// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Keapara language say to its cousin? "Let's keep in touch.

Keapara
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Central Province
Native speakers	(19,000 cited 2000)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Western Oceanic Papuan Tip Central Sinagoro–Keapara Hula–Keapara Keapara
Language codes
ISO 639-3	khz
Glottolog	keap1239
Coordinates: 10.044°S 147.786°E / -10.044; 147.786

Keapara is an Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea. It is close to, but distinct from, its neighbour Hula.

It has been strongly influenced by Papuan languages.

Dialects

The Keapara language includes several dialectal varieties: Aroma, Babaka, Kamali, Kalo, Keapara (Kerepunu), Kapari, Lalaura, Maopa, Wanigela (Waiori).

Phonology

The following is the phonology of the Kalo dialect of Keapara:

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Velar		Uvular
			plain	lab.	plain	lab.
Plosive	p	t	k	kʷ	q	qʷ
Nasal	m	n
Fricative	v		ɣ
Tap		ɾ
Lateral		l
Glide	w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

Bibliography

• Dutton, T. "Lau'una: another Austronesian remnant on the south-east coast of Papua". In Lynch, J. and Pat, F.'A. editors, Oceanic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Oceanic Linguistics. C-133:61-82. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1996. doi:10.15144/PL-C133.61