Iyo language

Iyo
Nahu
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionMorobe Province
Native speakers
6,900 (2003)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nca
Glottologiyoo1238

Iyo is a language spoken in the Madang Province of Papua New Guinea that comes from the Trans-New Guinea language family. Iyo also goes by the names Bure, Naho, Nabu, and Nahu. It has about 6,900 speakers. The Iyo language was previously known as Nahu because the first discovered speakers of the language lived in villages along the Nahu river. The name changed due to other communities speaking the same language but having different names for it. It was decided to call the language 'Iyo', which is the word for 'yes', after the leaders in the communities agreed to it.[2]

  1. ^ Iyo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Minter, Paul (2009). Iyo Grammar Sketch. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: SIL-PNG Academic Publications. pp. 1–107. ISBN 9980035277.