Kei is a member of the Central-Eastern branch of Malayo-Polynesian language family. It has about 85,000 speakers in the Kei/Kai Islands in the Southeast Maluku Regency of Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia. In particular, it is spoken on the islands of Kei Kecil (Little Kai) and Kei Besar (Great Kai) and nearby islands.
Kei is also known as Keiese, Veveu Evav or Veu Evav. There are two main dialects: Kei Kecil and Kei Besar. Speakers of the Kei Besar dialect generally understand the Kei Kecil dialect, which is more widely spoken. However, Kei Kecil speakers do not understand as much Kei Besar, and prefer to use Malay or Indonesian with Kei Besar speakers.
Kei was first written by Dutch missionaries using the Latin alphabet. There is currently no official spelling system.
Information about Kei
Page created: 19.06.23. Last modified: 19.06.23
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