Suau

SWP

wider communication

Alternate Names: Iou

Dialects: Bona Bona, Bonarua, Dahuni, Lausaha (Daui, Fife Bay), Leileiafa, Sinaki (Gadaisu, Gaidasu), Suau.

Status Notes: A lingua franca around the south-eastern tip of Papua New Guinea.

Genealogy:

Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian
Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian
Eastern Malayo-Polynesian
Oceanic
Western Oceanic
Papuan Tip
Nuclear
Suauic

Demographics: 6,800 (Wurm and Hattori 1981). 680 monolinguals. L2 users: 14,000.

Language Use: Sinaki dialect speakers also use Buhutu [bxh]. Used as L2 by Bauwaki [bwk], Binahari [bxz], Buhutu [bxh], Bwanabwana [tte], Domu [dof], Haigwai [hgw], Magori [zgr], Maiwala [mum], Morawa [mze], Saliba [sbe], Tawala [tbo], Wagawaga [wgb], Yaleba [ylb].

Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: high. NT: 1956–1962.

Writing System: Latin

Nation of Origin: Papua New Guinea