Orokaiva is a Papuan language spoken in the "tail" of Papua New Guinea.

Varieties

Orokaiva is spoken in 200 villages around Popondetta in Oro Province.

Hunjara is spoken in Kokoda Rural LLG of Oro Province.

Aeka is spoken in Tamata Rural LLG of Oro Province.^[1]

Phonology

Consonants

• Voiced stops /b, d, ɡ/ may fluctuate to prenasalized stop sounds [ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑɡ] in word-initial position. The prenasalized stop sounds are also heard among the voiced stops when in post-nasal sequences.

• /b/ can be heard as [β] in intervocalic positions, and may also be heard as a voiced bilabial rounded fricative [β̹] when before /a/ in intervocalic positions..
• /d/ may occur as flap sounds [ɾ, ɽ, ɺ] in free fluctuation in word-medial positions, except when after a nasal sound.
• /d͡z/ may have fluctuating allophones of [d͡ʒ, ʒ] occurring in syllable-initial positions.
• Word-final nasal sounds /-n, -ŋ/ when after a vowel, may result in vowel nasalization [Ṽ].

Vowels

• Sounds [i, u, a] can have allophones [ɪ, ʊ, ʌ].