Kalam

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A language of Papua New Guinea

ISO 639-3
kmh
Alternate Names
Aforo, Karam, Kotp, Monmon, Mseŋ
Autonym
Kalam
User Population

20,000 (Pawley et al 2011).

Location

Madang province: Ramu district; Western Highlands province: Hagen district, Jimi river north side into Kaironk valley.

Language Maps
Language Status

5* (Developing).

Classification
Trans-New Guinea, Madang, Kalam-Kobon
Dialects

Etp, Ti, Alŋaw. Related to Gants [gao] and Kobon [kpw]. Tay [taw] is a language that is part of the Ti dialect (Pawley and Hammarström 2018), but is divergent enough from Etp that it’s possible to consider it a different language (Pawley et al 2000).

Typology

SOV.

Language Use

Also use English [eng] (Pawley et al 2011). Also use Tok Pisin [tpi] (Pawley et al 2011).

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: Below 5%. Literacy rate in L2: 15%–25%. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1992–2009.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Kalam
Writing

Latin script [Latn].