Rotuman
Fäeag Rotuḁm
Rotuman is an Austronesian language spoken in Fiji, by about 9,000 people. Glottolog rates it threatened.
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Rotuman, also referred to as Rotunan, Rutuman or Fäeag Rotuạm (citation form: Faega Rotuma), is an Austronesian language spoken by the Indigenous Rotuman people in the South Pacific. Linguistically, as well as culturally, Rotuma has had a Polynesian influence in its culture and was incorporated as a dependency into the Colony of Fiji in 1881. Contemporary Rotuman is a result of significant Polynesian borrowing, following Samoan and Tongan migrations into Rotuma.
The Rotuman language has sparked much interest with linguists because the language uses metathesis to invert the ultimate vowel in a word with the immediately preceding consonant, resulting in a vowel system characterized by umlaut, vowel shortening or extending and diphthongization.
Unlike its Pacific neighbors, Rotuman is typically considered an AVO (agent–verb–object) language.
From Wikipedia · Rotuman language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Rotuman
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| woman | hạni | |
| person | famori* | |
| name | asa* | |
| eye | mafa* | |
| ear | faliNa* | |
| nose | isu* | |
| tooth | ala* | |
| tongue | alele* | |
| hand | si7u* | |
| blood | toto* | |
| bone | sui* | |
| skin | uli* | |
| knee | isfu* | |
| breast | susu* | |
| liver | Efe* | |
| water | tạnu | |
| fire | rạhi | |
| sun | asa* | |
| star | hefu* | |
| stone | hofu* | |
| mountain | solo* | |
| leaf | rau* | |
| night | poNi* | |
| dog | komia* | |
| fish | i7a* | |
| louse | ufu* | |
| one | ta* | |
| two | rua* | |
| I | Nou* | |
| we | isa* |
* in the simplified ASJP transcription
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- MāngarongaroAustronesian39% alike
- TikopiaAustronesian34% alike
- Rennell-BellonaAustronesian34% alike
- NiueanAustronesian34% alike
- PukapukaAustronesian33% alike
- NukumanuAustronesian32% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · rotu1241 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · rtm