Ek Nii
| Nii | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
Papua New Guinea | |
| speaker | about 12,000 | |
| Linguistic classification |
|
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
- |
|
| ISO 639 -2 |
paa |
|
| ISO 639-3 |
nii |
|
Ek Nii (Nii) is a Trans New Guinea language spoken in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea . In 1991 the language had 12,000 speakers, relatively few compared to the more important neighboring languages such as Melpa . In addition to the Creole language Tok Pisin and the official language English, many of the Nii speakers also speak one or more of the indigenous neighboring languages.
There is little written material written in the language. Parts of the Bible have been translated into Ek Nii, but are rarely or not at all used on site. School lessons in the lower grades are partly in Tok Pisin, otherwise in English.
Due to the proximity to the Highlands Highway, the Nii speakers have relatively good transport links.
The fertile soils of the Wahgi Valley enable the local subsistence farmers to grow primarily sweet potatoes and coffee . There are also commercial tea plantations . Before the introduction of metal tools in the middle of the 20th century, the flint mine located in the area , the only one in the vicinity of several day trips, secured the residents a good economic position.