Maleu-Kilenge

MGL

developing

Alternate Names: Idne

Dialects: Kilenge (Kaitarolea), Maleu. Lexical similarity: 93% between Maleu and Kilenge dialects.

Genealogy:

Austronesian

Malayo-Polynesian

Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian

Eastern Malayo-Polynesian

Oceanic

Western Oceanic

North New Guinea

Ngero-Vitiaz

Vitiaz

Kilenge-Maleu

Demographics: 5,200 (1983 census). 1,560 Kilenge.

Language Use: All or nearly the whole Kilenge group speaks Kilenge. Kilenge dialect: all ages. Used as L2 by Amara [aie], Anem [anz].

Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: 25%–50%. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75%. Bible portions: 1990.

Typology: SVO.

Writing System: Latin

Nation of Origin: Papua New Guinea

Other Comments: Maleu and Kilenge dialects may be separate languages (Wurm and Hattori 1981) (Ross 1988).