

ISO 639-3
kei
Alternate Names
Kai, Saumlaki, Veveu Evav
Population

85,000 (2000 E. Travis). 4,500 monolinguals.

Location

Southeast Maluku Province, about 207 villages on 10 islands. Kei island group west of Aru islands; Kecil, Besar, and surrounding islands; also, Kur islands, lying west and northwest of Kei group.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a (Vigorous).

Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Southeast Maluku, Kei-Tanimbar, Kei-Fordata
Dialects

Kei Besar, Kei Kecil, Ta’am, Tanimbar Kei (Atnebar), Tayando. Kei Kecil is the prestigious urban dialect. Kei Besar speakers usually also know Kei Kecil, but not vice versa. Kei Besar is more similar to Fordata [frd] than other Kei dialects. Tanimbar Kei is spoken in only one village. Lexical similarity: 60% with Fordata [frd].

Language Use

Fairly vigorous. Banda [bnd] and Kur [kuv] use Kei as L2. All domains. All ages. Positive attitudes. Also use Indonesian [ind] or Banda [bnd].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 100 can read, 10 can write. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75%. 100 can read, 10 can write. Used informally in school for explanations. Dictionary. Grammar.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Kei
Writing
Latin script.
Other Comments

Muslim, Christian, traditional religion.