Dera language

Dera (Dra, Dla) a.k.a. Mangguar and Kamberataro (Komberatoro) is a Senagi language of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In Papua New Guinea, it is primarily spoken in Kamberataro village (3°36′43″S 141°03′26″E / 3.611948°S 141.05719°E / -3.611948; 141.05719 (Kamberatoro)), Amanab Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.[1][2]

Dera
Native toIndonesia, Papua New Guinea
RegionPapua: Keerom Regency, 13 villages
Native speakers
1,200 (2006)[1]
Senagi
  • Dera
Language codes
ISO 639-3kbv
Glottologdera1245
ELPDera
Coordinates: 3°36′43″S 141°03′26″E / 3.611948°S 141.05719°E / -3.611948; 141.05719 (Kamberatoro)

Dialects

There are two dialects, namely Dla proper and Menggwa Dla. Dla proper is spoken in the three main villages of Kamberatoro Mission (3°36′S 141°03′E; 1299 feet) in Papua New Guinea, Amgotro Mission (3°38′S 140°58′E; 1969 feet) in West Papua, and Komando village in West Papua. Komando village was formerly a Dutch border post. Other Dla proper speaking villages in Papua New Guinea are Tamarbek (3°35′30″S 141°03′18″E / 3.591701°S 141.055114°E / -3.591701; 141.055114 (Tamarbek)), Akamari (3°35′49″S 141°03′33″E / 3.597044°S 141.059233°E / -3.597044; 141.059233 (Akimari 1)), New Kamberatoro; Old Kamberatoro, ‘Border Village’, Nimberatoro (3°37′34″S 141°02′33″E / 3.625973°S 141.042369°E / -3.625973; 141.042369 (Nimberatoro)), Nindebai (3°38′28″S 141°00′22″E / 3.64111°S 141.006033°E / -3.64111; 141.006033 (Nindebai)), Mamamora (3°39′14″S 141°01′13″E / 3.653793°S 141.020182°E / -3.653793; 141.020182 (Mamamura)), Yamamainda (3°40′10″S 141°02′00″E / 3.669519°S 141.033445°E / -3.669519; 141.033445 (Yamamainda)), Orkwanda (3°38′50″S 141°04′52″E / 3.647337°S 141.081231°E / -3.647337; 141.081231 (Orkwanda)), and Lihen (3°37′26″S 141°07′03″E / 3.623834°S 141.117364°E / -3.623834; 141.117364 (Lihen)). West Papua, Indonesia has the Dla villages of Amgotro, Komando, Indangan, Mongwefi, Buku, and Agrinda, which are mostly located in Yaffi District, Keerom Regency.[3]

Menggwa Dla, the less populous of the two dialects, is spoken in five villages located between Kamberatoro Mission and Komando village, which are Menggau, Wahai (3°34′51″S 141°01′45″E / 3.580863°S 141.029277°E / -3.580863; 141.029277 (Wahai)), Ambofahwa (alternatively known as Wahai Nº 2), Wanggurinda (3°34′49″S 141°01′43″E / 3.580396°S 141.028671°E / -3.580396; 141.028671 (Wagurinda); 3°34′59″S, 141°01′41″E) in Papua New Guinea, and Menggwal (3°33′53″S, 140°59′04″E) in West Papua.[3]

Status

Dla (Dera) speakers are shifting to Tok Pisin and Papuan Malay. De Sousa (2006) reports that the younger generation born in the 1990s or later usually cannot speak Dera fluently, whereas the older generation remains fluent.[3]

Phonology

Dera has 14 consonants (4 less than Angor), which are:[4]

LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalmn
Plosivevoicelessptk
voicedbdɡ
Fricativeɸsx
Liquidr
Semivowelwj

Dera has 5 vowels (2 less than Angor), which are:[4]

FrontBack
Closeiu
Mideo
Opena

Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words of Dera dialects are from Voorhoeve (1971, 1975),[5][6] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[7]

glossDera (Amgotro dialect)Dera (Moŋgowar dialect)Dera (Amgotro dialect)
headbodabapaleboda
hairnanadanenalenanada
earkumbo- kedagombo-galakumbo- keda
eyekumba- kwadakamba-galakumba- kwada
nosegutubudamorgutubu
toothjabo-gemdadjabojabo-gemda
tonguetabuteptabu
lousemanəmavemanə
dogjabodojabodo
pigwadəwadə
birddutudu
eggdogomdatugaboladogomda
bloodkodoaholakodoa
bonegemdasabagemda
skinkuedakiabakueda
breasttototututoto
treenamo; nomoagalanamo; nomo
manjani- ndiajanijani- ndia
womankuadedebokolbakekuadedebo
sunkəbugəfukəbu
moonamanaanamamana
waterkuegəweikue
firekaikaikai
stonenəmainiminəmai
road, pathbakodabakoda
namedia
eattato-hede-tato-
onemano; ŋguadumamumano; ŋguadu
twoimbujimbalimbu

References