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)[1]
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