Encyclopedia

Rumu language

Papuan language spoken in Papua New Guinea

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Source updated January 21, 2024

Rumu (Rumuwa), or Kairi (Kai-Iri), is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea. Other names for it are Dumu (Tumu) and Kibiri.

01Phonology

Consonants
	Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal
Plosive	p	t	k
Fricative		(s)	h
Nasal	m	n
Approximant	w	r	j

/r/ is pronounced [l] when word-initial and before /ɛ a ɔ/.
/w/ is [β] before /i e ɛ/.
/s/ only occurs in loanwords.

Vowels
	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid-high	e ⟨ë⟩		o ⟨ö⟩
Mid-low	ɛ		ɔ
Low		a

Diphthongs
	-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-	[ui]				uɔ

/ei/ has merged to [i] for many speakers.
/oi/ has shifted to [ui] for many speakers.

Additionally, Rumu is tonal, distinguishing four tones: falling ⟨à⟩, rising ⟨á⟩, peaking ⟨â⟩, and level ⟨ā⟩.

Watch videos about Rumu languageExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Rumu language”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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