Rumu (Rumuwa), or Kairi (Kai-Iri), is a
Papuan language
The Papuan languages are the non-Austronesian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands in Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. It is a strictly geographical grouping, and does not imply a ...
of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
. Other names for it are ''Dumu (Tumu)'' and ''Kibiri''.
Phonology
* /r/ is pronounced
when word-initial and before /É› a É”/.
* /w/ is
�before /i e ɛ/.
* /s/ only occurs in loanwords.
* /ei/ has merged to
for many speakers.
* /oi/ has shifted to
ifor many speakers.
Additionally, Rumu is tonal, distinguishing four tones: falling , rising , peaking , and level .
[
]
References
Turama–Kikorian languages
Languages of Papua New Guinea
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