Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Massep, Wotaf, Potafa
CLASSIFICATION		Isolate, Pacific
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		mvs
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
25
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
85
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Data for the number of native speakers comes from S. Wurm (2000).

PLACES: Indonesia;

Severely endangered

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available
40
Native speakers worldwide

DATE OF INFO: 1978

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
More on Orthography: No literacy in it.

PLACES: Indonesia: Irian Jaya

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Spoken east of the mouth of the Apauwar River which is east of the mouth of the large Mamberamo River in the far west of the north coast of Irian Jaya, east of the eastern top end of Cenderawasih Bay.

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
< 50
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"The Masep language, which in the vernacular is called Wotaf, is only spoken in the village of Masep by under fifty speakers."

DOMAINS OF USE
TRANSMISSION
SPEAKER ATTITUDE: "Our overall impression was that this is a small group that is successfully hanging on to their identity. They are surrounded by much larger, linguistically unrelated groups. They are far away from services and economic opportunities. One gets the impression that they feel proud of who they are but vulnerable in their situation."
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
More on Orthography: "The Masep have made attempts to write their language and said that they do write letters to each other. They are vaguely aware of the SIL vernacular language work in Isirawa but did not express an opinion on that work. Although they expressed a desire to see vernacular education for their children, they did not indicate an overt willingness to see it happen."

PLACES: Indonesia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Masep village can be reached by outrigger canoe from Sarmi in about four hours. It can also be reached by foot from Sarmi in a full day of very hard walking (and crossing rivers) with no rests. As boats do not often frequent Masep village, the people usually walk if they wish to go to Sarmi."

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
25
Native speakers worldwide

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
25
Native speakers worldwide

			2002	Survey Report of the North Coast of Irian Jaya				SIL International			Clouse, Duane; Mark Donohue; and Felix Ma				< 50		10-99	"The Masep language, which in the vernacular is called Wotaf, is only spoken in the village of Masep by under fifty speakers."	Irianese Malay	"Our overall impression was that this is a small group that is successfully hanging on to their identity. They are surrounded by much larger, linguistically unrelated groups. They are far away from services and economic opportunities. One gets the impression that they feel proud of who they are but vulnerable in their situation."	Threatened (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	10	12		Indonesia	"Masep village can be reached by outrigger canoe from Sarmi in about four hours. It can also be reached by foot from Sarmi in a full day of very hard walking (and crossing rivers) with no rests. As boats do not often frequent Masep village, the people usually walk if they wish to go to Sarmi."
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		25		10-99				Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						-1.7575,138.3178
070071197X	3	1	2007	Australia and the Pacific	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	424-557		Routledge	Abingdon		Stephen A Wurm	Wurm, Stephen A. 2007. Australia and the Pacific. In Christopher Moseley, Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 1 edn., 424-557. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 070071197X	ll_pub		40	1978	10-99		Isirawa, Samarokena, Indonesian		Severely Endangered (40 percent certain, based on the evidence available)			14	Indonesia: Irian Jaya	Spoken east of the mouth of the Apauwar River which is east of the mouth of the large Mamberamo River in the far west of the north coast of Irian Jaya, east of the eastern top end of Cenderawasih Bay.
				World Oral Literature Project						http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			25		10-99				Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
		16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	85	25		10-99	Data for the number of native speakers comes from S. Wurm (2000).			Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Indonesia;

Masep

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Severely endangered

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available

40

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

< 50

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Discussion

Masep

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Severely endangered

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available

40

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

< 50

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Discussion

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