Alternate Names: Waano
Dialects: Central Wano, East Wano, West Wano. Reportedly similar to Nggem ,, and Walak ,. Lexical similarity: 65% with Western Dani ,.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 1,000 (2011), decreasing. 200 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 1,000. L2 users: 0.
Language Use: Under pressure from Western Dani [dnw] and Indonesian [ind] (Wurm 2007). Religious services, home, field, community, oral. Most ages. Negative attitudes. Little interest in language revival, low prestige, considered inferior to Western Dani [dnw] and Indonesian [ind]. Also use Dem [dem], Indonesian [ind], Moni [mnz], Western Dani [dnw]. Used as L2 by Duvle [duv].
Language Development: Bible portions: 1979–1989.
Typology: SOV; postpositions; possessor before noun head; articles, adjectives, numerals, and relatives after noun head; question words initial in VP, final with demonstratives; 2 prefixes, 5 suffixes; bare-root with complex verbal morphology, switch reference and (or) delayed vs. immediate sequential, tail-head linkage; (C)V(C); final stress; nontonal.
Nation of Origin: Indonesia
Other Comments: Traditional religion, Christian.