Dano language

Dano
Dano
Native to	Papua New Guinea
Region	Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province
Native speakers	(30,000 cited 1987)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea Kainantu–Goroka Goroka Gahuku Dano; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aso
Glottolog	dano1240

Last updated January 02, 2026

Dano (Upper Asaro) is a Papuan language spoken by about 30,000 people in Upper Asaro Rural LLG, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.

Phonology

Consonants
		Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	k	ʔ
Plosive	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	( ɸ )	s		h
Fricative	voiced	β	z	ɣ
Nasal		m	n
Approximant			l	( j )
Flap			( ɺ )

/z, h/ can be pronounced as either [j, ɸ].
/β, ɣ/ can be palatalized [ʲ] when before back vowels.
/l/ can also commonly be heard as an alveolar flap [ɺ].
/ⁿd/ can also be heard as a prenasal dental [ⁿ̪d̪].^[2]^[3]

Vowels
	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

References

↑ Dano at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Strange, David (April 1992). Upper Asaro (Dano) Language [ASO]. Organised Phonology Data: SIL.
↑ Strange, David (1973). Indicative and Subjunctive in Upper Asaro. Linguistics, Vol. 11, No. 110: De Gruyter, Mouton. pp. 82–97.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

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[e18-1] Dano at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Strange, David (April 1992). Upper Asaro (Dano) Language [ASO]. Organised Phonology Data: SIL.

[3] Strange, David (1973). Indicative and Subjunctive in Upper Asaro. Linguistics, Vol. 11, No. 110: De Gruyter, Mouton. pp. 82–97.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

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