ʼAuhelawa language

ʼAuhelawa is an Austronesian language found in Nuakata Island and the southeastern tip of Normanby Island in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea.^[2] It was spoken by about 1,200 people in 1998, 30% of whom were monolingual in the language.^{[citation needed]}

The literacy rate for first-language speakers is 85%, and is also 85% for second-language users. There are translated Bible portions into the language from 1986–1993.^{[citation needed]}

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A: Auge, yauwedo. Haidova u lalau? ('My friend, hello. Where are you going?')

B: Ya lalau oyai. Yagu oya vauvauna ya tudai. Owa haidova u lau? ('I am going to the garden. I dig my new garden. Where did you go?')

A: Ya dobi gogowai yada bada ehebo ya ita. Teina gona sabate mata yana vada vauvauna ya abi. ('I went down to the village to see one of our uncles. Next week I will build his new house.')

B: Yau dova nuwanuwagu yada bada ya hagui. Ebe u dobi u vada abi, u lauma u vaigau ta dobi ta paihowa. ('I also want to help our uncle. When you go down to housebuild, you come and get me and we go down and work.')

A: Ausala. Mata ta itago. ('Good. We will see you.')

• /k/ occurs only in loanwords.

ʼAuhelawa is written in the Latin script. About 85% of the population is literate.^{[citation needed]}