Mian

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A language of Papua New Guinea

ISO 639-3
mpt
Alternate Names
Mianmin
Autonym
Mian weng
User Population

3,500 (Fedden 2007). Ethnic population: 3,500 (Fedden 2007).

Location

East Sepik province: Ambunti-Dreikikir district, upper May river, Blimo, Nenebil, Suganga, and Wagarabai; Sandaun province: Telefomin district, north Aki and Fak river valleys, August river headwaters.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Trans-New Guinea, Ok-Awyu, Ok, Mountain
Dialects

East Mian, West Mian (Skonga, Suganga, Wagarabai). Mutually intelligible, though some East Mian speakers have trouble understanding West Mian. Lexical similarity: 75%–83% among dialects.

Typology

SOV; Nominative-Accusative; Agglutinating; Genders: 4 (Male, Female, Neuter 1, and Neuter 2); Consonants: 18, Vowels: 6; Tonal: 4 tones (High, Low, Low-High, Low-High-Low, High-Low) (Fedden 2007).

Language Use

Used by all. Positive attitudes. All also use Tok Pisin [tpi] (Fedden 2012). Some also use Telefol [tlf], especially older men (Fedden 2012). Also use English [eng], especially young people (Fedden and Boroditsky 2012).

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: High. Literacy rate in L2: High. Grammar. NT: 1986.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Mian
Writing

Latin script [Latn].