Ambel language

The name Ambel is probably derived from the Biak word amber, meaning "foreigner" or "stranger". It was adapted into the language itself, where the designation is galí Ambél. The alternative name Waigeo is named after the island.{{harvnb|Arnold|2018|page=1}}

Speakers of Ambel consider themselves to be part of the Ma'ya tribe, hence the alternative designation galí Mayá, despite Ambel only being remotely related to Ma'ya via descent from Proto-Raja Ampat–South Halmahera.{{harvnb|Arnold|2018|page=1}}

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:{{harvnb|Arnold|2018|page=6}}

• 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.{{harvnb|Arnold|2018}}

Ambel is spoken in the following locations within Raja Ampat Regency:{{cite book |last=Ronsumbre |first=Adolof |year=2020 |title=Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat |location=Yogyakarta |publisher=Penerbit Kepel Press |isbn=978-602-356-318-0}}

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

The sounds of the Ambel language are as follows:{{sfn|Arnold|2018}}

/{{IPA link|h}}/ can be heard as [{{IPA link|f}}] or [{{IPA link|ɸ}}] in free variation.

{{Cleanup lang|section|date=January 2023}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Laura |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10108/92289 |title=Contact and substrate in the languages of Wallacea, Part 2. NUSA |year=2018c |editor-last=Antoinette Schapper |volume=64 |pages=7–37 |chapter=A preliminary archaeology of tone in Raja Ampat |publisher=Tokyo University of Foreign Studies |doi=10.5281/zenodo.1450778|hdl=10108/92289 }}

:

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite JIPA|author=Arnold, Laura|title=Ambel|volume=52|issue=2|pages=368–388|doi=10.1017/S0025100320000237|printdate=2022-08|soundfiles=yes}}

{{refend}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book|title=Lexical tone in Ambel|last=Arnold|first=Laura|year=2016|location=Paper presented at the 8th Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference}}
• {{Cite thesis |last=Arnold |first=Laura Melissa |title=Grammar of Ambel, an Austronesian language of Raja Ampat, west New Guinea |date=2018 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Edinburgh |hdl=1842/31120 |hdl-access=free }}
• {{Cite journal |last=Arnold |first=Laura |date=2018b |title=Lexical Tone in Metnyo Ambel |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=199–220 |doi=10.1353/ol.2018.0007 |s2cid=149762919 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/695553 |url-access=subscription }}

• [https://elar.soas.ac.uk/Collection/MPI845897 Deposit of Ambel-language materials at the Endangered Languages Archive]

{{Languages of Indonesia}}

{{Halmahera–Cenderawasih languages}}

{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}

Category:South Halmahera–West New Guinea languages

Category:Languages of Western New Guinea

Category:Tonal languages in non-tonal families