Mussau
Mussau-Emira
Austronesian
Mussau-Emira is an Oceanic Austronesian language of the Mussau-Emira subgroup, spoken on the St Matthias Group islands north of New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea. The St Matthias Group consists of Mussau (the larger island, ~5,000 inhabitants) and Emira (smaller, ~500 inhabitants), plus some smaller atolls. Linguistically, Mussau-Emira is interesting for its highly conservative phonology — it preserves Proto-Oceanic features lost in most Western Oceanic languages, including a 5-vowel system with no length distinction, simple consonant inventory, and SVO constituent order with classical Oceanic person-marking on verbs. SIL Bible translation work since the 1970s produced the New Testament (1995) and standardized Mussau orthography.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Mussau-Emira
Water
eai
/eai/
Fire
kapok
/kapok/
Sun
ariu
/aɾiu/
Moon
malam
/malam/
Mother
nia
/nia/
Father
tama
/tama/
Eat
anu
/anu/
Drink
inum
/inum/
Love
talimi
/talimi/
Heart
lalota
/lalota/
Tree
rikei
/ɾikei/
House
ulemi
/ulemi/
Dog
kovur
/kovuɾ/
Cat
busi
/busi/
Hand
lima
/lima/
Eye
mata
/mata/
Hello
emua
/emua/
Thank you
poasi
/poasi/
One
esa
/esa/
Good
rop
/ɾop/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Austronesian languages
| Meaning | Mussau-Emira | Tokelauan | Tuvaluan | Puyuma | Maranao | Samoan | Fijian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | eai /eai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | enay /enai/ | ig /iɡ/ | vai /vai/ | wai /wai/ |
| Fire | kapok /kapok/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ | apuy /apui/ | apoy /apoj/ | afi /afi/ | buka /mbuka/ |
| Sun | ariu /aɾiu/ | la /la/ | laa /laː/ | kadaw /kadaw/ | alongan /aloŋan/ | lā /laː/ | siga /siŋa/ |
| Moon | malam /malam/ | malama /malama/ | masina /masina/ | kuwalan /kuwalan/ | bolan /bolan/ | māsina /maːsina/ | vula /βula/ |
| Mother | nia /nia/ | matua /matua/ | maatua /maːtua/ | ina /ina/ | ina /ina/ | tinā /tinaː/ | tina /tina/ |
| Father | tama /tama/ | tamana /tamana/ | tamana /tamana/ | ama /ama/ | ama /ama/ | tamā /tamaː/ | tama /tama/ |
| Eat | anu /anu/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kuman /kuman/ | mangan /maŋan/ | ʻai /ʔai/ | kana /kana/ |
| Drink | inum /inum/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | enpa /enpa/ | minom /minom/ | inu /inu/ | gunu /ŋunu/ |
| Love | talimi /talimi/ | alofa /alofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | ulaw /ulaw/ | kalimo /kalimo/ | alofa /alofa/ | loloma /loloma/ |
| Heart | lalota /lalota/ | fatu /fatu/ | fatu /fatu/ | kalumetan /kalumetan/ | pusoʔ /pusoʔ/ | loto /loto/ | uto /uto/ |
| Tree | rikei /ɾikei/ | lakau /lakau/ | laakau /laːkau/ | kawi /kawi/ | kayo /kajo/ | laʻau /laʔau/ | kau /kau/ |
| House | ulemi /ulemi/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ | ruma /ɾuma/ | walay /walaj/ | fale /fale/ | vale /βale/ |
| Dog | kovur /kovuɾ/ | kuli /kuli/ | kuli /kuli/ | suwan /suwan/ | aso /aso/ | maile /maile/ | koli /koli/ |
| Cat | busi /busi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | kating /katiŋ/ | pusa /pusa/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ |
| Hand | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | liga /liŋa/ |
| Eye | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ |
| Hello | emua /emua/ | malo ni /malo ni/ | taalofa /taːlofa/ | marayas /maɾajas/ | kapian /kapijan/ | talofa /talofa/ | bula /mbula/ |
| Thank you | poasi /poasi/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | kasapakan /kasapakan/ | salamat /salamat/ | faʻafetai /faʔafetai/ | vinaka /βinaka/ |
| One | esa /esa/ | tahi /tahi/ | tasi /tasi/ | sa /sa/ | isa /isa/ | tasi /tasi/ | dua /ndua/ |
| Good | rop /ɾop/ | lelei /lelei/ | lei /lei/ | mauruway /mauɾuwai/ | mapia /mapija/ | lelei /lelei/ | vinaka /βinaka/ |
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