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Rapoisi language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Kunua language)
Konua
Rapoisi
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionBougainville
Native speakers
(3,500 cited 1998)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kyx
Glottolograpo1238

Konua, also known as Rapoisi, is a language spoken on Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Consonant phonemes
Place
Manner
Bilabial Dento-Alveolar Velar Glottal
Stop p 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

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Vowel phonemes
Front Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low ɑ

Orthography

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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 u ʔ

Grammar

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Pronouns

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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

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The table below is a sample of words in Rapoisi:[2]

Word Meaning
ag, 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

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  • Müller, Adam. 1954. Grammatical notes on the Konua language. Posieux: Inst.

References

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  1. ^ Konua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "The ASJP Database - Wordlist Rapoisi". asjp.clld.org. Retrieved 2024-10-09.