Narak

A language of Papua New Guinea

ISO 639-3

Alternate Names

Ganja

Population

6,220 (2000 census). 70% monolingual.

Location

Western Highlands Province, Hagen district, middle Jimi near Tabibuga.

Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification

Dialects

Similar to Maring [mbw], North Wahgi [whg], and Kandawo [gam].

Typology

SOV; Whistle speech reported

Language Use

Vigorous. All domains. All ages. Positive attitudes. Some also use Tok Pisin [tpi] or English [eng].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 15%. Literacy rate in L2: 5%–15%. Transfer primer from Tok Pisin. 10% can write Narak. NT: 1981.

Language Resources

Writing

Latin script.

Other Comments

Christian.