Yabem language
| Yabem | |
|---|---|
| Jabêm | |
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Huon Gulf, Morobe Province |
|
Native speakers
|
(2,100 cited 1978) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | yabe1254 |
Yabem or Jabêm is an Austronesian language and a division of the Melanesian languages spoken natively (in 1978) by about 2,000 people at Finschhafen, which is on the southern tip of the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, despite historical evidence that shows the language originating in the northern coast. However, Yabem was adopted as local lingua franca along with Kâte for evangelical and educational purposes by the German Lutheran missionaries who first arrived at Simbang, a Yabem-speaking village, in 1885. Because the missionaries arrived first in Yabem was the first language which the missionaries created a writing system for because that was the language they first encountered when they arrived. They even created a school system to provide education for the Yabem community.
By 1939, it was spoken by as many as 15,000 people, and understood by as many as 100,000 (Zahn 1940). In the decade after World War II, the mission's network of schools managed to educate 30,000 students using Yabem as the medium of instruction (Streicher 1982). Although the usage of Yabem as a local lingua franca was replaced by Tok Pisin, which was used in informal everyday life such as religious meetings and the workplace, and English, which was used in more formal institutions such as education and government in the 1950s, Yabem remains one of the best documented Austronesian languages, with extensive instructional and liturgical materials (including many original compositions, not just translations from German or English) as well as grammars and dictionaries. The government wanted an easier assimilation to Western culture and values and access to their superior educational resources, so English was the most efficient language of instruction. Regardless, the transition from the usage of Kâte and Yabem, which are languages with local origins, to Tok Pisin and English, which are languages with foreign origins, affected the dynamic of the people and their view of language and the church in a somewhat negative light.
It also shares a close relationship with the Kela and Bukawa languages. In fact, many people who speak Bukawa also speak Yabem.
Yabem's current language status is "Threatened." Its alternative names include Laulabu, Jabem, Jabêm, Jabim, Yabim, and Yabêm.
Yabem distinguishes seven vowel qualities.
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