Ewage language

Ewage
Notu
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionOro Province
Native speakers
12,000 (2015)[1]
Dialects
  • Ewage-Notu
  • Yega (Gona, Okeina, Okena)
Language codes
ISO 639-3nou
Glottologewag1241

Ewage, also known as Notu, is a Papuan language spoken in the "tail" of Papua New Guinea. Preference for the name depends on the region. Its two dialects are Sose/Sohe (Western Plains Orokaiva) and Ifane/Ihane (Eastern Plains Orokaiva) (Smallhorn 2011:47).

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ
Plosive voiceless t k
voiced b d ɡ
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Affricate voiced dz
prenasal ⁿdz
Fricative ɸ s ɣ
Rhotic ɾ
Approximant w (l) j
  • /ᵑɡ/ can be pronounced as [ŋ] when in word-medial position.
  • /w/ can be pronounced as [β] when before front vowels /i, ɛ/.
  • /ɾ/ can be pronounced as [l] or [ɾ] in free variation in all positions.[2]
Vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid ɛ ɔ
Low a

References

  1. ^ Ewage at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Parrington, Doug (1994). Ewage (Notu-Ewage, Notu) Language [NOU] Popondetta – Oro Province. Organised Phonology Data: SIL.
  • Smallhorn, Jacinta Mary. 2011. The Binanderean languages of Papua New Guinea: reconstruction and subgrouping. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.