Endangered Languages Project

CLASSIFICATION		Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, North New Guinea
ORTHOGRAPHY		Roman scripts
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		bek
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		"Documentation projects by Dr. Hiroko Sato and particularly Morokea village community members; cultural revitalization projects, particularly on their traditional dances and songs, in Mosa village for a few decades, and that helps Mosa community members be aware of the importance of their language and culture and they use Bebeli language more than those in the other two villages."

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Information from: “Personal communication on Bebeli” . Sato, Hiroko (2016)

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
780
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
3064 (total polulation of the Bebeli-speaking region: 3831; about 80% of them are ethnic Bebeli. But lots of immigrants have moved in in recent years.)
ELDERS
4 over 70s; maybe 10-30 in their 60s.
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Speaker number includes native and non-native speakers. Only four remaining fluent speakers with solid knowledge of the language and traditional concepts; those between 60s-70s speak the language, but mix with Tok Pisin; those between 40s-60s heavily use Tok Pisin, and make a lot of grammatical mistakes; those between 20s-40s are L2 speakers of Bebeli; those under 20s hardly speak or understand the language."

DATE OF INFO: 2014

DOMAINS OF USE
SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
SPEAKER ATTITUDE: Neutral - Some of them want to speak, but they can’t because they didn’t learn it. People claim that it is too hard to learn Bebeli. They are aware of the loss of their language, so they are very interested in documenting it before it gets extinct.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: no
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT: no
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
Scripts (Writing system): Roman scripts
Competing Orthographies: no

PLACES: Papua New Guinea, West New Britain province

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: spoken in three villages: Morokea, Mosa and Banaule

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<3,193
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
3,193
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
This number does not reflect the number of speakers. The population of immigrants in this area is growing rapidly because of the growth of the oil palm plantation industry, and approximately 13 percent of the adult population is composed of immigrants from other parts of New Britain as well as elsewhere in Papua New Guinea.

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

While Bebeli is still the primary language used in traditional events, Tok Pisin is used in “nearly every domain”. Children and young adults speak only Tok Pisin. Middle-aged adults and older adults speak Bebeli and Tok Pisin

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Mixed attidudes

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

Tok Pisin and English are the languages of education

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Tok Pisin and English

PLACES: Papua New Guinea

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: There are three villages in the Bebeli area: Morokea, Mosa, and Banaule. The villages are spread out over about 9.5 miles (15 kilometers) from the westmost to the eastmost.

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,050
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
(SIL)

DATE OF INFO: 1982

PLACES: Papua New Guinea

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "West New Britain Province, Stettin Bay, Cape Hoskins area.'

Bebeli

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

780

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<3,193

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,050

Discussion

	18th	2015	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 18th Edition		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig	SIL International	Dallas, Texas	http://www.ethnologue.com		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.		1,050	1982	1000-9999	(SIL)								Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Papua New Guinea	"West New Britain Province, Stettin Bay, Cape Hoskins area.'
		2013	A Sociolinguistic Survey of Bebeli			SIL International			Julian Spencer and Sara van Cott and Bonnie Maclenzie	Julian Spencer, Sara van Cott and Bonnie Maclenzie. 2013. "A Sociolinguistic Survey of Bebeli." SIL International.	3,193	<3,193		1000-9999	This number does not reflect the number of speakers. The population of immigrants in this area is growing rapidly because of the growth of the oil palm plantation industry, and approximately 13 percent of the adult population is composed of immigrants from other parts of New Britain as well as elsewhere in Papua New Guinea.		Tok Pisin is used in most domains	Tok Pisin and English		Mixed attidudes	Tok Pisin and English are the languages of education	Nearly the entire community speaks Tok Pisin	Severely Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	13	While Bebeli is still the primary language used in traditional events, Tok Pisin is used in “nearly every domain”. Children and young adults speak only Tok Pisin. Middle-aged adults and older adults speak Bebeli and Tok Pisin	15	13	Papua New Guinea	There are three villages in the Bebeli area: Morokea, Mosa, and Banaule. The villages are spread out over about 9.5 miles (15 kilometers) from the westmost to the eastmost.	-5.626, 150.237
May 6		2016	Personal communication on Bebeli	information based on Dr. Sato's fieldwork in 2014.					Sato, Hiroko	Sato, Hiroko. 2016. Personal communication on Bebeli. May 6.	3064 (total polulation of the Bebeli-speaking region: 3831; about 80% of them are ethnic Bebeli. But lots of immigrants have moved in in recent years.)	780	2014	100-999	"Speaker number includes native and non-native speakers. Only four remaining fluent speakers with solid knowledge of the language and traditional concepts; those between 60s-70s speak the language, but mix with Tok Pisin; those between 40s-60s heavily use Tok Pisin, and make a lot of grammatical mistakes; those between 20s-40s are L2 speakers of Bebeli; those under 20s hardly speak or understand the language."	4 over 70s; maybe 10-30 in their 60s.	Bebeli is replaced with Tok Pisin in all domains.	Tok Pisin; English	no	Neutral - Some of them want to speak, but they can’t because they didn’t learn it. People claim that it is too hard to learn Bebeli. They are aware of the loss of their language, so they are very interested in documenting it before it gets extinct.	no	all	Severely Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14		15	14	Papua New Guinea, West New Britain province	spoken in three villages: Morokea, Mosa and Banaule	-5.335340, 150.10173; -5.39172, 150.152181; -5.304133, 150.201489

Bebeli

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

780

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<3,193

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,050

Discussion

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