Nggem language

Nggem
Nggem
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Highland Papua:; Mamberamo Tengah Regency
Native speakers	4,400 (2005)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea West Trans–New Guinea Irian Highlands ? Dani languages Dani proper Nggem; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nbq
Glottolog	ngge1241

Nggem is a Baliem Valley language spoken in the Indonesian province of Highland Papua by the Nggem people [id] of Central Mamberamo.

Name

Nggem refers both to the language as well as the people, used as both an endonym by the people themselves and as an exonym by neighbouring tribes.^[2] ^: 1

difference of nggem (left) and yonggal (right)

The language's name comes from the noun nggem, referring to a grass skirt covering the buttocks and pubic area, the style of dress formerly worn by Nggem women. Nggem people refer to other language groups by the name of the style of women's traditional clothing; for example, yonggal "string skirt" refers to the Dani people.^[2] ^: 1

In the neighbouring Western Dani language, nggem is a derogatory term meaning "thief".^[2] ^: 1

Phonology

Consonants

The following table shows Nggem's consonantal phonemes:^[2] ^: 13

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Velar
Plosive	Pre-nasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᵑɡ
	Voiceless	p	t	k
	Implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Sibilant			s
Lateral			l
Nasal		m	n
Semivowel		w	y

Vowels

The following table shows Nggem's vowel phonemes:^[2] ^: 13

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

References

^ Nggem at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Nggem morphology and syntax". Charles Darwin University. Retrieved 2025-03-05.

This Papuan languages–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[e18-1] Nggem at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[:0-2] "Nggem morphology and syntax". Charles Darwin University. Retrieved 2025-03-05.

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