Alternate Names: Weda, Weda-Sawai, Were
Dialects: Faya-Mafa, Kobe, Messa-Dote, Sawai, Weda. Lexical similarity: 64% with North Nuaulu ,.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 12,000 (2000 SIL), increasing. Few monolinguals.
Language Use: Some domains, local commerce. Youth are taught Indonesian [ind] first; then learn to understand Sawai. Positive attitudes. Also use Buli [bzq], Gane [gzn], Indonesian [ind], Maba [mqa], North Moluccan Malay [max], Patani [ptn], Ternate [tft], Tidore [tvo], Tobelo [tlb].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: field: 5,000 can read, 1,000 can write. Literacy rate in L2: 25%–50%. 5,000 can read it, 1,000 can write it. Bible portions: 1994–2005.
Writing System: Latin
Nation of Origin: Indonesia
Other Comments: Different from Saleman ,. Muslim, Christian.