Guhu-Samane, also known as Bia, Mid-Waria, Muri, Paiawa, Tahari, is a divergent Trans–New Guinea language that is related to the Binanderean family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005).
The divergence of Guhu-Samane from other Binanderean languages may be due to extensive historical contact with Oceanic languages such as Numbami.Bradshaw, Joel (2017). Evidence of contact between Binanderean and Oceanic languages. Oceanic Linguistics 56:395–414.
Dialects Smallhorn (2011:131) gives the following dialects: Kipu (most widely spoken) Bapi Garaina Sekare Sinaba The dialect differences are principally lexical, but two voiced obstruents also show regular variants. The coronal obstruent is realized as /dz/ upriver in Bapi and Garaina, /d/ downriver to Asama, and /j/ farther downriver in Papua. The voiced bilabial is realized as /b/ inland but as /w/ at the coast (Sinaba and Paiawa) (Handman 2015:102).
References
Handman, Courtney. 2015. Critical Christianity: Translation and denominational conflict in Papua New Guinea. Oakland: University of California Press.
Smallhorn, Jacinta Mary. 2011. The Binanderean languages of Papua New Guinea: reconstruction and subgrouping. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Further reading