Foia Foia language

Foia Foia (Foyafoya), or Minanibai,^[2] is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea, spoken in an area near the Omati River mouth in Ikobi Kairi and Goaribari Census districts (Gulf Province).

Foia Foia
Minanibai
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Native speakers	(180 cited 2000 census)[1] 300 Minanibai reported 1980[1]
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Fly River (Anim) Inland Gulf Foia Foia
Dialects	Mahigi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: ffi – Foia Foia mcv – Minanibai
Glottolog	mina1274  Minanibai mahi1249  Mahigi

Mahigi, a Foia Foia dialect documented in a word list by Cridland (1924), is now extinct.^[3]

Locations

Foia Foia is spoken in Bibisa village (7.666925°S 143.177088°E / -7.666925; 143.177088 (Bibisa)), Bamu Rural LLG, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.^[4][5]

Minanbai is spoken in Moka (7.282409°S 143.461072°E / -7.282409; 143.461072 (Moka No. 1)) and Pepeha (7.655742°S 144.007263°E / -7.655742; 144.007263 (Pepeha)) villages of West Kikori Rural LLG, Gulf Province.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		ä ⟨ā⟩	ɑ ⟨a⟩

Consonants

	Labial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Voiceless stop	p		t	k	ʔ ⟨ʼ⟩
Voiced stop	b		d	g
Voiceless fricative	ɸ ⟨f⟩	f	s		h
Approximant	w		l

Bibliography

Word lists

• Carr, Philip J. 1991 Foyafoya (Bibisa, W.P. at Kamusi), Hoyahoya (Matakaia, W.P. at Gagoro), Hoyahoya/Hoiahoia (Ukusi-Koperami, W.P. two young men visiting Torobina). Manuscript.
• 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.)
• Franklin, Karl J. 1973. Appendices. In: Franklin (ed.), 539–592.
• Johnston, H. L. C. 1920. Vocabulary of Eme-Eme. British New Guinea Annual Report 1919–1920: 120.