Namia

A language of Papua New Guinea

ISO 639-3

Alternate Names

Edawapi, Lujere, Namie, Nemia, Yellow River

Population

6,000 (2007 SIL), increasing. 300 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 6,200.

Location

Sandaun Province, Yellow River district, 19 villages; East Sepik Province, Panewai village, Edwaki, Ameni, Wiyari, Lawo, Pabei, Iwane areas.

Language Maps

Language Status

6b (Threatened).

Classification

Dialects

Most similar to Ak [akq] and Awun [aww]. Lexical similarity: 13% with Abau [aau], 12% with May River Iwam [iwm].

Typology

SOV; postpositions; consonant clusters; vowel glides; 6 phonemic vowels

Language Use

Vigorous. Home, prep schools. All ages. Positive attitudes. Highly bilingual in Tok Pisin [tpi]; some use English [eng].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 5%–15%. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75% in Tok Pisin. 4 government vernacular primary schools. Grammar. Bible portions: 1996–2009.

Language Resources

Writing

Latin script.