Rapoisi language
| Konua | |
|---|---|
| Rapoisi | |
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Bougainville |
Native speakers | (3,500 cited 1998)[1] |
North Bougainville
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kyx |
| Glottolog | rapo1238 |
Konua, also known as Rapoisi, is a language spoken on Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea.
Phonology
Consonants
Place Manner |
Bilabial | Dento-Alveolar | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p | t̪ | k | ʔ |
| Fricative | β | s | ɣ | h |
| Tap | ɾ | |||
- /p/ is often pronounced as [ɸ] word initially
- /t̪/ does not occur before /i/
- /β ɾ ɣ/ have the allophones [b d~l g] respectively. The nasal allophones [m n ŋ] occur utterance-initial.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Low | ɑ | |
Orthography
Rapoisi is written in the Latin alphabet, with 14 letters.
| Letters | Uppercase | A | B | E | G | H | I | K | O | P | R | S | T | U | ’ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | b | e | g | h | i | k | o | p | r | s | t | u | ||
| IPA | ɑ | β | e | ɣ | h | i | k | o | p | ɾ | s | t̪ | u | ʔ | |
Grammar
Pronouns
| A | S | O | Poss. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | Excl. | Singular | aga , aru | -ai | ||
| Dual | ioka | -abi | ||||
| Plural | ioka | -abi | ||||
| Incl. | Dual | peka | -abi | |||
| Plural | bioga | -abi | ||||
| 2nd Person | Singular | bira , biru | -ari | |||
| Dual | mega | -abisi | ||||
| Plural | itarea | -abisi | ||||
| 3rd Person | Singular | Gender 1 | ita | -ara | ||
| Gender 2 | ia | -ʔo | ||||
| Dual | siga | -ara | ||||
| Plural | pirio | -ara | ||||
Vocabulary
The table below is a sample of words in Rapoisi:[2]
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| aga, aru | I |
| bira | you |
| bioga, biru | we |
| arei | one |
| bo suku | two |
| atari | fish |
| kesu | dog |
| utuo | louse |
| evaita | tree |
| hara | leaf |
| kaparue | skin |
| parakoa | blood |
| reu | bone |
| reruo | horn |
| ubateo | ear |
| otei | eye |
| birao, iruba | nose |
| asi | tooth |
| ubiubi | knee |
| akapio | hand |
| aterariba | liver |
| era | drink |
| keke | see |
| ubara | hear |
| pi | die |
| luilui | come |
| isiro | sun |
| bapi, uo | water |
| aipo | stone |
| uhi | fire |
| ohopa | path |
| hukihuki | mountain |
| bogi | night |
| ueibara | new |
| ute | name |
Further reading
- Müller, Adam. 1954. Grammatical notes on the Konua language. Posieux: Inst.
References
- ^ Konua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ "The ASJP Database - Wordlist Rapoisi". asjp.clld.org. Retrieved 2024-10-09.