Nalca (Naltya, Naltje) is a Papuan language spoken in Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia. Alternative names are Hmanggona, Hmonono, Kimnyal (Kimyal). The latter is most often used for Korupun-Sela. Indonesian Kemendikbud classified Nalca as Mek Nalca, while Kimyal is used for Korupun-Sela.
History The Nalca language was an unwritten language until missionaries from the USA entered the area in the early 1960s. A literacy program was developed, and many people in the Nalca language group learned to read. Roger Doriot from the USA learned the language and completed the translation of the New Testament of the Bible in 2000.
Classification Nalca belongs to the Western branch of the Mek languages, which is a family of closely related languages belonging to the larger grouping of Trans-New Guinea languages.
Geographic distribution The Nalca language is spoken by about 18,000 people in Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua.
Phonology
Consonants Nalca has 15 phonemic consonants:
+ Consonant phonemes Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Laryngeal Plosive Fricative Nasal Tap or flap Approximant
/tʰ/ only occurs in loanwords and names.
Vowels Nalca has five phonemic vowels:
+ Monophthong phonemes Front Central Back Close Close-mid Open-mid Open
Grammar
Morphology Nalca is a generally isolating language, but exhibits an elaborate system of agglutination in verb formation.
Syntax The usual word order of Nalca is subject-object-verb (SOV).
References