Melpa (Meldpa, Mbowamb) is a Papuan language spoken by about 130,000 people predominantly in Mount Hagen and the surrounding district of Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. It is spoken by the Kawelka people and other related tribes.
Melpa is a pandanus language used during karuka harvests. Melpa has a velar lateral, written as a double-barred el (â±Â, ⱡ). Melpa is notable for its binary counting system. A dictionary of Melpa has been compiled by Stewart, Strathern and Trantow (2011).
Note: the descriptions of these sounds is not clear, so the conversion to IPA below may not be accurate.
Ladefoged analyzes the laterals instead as , and the rhotic as .
Plosives and laterals are voiceless in word-final position.
Temboka, a dialect of Melpa, is the native language of the Ganiga tribe, who featured prominently in the Highlands Trilogy of documentaries by Robin Anderson and Bob Connolly (First Contact, Joe Leahy's Neighbours, and Black Harvest).
The documentary Ongka's Big Moka also has Melpa dialogue.