# Piawi languages

The Piawi languages are a small family of Papuan languages spoken in the Schraeder Range of the Madang Highlands of Papua New Guinea that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal. They are now connected to the Arafundi and Madang languages.
The name "Piawi" is an acronym of three language varieties: Pinai (Pinaye), Aramo/Aramaue (Hagahai) and Wiyaw (Harway/Waibuk). Pinai and Hagahai are often classified as a single language.

## Classification

Piawi consists of only two languages:
* Piawi family: Pinai-Hagahai, Haruai (Waibuk)
Davies and Comrie (1985) noted some pronominal similarities with the Engan languages in Trans–New Guinea, which Ross took into consideration, but no lexical similarities. Comrie believes the family is as isolate. William A. Foley suggested that Piawi and Arafundi may be related (Comrie 1992), and according to Ross a connection with Arafundi or Ramu appears more promising than Engan. Timothy Usher confirms the link to Arafundi.

## Pronouns

Below is a comparison of proto-Piawi, proto-Ramu, Arafundi, and proto-North Engan pronouns, per Ross. Initial nasals are ubiquitous, and indeed are very common throughout New Guinea, so they are in themselves not good evidence of a relationship.
| | "I" | "thou" | "s/he" | "we two" | "you two" | "we" | "you" |
| p-Piawi | *ni-ga | *na-ga | *nu-ga | *(n)ane-ga-li(mi) | *ni-ga-li(mi) | *ane-ga, *nane-ga | *ni-ga |
| p-Ramu | *aŋko, *ni | *un, *nu | *man | *a-ŋk-a | *(n)o-ŋk-oa | *a-ni, *na-ni | *u-ni, *nu-ni |
| Arafundi | ɲiŋ | nan | nda | aci | niɲi | aŋ | nuŋ |
| p-N Engan | *na-ba | *ne-ba | *-ba | *na-li-ba | *ɲa-li-mba | *na-ni-ma | *ɲa-ma, *ɲa-ka-ma |
Both Engan and Piawi have a dual suffix *li.

## Vocabulary comparison

The following basic vocabulary words are from Davies & Comrie (1985), as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database. The Haruai data is from Tonson (1976).
The words cited constitute translation equivalents, whether they are cognate (e.g. waɲa, wəɲa, wɛɲa for “dog”) or not (e.g. haŋietʰ, nauŋasi, namagə for “nose”).
| gloss | Haruai (Wiyaw dial.) | Pinai-Hagahai (Wakadadap dial.) | Pinai-Hagahai (Nangenuwetan dial.) | Pinai-Hagahai (Aramo dial.) | Haruai | Pinai-Hagahai |
| head | ˈjeʥ̮ᵊˈmat̮ɑ | ɩʥ̮ɩboˈʥ̮ɛ | idᴶibəˈdᴶə | iʥ̮uəˈxə | yɛtʸəmatʸ | ɩʥ̮ɩˈboʥ̮ɛ |
| hair | jeʥ̮ᵊˈϕan | ɩʥ̮ɷmuˈda | idᴶimuˈda | iˌʥ̮iməˈda | yɛntʸəᵽan | ɩʥ̮ɷmɷˈda |
| ear | ɾ̥ɨmɨnt̮ɕ | jɛnɷaˈʥ̮ə | jənˈwadᴶə | jɛnˈwaϕe | | jɛnuˈaʥ̮ɩ |
| eye | ˈmomakʰ | məmɛˈʥ̮i | mɛmɛˈdᴶi | mɛmɛʥ̮əˈmagə | mɛmaŋk | mɛmɛˈʥ̮i |
| nose | haŋiˈetʰ | nauˈŋasi | namaˈga | namaˈgə | haŋantʸ | namaˈgə |
| tooth | andzᵊmakᵡ | ad̮ʑuaˈbə | adᴶuˈabɤ | ˌjɛd̮ʑɩ ˈmagə | | ad̮ʑuaˈβə |
| tongue | alᵊˈbʌɲ | t̮suˈə; t̮suˈɛ | suˈwɔ | suˈə; syê | | sjuˈə |
| leg | ϕaˈletʰ | əˈda; həˈda | ˌaɤɔjɔˈdu | həˈdaməˈsi | | aˈɽɐd̮ʑə |
| louse | jɩm | nəˈma | ɭɛˈma | iˈmɤd̮ʑi | yɩm | |
| dog | waɲa | wəˈɲa; wɛˈɲa | wəˈɲa | wɛˈɲa | wañə | wɛˈɲa |
| pig | han | jɛˈnə | jɛˈnɤ | jɛˈnɤ | han | jɛˈnə |
| bird | ˈjaʷər | jauˈr̥ɷ; jauˈtʰɷ | jauˈt͑u | jauˈthə | yawʌř | jauˈr̥u; jauˈthu |
| egg | jaur mɩntɕ | | ˈjautʰumuˈsi | jauˈt͑umuˈsi | məntʸ | |
| blood | haɲ | geˈja | aˈt͑aɤi | gaˈja | | |
| bone | jantʰ | joˈdu | jɔˈdu | jɛˈdə | | |
| skin | jɩmaɤ wɨɲ | ɽəˈxa | ɭIˈk͑a | wɩˈɲi | wəñ | Iˈda |
| breast | kau | aˈu | aˈu | aˈhu | | |
| tree | bɨ | məˈna | muˈna | mɤˈna | bï | |
| man | ˈnabʌ | naˈba | naˈba | naˈba | nʌmbə | woˈdu |
| woman | mʌ | jaˈma | jəˈma | məˈgə | mʌg | jamˈwa |
| sun | naijʌ | ɽəˈma | nuˈma | ɽəˈma | naiyə | |
| moon | r̥̃ʌn | tsoxɷˈno | sɔkᵡɷˈnə | sɔˈkɷnə | hřawən | |
| water | ɾ̥aˈbʌ | gɯ | gɯ | gɯ | hřʌmbə | |
| fire | ɾ̥ᵼn | ɲabɯ; ɲabu | ɲaˈbu | ɲaˈbɤ | hřən ᵽin | |
| stone | ɾ̥ɩgɨ | ɽɩˈgə | ɭɨˈgə | ɽɩˈgə | hřəŋk | ɽɩˈgə |
| road, path | ganɨmϕ | ˈsaba ʥɩmur̥əmam | ˈdᴶɩmɷtʰɩ | ˈdiədə | anəmbi | |
| name | hʌmpʰ | mɛˈi | aˈt̮ɕaβəde | nabamɩˈhe | yɩmpʰ | |
| eat | nɨmˈda | jaˈd̮ʑi | ja⋅ˈdᴶɩmɩnə | ˌmoməˈdɛɽə | | |
| one | waɲɩŋˈgeϕ | joɽoˈdə | ˈjɔ⋅ɤɔdə | aˈgə | paŋɛmp | |
| two | jɩˈmag ˈjɩŋgʷʌ | janˈdɛɽimi | ˈjadaɤɩn | ˌhəgəˈnaβəmaˈɨ | mʌs | |