Aghu language

This article is about the Papuan language. For the Australian language, see Aghu Tharrnggala language.

Aghu, or Central Awyu, is a Papuan language of South Papua, Indonesia. It may actually be two languages, depending on one's criteria for a 'language'. The two varieties are: Mappi River Awyu (Aghu) and Pasue River Awyu (Nohon, Mitak).^[2]

Aghu
Central Awyu
Region	South Papua, Indonesia
Native speakers	(<14,000 cited 1987–2002)[1]
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Greater Awyu Awyu–Dumut Awyu Aghu
Dialects	Aghu Nohon
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: ahh – Aghu awu – Central Awyu
Glottolog	mapp1234

Phonology

The phonology of the Aghu language:^[3]

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d~ɾ		ɡ
Fricative		f	s~ʃ		x
Approximant		w		j

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i iː	y yː		u uː
Mid	ɛ ɛː			ɔ ɔː
Open			a aː

The front rounded vowel /y/ is unusual among local languages in Indonesia, but it can also be found in few others such as Ulumanda’. At the ends of words, vowels may appear both long and nasalized. This occurs historically where there was a final nasal /m/ or /n/. Within words, rather than nasal vowels there are sequences of vowel plus nasal consonant which matches the articulation of the following consonant. Thus nasal vowels may be analyzed as /Vn/ or /VN/.