Rotokas
North Bougainville (isolate-like)
Rotokas is famous for having one of the smallest phoneme inventories in the world: just six consonants (p, t, k, β, ɾ, ɡ) and five vowels in the central dialect — no nasals at all. Spoken by ~4,000 people in the mountainous interior of Bougainville Island (Papua New Guinea). The central-dialect inventory was first carefully documented by Stuart and Janice Firchow (1973) for the Summer Institute of Linguistics; Stuart Robinson (2006, 2011) re-examined the Aita dialect, which adds nasal segments and brings the consonant count closer to nine. Because Rotokas has such a small sound system, words tend to be longer than in phonologically rich languages — a small alphabet of phonemes needs more syllables to keep words apart.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Rotokas
Water
ovi
/oβi/
Fire
erava
/eɾaβa/
Sun
ravireo
/ɾaβiɾeo/
Moon
kekira
/kekiɾa/
Star
kepatu
/kepatu/
Mother
aako
/aːko/
Father
aite
/aite/
I
ragai
/raɡai/
You
aviri
/aβiri/
Name
itava
/itaβa/
Eye
osireito
/osiɾeito/
Hand
—
/—/
Heart
—
/—/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
evaova
/eβaoβa/
House
kepa
/kepa/
Dog
kaakau
/kaːkau/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
aio
/aio/
Drink
—
/—/
One
katai
/katai/
Two
oira
/oira/
Hello
ega
/eɡa/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
rekoreko
/ɾekoɾeko/
Sources
- Firchow & Firchow (1973) SIL Rotokas vocabulary
- Robinson (2006) "The Phoneme Inventory of the Aita Dialect of Rotokas." Oceanic Linguistics 45(1): 206-209
- Glottolog: Rotokas (roto1249)
- WALS: Rotokas
Words compared
Compared with related North Bougainville (isolate-like) languages
| Meaning | Rotokas | Yangkaal | Lardil | Neko | Yuchi | Babuza (Favorlang) | Pyu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ovi /oβi/ | ngogo /ŋoɡo/ | kantha /kanθa/ | wai /wai/ | cha /tʃa/ | zalum /zalum/ | ʔuy /uj/ |
| Fire | erava /eɾaβa/ | ngida /ŋida/ | jalul /dʒalul/ | titɛ /titɛ/ | tsoda /tsoda/ | apoi /apoi/ | vyaŋ /wjaŋ/ |
| Sun | ravireo /ɾaβiɾeo/ | wargu /waɾɡu/ | thurara /θuɾaɾa/ | aatʌ /aːtʌ/ | dethla /dɛhla/ | — /—/ | ño /ɲo/ |
| Moon | kekira /kekiɾa/ | waldar /waldaɾ/ | kirdikir /kiɖikir/ | — /—/ | zethla /zɛhla/ | zilias /siliəs/ | hla /hla/ |
| Star | kepatu /kepatu/ | thurara /t̪uɾaɾa/ | kambin /kambin/ | kumba /kumba/ | weʼyv /weʔỹ/ | botto /botːo/ | kar /karʔ/ |
| Mother | aako /aːko/ | ngama /ŋama/ | ngama /ŋama/ | — /—/ | ahnʌh /ahnʌh/ | tina /tina/ | na /na/ |
| Father | aite /aite/ | kanda /kanda/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tama /tama/ | paʔ /paʔ/ |
| I | ragai /raɡai/ | ngada /ŋada/ | ngada /ŋada/ | na /na/ | di /di/ | ka-ina /kaina/ | ŋa /ŋa/ |
| You | aviri /aβiri/ | nyingka /ɲiŋka/ | nyingki /ɲiŋki/ | ga /ɡa/ | tse /tse/ | ijo /ijo/ | naŋ /naŋ/ |
| Name | itava /itaβa/ | warra /wara/ | wangalk /waŋalk/ | iwi /iwi/ | tiʼe /tiʔe/ | naan /naːn/ | miŋ /miŋ/ |
| Eye | osireito /osiɾeito/ | miibul /miːbul/ | mela /mela/ | ta /ta/ | shela /ʃela/ | macha /matʃa/ | mik /mik/ |
| Hand | — /—/ | — /—/ | marra /maɾa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | rima /rima/ | lak /lak/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | evaova /eβaoβa/ | — /—/ | tungal /tuŋal/ | tei /tei/ | — /—/ | kayu /kaju/ | siŋ /siŋ/ |
| House | kepa /kepa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tsotʔa /tsotʔa/ | ruma /ruma/ | vaiŋ /waiŋ/ |
| Dog | kaakau /kaːkau/ | — /—/ | ngawu /ŋawu/ | gonʌ /ɡonʌ/ | shtsé /ʃtsɛ/ | asu /asu/ | kwiy /kwij/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | aio /aio/ | — /—/ | jitha /dʒiθa/ | nei /nei/ | gʌ /ɡʌ/ | maan /maːn/ | cyaʔ /tɕaʔ/ |
| Drink | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | minum /minum/ | — /—/ |
| One | katai /katai/ | — /—/ | kunngirr /kuŋŋir/ | — /—/ | hahgo /hahɡo/ | nata /nata/ | te /te/ |
| Two | oira /oira/ | kiyarrngka /kijaraŋka/ | kiyarrng /kijaraŋ/ | iri /iri/ | nowe /nõˈwẽ/ | naroa /naroa/ | nit /nit/ |
| Hello | ega /eɡa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | rekoreko /ɾekoɾeko/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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