Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
Pole, also known as Erave, is spoken around the Erave River in the southeast portion of Papua New Guinea's Southern Highlands Province.
Lind (1921-1922) 69 comparative terms for Tugi Valley
Franklin (1968) comparison of Kewa dialects, partially reprinted in Franklin and Franklin (1978)
Rule (1977) comparative description of Pole, Huli and Foe including including 351 comparative terms (pp. 12-26) and 100 Swadesh terms (pp. 121-124.)
Franklin and Franklin's (1978) dictionary of West Kewa contains a number of South Kewa forms
Additionally, the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Ukarumpa provides a sketch phonology of Pole, but it's undated and unattributed.
Rule (1977: 8-10) gives the following 14 consonants and 6 vowels for Pole:
| m | n | ||
| p | t | s | k |
| g | |||
| mb | nd | ŋg | |
| ɾ | |||
| w | ɭ | j |
| i | u | |
| e | o | |
| a |
Vowels are further distinguished by the presence vs. absence of nasalization:
| i | ĩ |
| e | ẽ |
| ɐ | ɐ̃ |
| a | ã |
| o | õ |
| u | ũ |
Initials /p k/ are aspirated, with /p/ optionally realized as bilabial affricate [pɸ]. Alveolar /ɾ/ is realized as [tɾ] initially, and is historically the reflex of /*t/. Initial /g/ is realized as voiceless unaspirated [k].
No information on Pole tone is available.
Rule (1977: 47-48) gives the following personal pronouns for Pole:
| simple | possessive | |
| 1 sg. | na | ni-na |
| 2 sg. | ne | ne-na |
| 3 sg. | ipu | ipi-na |
| 1 pl. | na | na-na |
| 2 pl. | imi | imi-na |
| 3 pl. | nimu | nimu-na |
| 1 dl. | sa | sa-na |
| 2 dl. | ipi | ipi-na |
| 3 dl. | nipu | nipu-na |
[under construction]