Berik language
| Berik | |
|---|---|
| Sewan | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Tor Atas district, Sarmi Regency |
Native speakers | (1,200 cited 1994) |
Foja Range (Tor–Kwerba)
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bkl |
| Glottolog | beri1254 |
Berik (Sewan) is a Papuan language spoken in Indonesia. Speakers are located in four village groups on the Tor River, in Sarmi Regency, Papua Province.
US linguist John McWhorter cited Berik as an example of a language which puts concepts "together in ways more fascinatingly different from English than most of us are aware". Illustrating this, in the phrase Kitobana (meaning "[he] gives three large objects to a male in the sunlight"), affixes indicating time of day, object number, object size, and gender of recipient are added to the verb.