Melpa language


Melpa is a Papuan language spoken by about 130,000 people predominantly in Mount Hagen and the surrounding district of Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.
Melpa has a pandanus language used during karuka harvest.
Melpa has a voiceless velar lateral fricative, written as a double-barred el. It is notable for its binary counting system.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Numeral system

Melpa language in films

Temboka, a dialect of Melpa, is the native language of the Ganiga tribe, who featured prominently in the Highlands Trilogy of documentaries by Robin Anderson and Bob Connolly.
The documentary Ongka's Big Moka also has Melpa dialogue.