Wiru language
Language spoken in Papua New Guinea
title: "Wiru language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["teberan–pawaian-languages", "languages-of-southern-highlands-province"] description: "Language spoken in Papua New Guinea" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiru_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Language spoken in Papua New Guinea ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Wiru |
| altname | Witu |
| states | Papua New Guinea |
| region | Ialibu-Pangia District, |
| Southern Highlands Province | |
| ethnicity | Wiru |
| speakers | 15,300 |
| date | 1967, repeated 1981 |
| ref | e18 |
| familycolor | Papuan |
| fam1 | Papuan Gulf ? |
| fam2 | Teberan–Pawaian |
| iso3 | wiu |
| glotto | wiru1244 |
| glottorefname | Wiru |
| script | Latin |
| map | Wiru language.svg |
| mapcaption | Map: The Wiru language of New Guinea |
| :: |
|name=Wiru |altname=Witu |states=Papua New Guinea |region=Ialibu-Pangia District, Southern Highlands Province |ethnicity=Wiru |speakers=15,300 |date=1967, repeated 1981 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Papuan |fam1=Papuan Gulf ? |fam2=Teberan–Pawaian |iso3=wiu |glotto=wiru1244 |glottorefname=Wiru |script=Latin |map=Wiru language.svg |mapcaption=Map: The Wiru language of New Guinea
Wiru or Witu is the language spoken by the Wiru people of Ialibu-Pangia District of the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. The language has been described by Harland Kerr, a missionary who lived in the Wiru community for many years. Kerr's work with the community produced a Wiru Bible translation and several unpublished dictionary manuscripts, as well as Kerr's Master's thesis on the structure of Wiru verbs.
There are a considerable number of resemblances with the Engan languages, suggesting Wiru might be a member of that family, but language contact has not been ruled out as the reason. Usher classifies it with the Teberan languages.
Phonology
Consonants
::data[format=table]
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Nasal | Plosive | voiceless | prenasal | Liquid | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| () | ||||||||||
| :: |
- can be heard as aspirated in word-initial position and can also be heard with slight friction and voicing, in word-medial positions.
- can be heard as when preceded by and followed by or . It is heard as in all other intervocalic environments.
Vowels
::data[format=table]
| Front | Central | Back | Close | Mid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Pronouns
Trans–New Guinea–like pronouns are no 1sg (
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary words are from Franklin (1973, 1975), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:
::data[format=table]
| gloss | Wiru | head | hair | ear | eye | nose | tooth | tongue | leg | louse | dog | pig | bird | egg | blood | bone | skin | breast | tree | man | woman | sun | moon | water | fire | stone | name | eat | one | two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tobou | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| pine; píne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| kabidi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| lene | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| timini | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| kime | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| keke; keké | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| kawa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| nomo; nomò | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| tue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| kaì | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ini; inì | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| mu̧ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| kamate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| tono | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| kepene | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| adu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| yomo; yomò | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ali | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| atoa; atòa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| lou; loú | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| tokene | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ue; uè | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| toe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| kue; kué | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ibini; ibíni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| nakò; one ne nako | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| odene | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| takuta; ta kutà | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| :: |
Syntax
Wiru has a general noun-modifying clause construction. In this construction, a noun can be modified by a clause that immediately precedes it. The noun may, but need not, correspond to an argument of the modifying clause. Such constructions can be used to express a wide range of semantic relationships between clause and noun. The follow examples all use the same noun-modifying clause construction:
|[No ka-k-u] tono tubea. |1SG stay-PRS-1SG mountain big |'The mountain I am on top of is big.'}}
|[Kia-nea karo pi-k-i] ail-aroa eida piri-ki-ya. |be.red-INF car lie-PRS-2/3PL man-woman there lie-PRS-2/3PL-HAB |'The people who own red cars live there.'}}
|[Kenbra namolo no-k-o] ko ou. |Canberra first come-PST-1PL story say.1SG.FUT |'I'll tell the story about the first time we came to Canberra.'}}
|[Toro pea skul ke poa-rok-o] oi no-ka-l-e... |1PL all school LOC go-OPT-1PL time come-PST-DS-2/3PL... |'The time for all of us to go to school arrived...'}}
The noun-modifying clause construction imposes a falling tone on the head noun. That is, no matter what the lexical tone of the noun that is being modified is, it takes on a high-low tone pattern when it is modified in a noun-modifying clause construction.
Evolution
Wiru reflexes of proto-Trans-New Guinea (pTNG) etyma are:
- ibi(ni) ‘name’
- nomo ‘louse’
- laga ‘ashes’
- tokene ‘moon’
- mane ‘instructions, incantations’
- keda ‘heavy’
- mo- ‘negative prefix’
References
References
- [https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/papuan-gulf/tua-river New Guinea World, Tua River]{{Dead link. (December 2025)
- Kerr, Harland. (13 March 2014). "Witumo Wituda Database".
- Kerr, Harland. (1967). "A preliminary statement of Witu grammar: The syntactic role and structure of the verb". University of Hawaiʻi.
- Kerr, Harland B.. (1967). "A preliminary statement of Witu grammar: the syntactic role and structure of the verb". University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.
- Franklin, K.J. "Other Language Groups in the Gulf District and Adjacent Areas". In Franklin, K. editor, ''The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea''. C-26:261-278. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1973. {{doi. 10.15144/PL-C26.261
- Franklin K.J. 1975. Comments on Proto-Engan. In S.A. Wurm, Ed. ''New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study: Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 263-275.
- Greenhill, Simon. (2016). "TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea".
- (2021). "The Wiru Noun-Modifying Clause Construction". Oceanic Linguistics.
- (2018). "The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide". De Gruyter Mouton.
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