Ambel language

Ambel (Amber), also known as Waigeo after the island where it is primarily spoken, is a heavily Papuan-influenced Austronesian language spoken on the island of Waigeo in the Raja Ampat archipelago near the northwestern tip of West Papua, Indonesia. It is spoken by approximately 1,600 people. It is endangered, as the population is shifting to Papuan Malay and few people born after the year 2000 have any knowledge of the language.

Dialects
Ambel is spoken by approximately 1,600 people on Waigeo, an island in the Raja Ampat archipelago near the northwestern tip of West Papua, Indonesia. There are two dialects of Ambel:


 * Metsam Ambel, spoken in the two villages of Warsamdin and Kalitoko on Waigeo Island
 * Metnyo Ambel, spoken in the nine villages of Warimak, Waifoi, Kabilo, Go, Kapadiri, Kabare, Bonsayor, Darumbab, and Andey on Waigeo Island

Ambel speakers live alongside Biak speakers in the three villages of Warsamdin, Kabare, and Andey.

Distribution
Ambel is spoken in the following locations within Raja Ampat Regency:


 * Waigeo Utara District: Kabare and Kapadiri villages.
 * Teluk Manyalibit District: Kabilol, Go, Waifoy, Warimak, Kalitoko and Warsamdin villages.

Phonology
The sounds of the Ambel language are as follows: // can be heard as [] or [] in free variation.

Proto-language
Arnold (2018) reconstructs two tonemes for proto-Ambel, high /3/ and rising /12/, which is similar to the tonal system of Ma'ya.

Below are some monosyllabic proto-Ambel reconstructed lexical forms that have cognates with Matbat and Ma'ya. The Misool dialect is given for some Ma'ya forms; they are otherwise from the Salawati dialect.


 * {| class="wikitable sortable"

! gloss !! Proto-Ambel !! Matbat !! Ma'ya
 * 'betel leaf' || *nyan || na¹n || ˈnya¹²n
 * 'breast' || – || su³ || ˈsu³s
 * 'canoe' || *wan || wa³ŋ || ˈwa¹²k
 * 'come' || – || bo³t || ˈbo³t
 * 'die' || *mna³t || ma¹²t || ˈma¹²t
 * 'eight' || *wa³l || -wa³l || ˈwa³l
 * 'enter' || *sun || hu³ŋ || ˈsu³n
 * 'fire' || *lap || ya³p || ˈla¹²p
 * 'fish' || *dun || – || ˈdo³n
 * 'five' || *lim || li³m || ˈli³m
 * 'four' || *fa³t || fa³t || ˈfa¹²t
 * 'full' || *fon || fo³n || ˈfo¹²n
 * 'give' || *bi || be²¹ || ˈbe (Misool)
 * 'good' || *fi || fi³ || ˈfi³
 * 'green/blue' || *bya³w || bla¹²w || –
 * 'ground, earth' || *ba³t || ba³t || ˈba¹²t
 * 'hear' || – || no⁴¹ŋ || ˈdo¹²n
 * 'kill' || *bun || bu³n || ˈbu³n
 * 'know' || *un || -u²¹n || -ˈun (Misool)
 * 'louse' || *o¹²wt || wu³t || ˈu³t
 * 'man' || *ma³n || (wa³y)ma²¹n || ˈma¹²n (Misool)
 * 'mother' || *ne³n || ne³n || ˈne¹²n
 * 'mountain' || *i³l || he³l || ˈye³l
 * 'mouth' || – || ga²¹l || ˈgal
 * 'much' || – || to¹² || ˈmo¹²t
 * 'needle' || *yam || la¹m || –
 * 'night' || *gam || ka¹m || –
 * 'person' || *me³t || ma³t || ˈmat
 * 'rice' || *fa || fa³s || ˈfa¹²s
 * 'rise, ascend' || *sa || ha³ || ˈsa³
 * 'sago' || *bi¹² || – || ˈbi³
 * 'sand' || *layn || ye³n || ˈle¹²n
 * 'sea turtle' || *fi³n || fe³n || ˈfe³n
 * 'seawards' || – || lo³l || ˈlo³l
 * 'see' || *e³m || -ɛ³ŋ || -ˈe¹²m
 * 'shoot' || – || -a¹n || ˈfa¹²n
 * 'snake' || *kok || ko³k || ˈko¹²k
 * 'swim' || *la³ || la³s || -ˈa¹²s (Misool)
 * 'three' || *tu³l || to³l || ˈto³l
 * 'tree, wood' || *a³y || ha³y || ˈai
 * 'two' || *lu || lu³ || ˈlu³
 * 'village' || *nu 'house' || nu³ || ˈpnu³
 * 'walk' || *ta³n || – || ˈdak (Misool)
 * 'white' || *bus || bu³ || ˈbu³s
 * 'woman' || *bin || (wa¹t)bi³n 'kind of mangrove' || ˈpi³n
 * }
 * 'mouth' || – || ga²¹l || ˈgal
 * 'much' || – || to¹² || ˈmo¹²t
 * 'needle' || *yam || la¹m || –
 * 'night' || *gam || ka¹m || –
 * 'person' || *me³t || ma³t || ˈmat
 * 'rice' || *fa || fa³s || ˈfa¹²s
 * 'rise, ascend' || *sa || ha³ || ˈsa³
 * 'sago' || *bi¹² || – || ˈbi³
 * 'sand' || *layn || ye³n || ˈle¹²n
 * 'sea turtle' || *fi³n || fe³n || ˈfe³n
 * 'seawards' || – || lo³l || ˈlo³l
 * 'see' || *e³m || -ɛ³ŋ || -ˈe¹²m
 * 'shoot' || – || -a¹n || ˈfa¹²n
 * 'snake' || *kok || ko³k || ˈko¹²k
 * 'swim' || *la³ || la³s || -ˈa¹²s (Misool)
 * 'three' || *tu³l || to³l || ˈto³l
 * 'tree, wood' || *a³y || ha³y || ˈai
 * 'two' || *lu || lu³ || ˈlu³
 * 'village' || *nu 'house' || nu³ || ˈpnu³
 * 'walk' || *ta³n || – || ˈdak (Misool)
 * 'white' || *bus || bu³ || ˈbu³s
 * 'woman' || *bin || (wa¹t)bi³n 'kind of mangrove' || ˈpi³n
 * }
 * 'see' || *e³m || -ɛ³ŋ || -ˈe¹²m
 * 'shoot' || – || -a¹n || ˈfa¹²n
 * 'snake' || *kok || ko³k || ˈko¹²k
 * 'swim' || *la³ || la³s || -ˈa¹²s (Misool)
 * 'three' || *tu³l || to³l || ˈto³l
 * 'tree, wood' || *a³y || ha³y || ˈai
 * 'two' || *lu || lu³ || ˈlu³
 * 'village' || *nu 'house' || nu³ || ˈpnu³
 * 'walk' || *ta³n || – || ˈdak (Misool)
 * 'white' || *bus || bu³ || ˈbu³s
 * 'woman' || *bin || (wa¹t)bi³n 'kind of mangrove' || ˈpi³n
 * }
 * 'two' || *lu || lu³ || ˈlu³
 * 'village' || *nu 'house' || nu³ || ˈpnu³
 * 'walk' || *ta³n || – || ˈdak (Misool)
 * 'white' || *bus || bu³ || ˈbu³s
 * 'woman' || *bin || (wa¹t)bi³n 'kind of mangrove' || ˈpi³n
 * }
 * 'white' || *bus || bu³ || ˈbu³s
 * 'woman' || *bin || (wa¹t)bi³n 'kind of mangrove' || ˈpi³n
 * }
 * }