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| Pawaia | |
|---|---|
| Region | Papua New Guinea |
Native speakers | (6,000 cited 2000)[1] |
Papuan Gulf ?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pwa |
| Glottolog | pawa1255 |
| ELP | Pawaia |
 Map: The Pawaia language of New Guinea The Pawaia language Trans–New Guinea languages Other Papuan languages Austronesian languages Uninhabited | |
Pawaia, also known asSira, Tudahwe, Yasa, is a Papuan language that forms a tentative independent branch of theTrans–New Guinea family in the classification ofMalcolm Ross (2005).
Pawaia is spoken in:[1]
Although Pawaia has reflexes of proto-Trans–New Guinea vocabulary, Ross considers its inclusion questionable on available evidence. Usher classifies it instead with theTeberan languages. Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) leave it as unclassified rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea.[4]
Pawley and Hammarström (2018) do not consider there to be sufficient evidence for Pawaia to be classified as part ofTrans-New Guinea, though they do note the following lexical resemblances between Pawaia andproto-Trans-New Guinea.[4]
| Labial | Alveolar | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k |
| Fricative | s | h | |
| Nasal | m | n | |
| Approximant | w | l | j |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | iĩ | uũ | |
| Mid | eẽ | oõ | |
| Low | aã | ɔɔ̃ |
Pawaia is alsotonal, contrasting high and low tone.[5]
The following basic vocabulary words are from Macdonald (1973)[6] and Trefry (1969),[5] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[7]
| gloss | Pawaia |
|---|---|
| head | mu |
| hair | muse; sị |
| ear | nȩᶦ; nɛ̣i |
| eye | to; toᵘ |
| nose | ho; họ |
| tooth | su |
| tongue | ha̧pi; hɛmina |
| leg | hɛ; si̧ʔi̧ |
| louse | po; poř |
| dog | hạ; hɛ̧ |
| pig | ya |
| bird | deř; ge |
| egg | ge džu; yo |
| blood | sɛni; su̧ |
| bone | džɛmɛ; yɛmi |
| skin | hɛʔȩ; hɛi |
| breast | ɛmi |
| tree | i̧; in |
| man | džʌʔla; yala |
| woman | oi; u |
| sun | ol; olsuɛ; sia |
| moon | we; wɛ |
| water | sa |
| fire | sia |
| stone | tobu; topu |
| road, path | sụ |
| name | hɛʔɛpi; hopi |
| eat | hatisụɛ; ti haʔayɛ |
| one | pɛʔɛmi; pomi |
| two | naʔau; nau |
Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". InAndrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.).Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66.doi:10.15144/PL-572.ISBN 0858835622.OCLC 67292782.