Iau (Iaw, Yau) or Turu is a Lakes Plain language of West Papua, Indonesia, spoken by about 2,100 people, native speakers of this language are the Turu people (Iau).
Other peoples in the western Lakes Plain area speak basic Iau.
Dialects are Foi (Poi), Turu, Edopi (Elopi), and Iau proper; these may be distinct enough to be considered separate languages.
In Puncak Jaya Regency, Iau dialects are spoken in Bakusi, Duita, Fawi, and Fi villages, located between the Rouffaer River and Van Daalen River in Fawi District.
/f/ is pronounced [ɸ]~[h] word-initially, or optionally as [x] before the high nonback vowels /i ɨ/.
Stress in Iau is predictable: it falls on the final syllable of disyllabic words.
Unlike other Lakes Plain languages which can be disyllabic or trisyllabic, Iau word structure is predominantly monosyllabic.
Some minimal sets in Iau illustrating phonemic tonal contrasts:[3] Examples of monosyllabic words with the three 'compound' tones are /da˧˦˧/ 'mountain', /oi˦˥˧/ 'hand' and /sae˨˧˦˧/ 'knife'.
Example paradigms:[3] Tonal alternations can also serve as final mood and speech act particles.