Melpa language
| Melpa | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Mount Hagen District, Western Highlands Province |
Native speakers | (130,000 cited 1991) |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | med |
| Glottolog | melp1238 |
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 (Ⱡ, ⱡ). Melpa is notable for its binary counting system. A dictionary of Melpa has been compiled by Stewart, Strathern and Trantow (2011).