Kei
A language of Indonesia (Maluku)
| Population | 85,000 (2000 SIL). 4,500 monolinguals. |
| Region | Southeast Maluku, Kei Kecil, Kei Besar, surrounding islands, except Banda Eli and Banda Elat villages on Kei Besar; Kur Islands, where Kei is a lingua franca. About 207 villages on about 10 islands. |
| Language map |
Indonesia, Southern Maluku |
| Alternate names | Kai, Saumlaki, Veveu Evav |
| Dialects | Kei Kecil, Kei Besar, Tayando, Tanimbar Kei (Atnebar), Ta’am. 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. |
| Classification | Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Central Malayo-Polynesian, Southeast Maluku, Kei-Tanimbar, Kei-Fordata |
| Language use | Trade language of Banda [bnd], Kur [kuv], and outsiders such as ethnic Chinese and Butonese who live in Kei. Fairly vigorous use. Banda and Kur use Kei as L2. All domains. All ages. Positive attitude. Also use Indonesian [ind] or Banda. |
| 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. |
| Writing system | Latin script. |
| Comments | Agriculturalists: millet, tapioca, corn; copra production; fishermen. Muslim, Christian, traditional religion. |
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