Watiwa is a Rai Coast language of

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 Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It is spoken by some 500 people living in six villages in

Madang Province Madang is a province of Papua New Guinea. The province is on the northern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea and has many of the country's highest peaks, active volcanoes and its biggest mix of languages. The capital is the town of Madang. D ...

, including Bebei () and Dumpu () villages of

Usino Rural LLG Usino Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Wards *01. Bumbu (Mari language speakers) *06. Sankain (Mari language speakers) *07. Dumpu (Watiwa language speakers) *08. Kesawai *09. Aliveti *10. Koropa * ...

. It is more commonly known as Dumpu, but this is the name of one of the six villages, and is not accepted as a name for the language. Surviving mostly as a secret language with which to talk amongst themselves when outsiders are present, the majority of the speakers use

Tok Pisin Tok Pisin (,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh ; Tok Pisin ), often referred to by English speakers as "New Guinea Pidgin" or simply Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an ...

in daily life. Due to its increasingly rare use, it is estimated that this language will be extinct in a few decades.

References

Rai Coast languages Languages of Madang Province Endangered Papuan languages {{Madang-lang-stub