Ethnologue

Arapesh, Bumbita

ISO 639-3

Alternate Names

Bambita Arapesh, But Arapesh

Autonym

Weri

Population

4,340 (2003 SIL). Ethnic population: 8,680.

Location

East Sepik province: Maprik district, Torricelli mountains, south of Wom. 13 villages.

Language Maps

Language Status

7 (Shifting).

Classification

Dialects

Bonahoi, Timingir, Urita, Weril, Werir. Weril and Werir mutually intelligible. Lexical similarity: 30% with Bukiyip [ape].

Language Use

Young people mainly use Tok Pisin [tpi] (Wurm 2007). Mostly middle-aged and older; youth in 2 villages (Wurm 2007). Also use Tok Pisin [tpi].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 15%–25%. Literacy rate in L2: 25%–50%. Weril and Werir use different materials for beginning literacy. Bible portions: 2007.

Language Resources

Writing

Latin script [Latn].