Pawaia, also known as ''Sira, Tudahwe, Yasa'', is a Papuan language that forms a tentative independent branch of the
Trans–New Guinea family in the classification of
Malcolm Ross (2005).
Distribution
Pawaia is spoken in:
[
*]Chimbu Province
Chimbu, more frequently spelled Simbu, is a province in the Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea. The province has an area of 6,112 km2 and a population of 376,473 (2011 census). The capital of the province is Kundiawa. Mount Wilhelm, the ta ...
: Karimui District
* Eastern Highlands Province: Lufa District
Lufa District is a district of the Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Ste ...
and Okapa District
Okapa District is a district of the Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen St ...
, Lamari River
Lamari River is a river that originates in Kratke Range in the south central highlands of Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.
It flows into the Purari River basin. Population
Awa speaking indigenous people populate Lamari river basin. ...
* Gulf Province: Baimuru Rural LLG, Purari River Purari may refer to:
* Purari River, Papua New Guinea
*Purari language
Purari (Namau) is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea.
Names
Purari is also known as ''Koriki, Evorra, I'ai, Maipua,'' and ''Namau.'' "Namau" is a colonial term which mea ...
near Oroi
Classification
Although Pawaia has reflexes of proto-Trans–New Guinea vocabulary, Ross considers its inclusion questionable on available evidence. Usher classifies it instead with the Teberan languages
The Teberan languages are a well established family of Papuan languages that Stephen Wurm (1975) grouped with the Pawaia language as a branch of the Trans–New Guinea phylum.
There are two Teberan languages, Dadibi and Folopa (Podopa). They ...
. Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) leave it as unclassified rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea.
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary words are from Macdonald (1973) and Trefry (1969), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:
Further reading
*Trefry, David. 1969. ''A Comparative Study of Kuman and Pawaian''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
References
External links
* Timothy Usher, New Guinea World
Pawaia
{{language families
Languages of Papua New Guinea
Teberan–Pawaian languages