Tabo language


Tabo, also known as Waia, is a Papuan language of Western Province, Papua New Guinea, just north of the Fly River delta. The language has also been known as Hiwi and Hibaradai.
Tabo means ‘word, mouth’ and is the name of the language, whereas Waia is the name of one of the ten villages where Tabo is spoken.

Classification

Tabo is not close to other languages. Evans classifies it as a language isolate. Usher includes it in the Trans-Fly family. Part of the uncertainty is because many of the attested words of Tabo are loans from Gogodala or Kiwai, reducing the number of native Tabo words that can be used for comparison and thus making classification difficult.

Demographics

In Gogodala Rural LLG, Western Province, Papua New Guinea, Tabo is spoken in:
It is spoken by 3,500 people mainly in the southern part Bamu Rural LLG of Western Province.

Phonology

The phonemic inventory of Tabo is given below.
;Consonants: b, d, ɡ, p, t, k, m, n, l, w, j, h, s
;Vowels: i, e, æ, a, o, u