Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 14, 2026

Ipiko language

Ipiko is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea, the most divergent of the Inland Gulf languages. Despite being spoken by only a few hundred people, language use is vigorous. It is spoken in Ipiko and Pakemuba villages, with Ipiko village being located in Amipoke ward, Baimuru Rural LLG, Kikori District, Gulf Province.

Last revised
Jul 14, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
204 w
Citations
4
Source
Ipiko
RegionPapua New Guinea
Native speakers
350 (2003)1
Language codes
ISO 639-3ipo
Glottologipik1244
ELPIpiko

Ipiko (Epai, Higa, Ipikoi) is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea, the most divergent of the Inland Gulf languages. Despite being spoken by only a few hundred people, language use is vigorous. It is spoken in Ipiko (7°26′08″S 144°52′37″E / 7.435678°S 144.876902°E / -7.435678; 144.876902 (Ipiko)) and Pakemuba (7°26′43″S 144°50′53″E / 7.445341°S 144.848146°E / -7.445341; 144.848146 (Pakemba)) villages,2 with Ipiko village being located in Amipoke ward, Baimuru Rural LLG, Kikori District, Gulf Province.32

Bibliography

Bibliography

Word lists
  • Chance, Sydney H. 1926. Vocabulary of Ipikoi. British New Guinea Annual Report 1925–1926: 91–91.
  • Petterson, Robert. 1999. Rumu – English – Hiri-Motu Dictionary. Palmerston North, New Zealand: International Pacific College.
  • Z’graggen, John A. 1975. Comparative wordlists of the Gulf District and adjacent Areas. In: Richard Loving (ed.), Comparative Wordlists I. 5–116. Ukarumpa: SIL-PNG. (Rearranged version of Franklin ed. 1973: 541–592) with typographical errors.)
References

References

  1. Ipiko at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.
  3. Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Papua New Guinea languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.