Pagi, or Bembi, is a

Papuan language The Papuan languages are the non-Austronesian and non- Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...

spoken by 2,000 people in five villages in

Sandaun Province Sandaun Province (formerly West Sepik Province) is the northwesternmost mainland Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province of Papua New Guinea. It covers an area of 35,920 km2 (13868 m2) and has a population of 248,411 (2011 census). The capita ...

and in Vanimo District of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, near the border with Indonesian Papua.

Overview

The name "Bewani" attributes to the mountains that form a boundary between

Vanimo Vanimo is the capital of Sandaun Province (West Sepik) in north-westernmost Papua New Guinea and of Vanimo-Green River District. It is located on a peninsula close to the border with Indonesia. Religion Its Holy Cross Pro-Cathedral is the epi ...

and Amanab Districts. The ''Imbinis'' dialect of Pagi is spoken in ''Imbinis'' () and ''Imbio'' () villages. Neighboring languages include Ainbai and Kilmeri, also Border languages belonging to the Bewani branch.

Usage

''Pagi'' is spoken near Bewani Station (), Idoli (), and Amoi () villages in

Bewani-Wutung Onei Rural LLG Bewani/Wutung Onei Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. Bewani languages and Skou languages are spoken in the LLG. Wards *01. Wutung ( Wutung language speakers) *02. Musu ( Wutung language speaker ...

Tok Pisin Tok Pisin (,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh ; Tok Pisin ), often referred to by English speakers as "New Guinea Pidgin" or simply Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an ...

is generally used by the government officials and in families where husband and wife belong to communities speaking different indigenous languages. The region is also influenced by English, which is the main language used in schools of the region, accompanied occasionally by Tok Pisin.Brown, Robert. 1981
A sociolinguistic survey of Pagi and Kilmeri
Workpapers in Papua New Guinea Languages 29. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

References

{{Border languages (New Guinea) Border languages (New Guinea) Languages of Sandaun Province