Yongkom

Print

Primary tabs

A language of Papua New Guinea

ISO 639-3
yon
Alternate Names
Yonggom, Yongom
Autonym
Yongkom
User Population

6,000 (Christensen 2010). All Yongkom speakers: 20,000 across Papua New Guinea and West Papua (Christensen 2010).

Location

Western province: Fly and Tedi (Alice) rivers and toward Lake Murray.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

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

Upper Yongkom, Lower Yongkom, Moian, Ok Pari, Tenekerom, Kataut, Yeran, Muyu, Kagaip, Kabom. Lexical similarity: 80% with North Muyu [kti], 70% with South Muyu [kts], 30% with Ninggerum [nxr].

Language Use

All domains except in church, where there is mixed use with other languages. Used by all. Some also use English [eng], especially young people. Some also use Hiri Motu [hmo], especially older adults. Also use Tok Pisin [tpi]. Used as L2 by Ninggerum [nxr].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 50%–75%. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75%. NT: 2004.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Yongkom
Writing

Latin script [Latn].