Arapesh, Bumbita

AON

shifting

Alternate Names: Bambita Arapesh, But Arapesh, Weri

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

Genealogy:

Torricelli
Kombio-Arapesh
Arapesh

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

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.

Nation of Origin: Papua New Guinea