| Rumu | |
|---|---|
| Kairi | |
| Region | Papua New Guinea |
| Native speakers | (700 cited 1990) |
| Language family | Papuan Gulf ?
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | klq |
| Glottolog | rumu1243 |
Rumu (Rumuwa), or Kairi (Kai-Iri), is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea. Other names for it are Dumu (Tumu) and Kibiri.
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k |
| Fricative | (s) | h | |
| Nasal | m | n | |
| Approximant | w | r | j |
- /r/ is pronounced when word-initial and before /ɛ a ɔ/.
- /w/ is before /i e ɛ/.
- /s/ only occurs in loanwords.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid-high | e ⟨ë⟩ | o ⟨ö⟩ | |
| Mid-low | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | a |
| -i | -e | -ɛ | -a | -ɔ | -u | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i- | ia | iɔ | ||||
| e- | (ei) | ea | eɔ | |||
| ɛ- | ɛi | ɛa | ɛu | |||
| a- | ai | ae | aɔ | au | ||
| o- | (oi) | oe | oa | |||
| ɔ- | ɔi | ɔɛ | ɔa | ɔu | ||
| u- | uɔ |
- /ei/ has merged to for many speakers.
- /oi/ has shifted to for many speakers.
Additionally, Rumu is tonal, distinguishing four tones: falling ⟨à⟩, rising ⟨á⟩, peaking ⟨â⟩, and level ⟨ā⟩.
References
- John Newman and Robert G. Petterson, 1990, “The Tones of Kairi'”, Oceanic Linguistics, 29:1, p. 75 n. 2.
- ^ Petterson, Robert (1992). Rumu Organised Phonology Data. SIL International.
| Languages of Papua New Guinea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Major Indigenous languages |
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| Other Papuan languages |
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| Sign languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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