Sanio language

Not to be confused with Hewa language.

Sanio, or more precisely Saniyo-Hiyewe, is a Sepik language of Tunap/Hunstein Rural LLG in East Sepik Province, northern Papua New Guinea. It is also spoken in Telefomin Rural LLG, Sandaun Province.^[1]

Sanio
Hiowe
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	East Sepik Province
Native speakers	(1,300 cited 2000 census)[1]
Language family	Sepik Sepik Hill Sanio
Dialects	Saniyo Hiyowe
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sny
Glottolog	sani1270
ELP	Saniyo-Hiyewe

Dialects

Dialects are:^[1][2]

• Hiyowe dialect, spoken in Maposi village (4.547475°S 142.220638°E / -4.547475; 142.220638 (Maposi)) of Tunap-Hunstein Rural LLG
• Saniyo dialect, spoken in Hanasi (4.523215°S 142.375861°E / -4.523215; 142.375861 (Hanasi)), Malapute’e (4.58544°S 142.33631°E / -4.58544; 142.33631 (Moropotei)), Pukapuki, Salunapi (4.551342°S 142.343271°E / -4.551342; 142.343271 (Saurinapi)), and Sio (4.450431°S 142.316392°E / -4.450431; 142.316392 (Sio)) villages of Tunap-Hunstein Rural LLG

Phonology

Consonants^[3]

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p	t		k	ʔ ⟨'⟩
Fricative	ɸ ⟨f⟩	s			h
Nasal	m	n
Approximant	w	r	j

• /r/ has the allophone [l] word-initially, which is written with the separate character ⟨l⟩.
• /ʔ/ only appears intervocalically.

Vowels^[3]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid-high	e ⟨ei⟩		o
Mid-low	ɛ ⟨e⟩
Low		a

• /ɛ/ is pronounced [ei] before /j/. In this case it is written as ⟨ei⟩.

Additionally, the following diphthongs can be found: /ai/, /au/, /ou/.