Yoke language

Yoke
Pauwi
Native toIndonesia
RegionYoke village, Mamberamo Hilir District, Mamberamo Raya Regency, Papua
Native speakers
(200 cited 1998)
Language codes
ISO 639-3yki
Glottologyoke1239
ELPYoke

Yoke is a poorly documented language spoken by about 200 people in the north of Papua, Indonesia. The name is also spelled Yoki, Yauke, and it is also known as Bitovondo. It was spoken in a single village in the interior until the government relocated a third of the population to a new village, Mantarbori, on the coast. In the late 19th century, a word list of "Pauwi" was collected by Robidé van der Aa at Lake Rombebai, where the Yoke say they migrated from; this is transparently Yoke, apart from some words which do not appear in the modern language but are found in related Warembori.