Puneet Varma (Editor)

Asmat language

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Region
  
West Papua

Glottolog
  
asma1257

Ethnicity
  
Asmat people

Native speakers
  
(20,000 cited 1972–1991)

Language family
  
Trans–New Guinea Asmat–Kamoro Asmat–Citak Asmat

ISO 639-3
  
Variously: asc – Casuarina Coast cns – Central nks – North asy – Yaosakor tml – Tamnim Citak

Asmat is a Papuan dialect cluster of West New Guinea.

The principal dialects, distinct enough to be considered separate languages, are:

  • Casuarina Coast, also known as Kaweinag (subdialects Matia and Sapan~Safan)
  • Central, also known as Jas~Yas or Manowee (subdialects Simai~Simay, Misman, Ajam~Ayam)
  • North (Momogo-Pupis-Irogo), also known as Keenok
  • Yaosakor

    • Some of these may be closer to the other Asmat ethniticy, Citak, than they are to each other, but their speakers identify themselves as Asmat. Similarly, Tamnim Citak is closer to Asmat than to Citak, but the people identify themselves as Citak.

    References

    Asmat language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA