Yagwoia language

Yagwoia, or Kokwaiyakwa, is an Angan language of Papua New Guinea. Dialects are named after the five ethnicities, Iwalaqamalje, Hiqwaye, Hiqwase, Gwase, Heqwangilye.

Distribution

Yagwoia is spoken in:

Eastern Highlands Province: Iqwalaqamalje
Gulf Province: Gwase
Morobe Province: Hiqwase, Hiqwaye, and Yeqwangilje

Phonology

/p t k/ tend to become voiced in clusters with nasals or /l/.
/m n ŋ l/ can be syllabic.
/s/ is in free variation with . Older speakers tend to pronounce it as .
/t/ can often be heard as .

	Front	Central	Back
High
Mid
Low

/ɨ/ is rare.

Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /ei/, /ai/, /ae/, /au/, /ou/.
Yagwoia is tonal, distinguishing high and low tone. However, tone has a low functional load, and so remains unwritten.