Awa language (Papua New Guinea)

Awa is a Kainantu language of Papua New Guinea.

Awa
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Eastern Highlands Province
Native speakers	2,100 (2003)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Kainantu–Goroka Kainantu Gauwa Awa
Language codes
ISO 639-3	awb
Glottolog	awap1236

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

	Bilabial		Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		m		n
Stop	p	b	t				k	g	ʔ
Affricate			t̪s
Approximant					j		w
Trill				r

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Low	æ		ɑ

Allophones

• /p/, /t/, and /k/ are [β], [ɾ], and [ɣ] intervocalically after mid and back vowels
• /r/ is [d] following the vowel [i], and [r] elsewhere
• /t̪s/ is voiced [d̪z] after a nasal consonant
• /j/ may be pronounced [z]

Phonotactics

• Syllables follow the structure (C)V(C)
• The phonemes /b/, /g/, /r/, and /j/ do not occur word initially
• /ʔ/ is the only consonant occurring word finally

Tone

• Awa has the high, low, rising, and falling tonemes