Rawa

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A language of Papua New Guinea

ISO 639-3
rwo
Alternate Names
Erawa, Erewa, Raua
Population

11,500 (1998 SIL), increasing. 7,000 Rawa and 4,500 Karo.

Location

Madang Province. Rawa dialect: Upper Ramu district; Karo dialect: Rai Coast district; dialects on opposite sides of Finisterre Range.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Trans-New Guinea, Finisterre-Huon, Finisterre, Gusap-Mot
Dialects

Karo, Rawa.

Typology

SOV

Language Use

Due to migration, use of Tok Pisin [tpi] increasing. All domains with same dialect speaker. All ages. Very positive attitudes. Traditionally women who married into the group learned Rawa; now they use more Tok Pisin [tpi]. Slowly shifting to Tok Pisin.

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 20% (Rawa), below 10% (Karo). Literacy rate in L2: 10%–20% can read Tok Pisin [tpi]. Taught in primary schools. Poetry. Dictionary. NT: 1992–2001.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Rawa
Writing
Latin script.
Other Comments

People report Rawa and Karo dialects seem to be drifting apart. Christian, traditional religion.