View source for Rotokas language

{{short description|North Bougainville language}}
{{redirect|Rotokas}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Rotokas
| states           = [[Papua New Guinea]]
| region           = [[Autonomous Region of Bougainville|Bougainville]]
| ethnicity        = 
| speakers         = 4,300
| date             = 1981
| ref              = e18
| familycolor      = Papuan
| fam1             = [[North Bougainville languages|North Bougainville]]
| fam2             = [[Askopan language|Askopan]]–Rotokas
| dia1             = Central
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Rotokas alphabet]])
| notice           = IPA
| iso3             = roo
| glotto           = roto1249
| glottorefname    = Rotokas
| dia2             = Pipipaia
| dia3             = Aita
| dia4             = Atsilima<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rotokas |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/roo |access-date=22 October 2018}}</ref>
| nativename       = rotokas
}}

'''Rotokas''' is a [[North Bougainville languages|North Bougainville language]] spoken by about 4,320 people on [[Bougainville Island]] in [[Papua New Guinea]]. 

Central Rotokas is most notable for its extremely small phonemic [[consonant]]al inventory, which lacks [[Phoneme|phonemic]] nasals.

== Dialects ==
According to Allen and Hurd (1963), there are three identified dialects: Central Rotokas ("Rotokas Proper"), Aita Rotokas, and Pipipaia; with a further dialect spoken in Atsilima (Atsinima) village with an unclear status.<ref>Allen and Hurd, 1963. Cited in {{harvtxt|Robinson|2006|p=206}}: "it appears to be heavily influenced by [[Language contact|contact]] with [[Ramopa language|Keriaka]]"</ref>

==Phonology==
The Central dialect of Rotokas possesses one of the world's smallest phonemic consonantal inventories.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=An abbreviated phoneme inventory {{!}} Languages of Papua New Guinea |url=https://pnglanguages.sil.org/resources/archives/23137 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=pnglanguages.sil.org}}</ref>{{rp||page=271}} Central Rotokas has a [[vowel length]] distinction between long and short,<ref name=":1" />{{rp||page=273}} but otherwise lacks distinctive [[Prosody (linguistics)|suprasegmental]] features such as tone, and probably stress.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Organised Phonology Data |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/62/08/03/62080328741756058527883332575824160250/Rotokas.pdf |page=3}}</ref>

===Consonants===
Whereas Central Rotokas has only six consonantal phonemes, Aita Rotokas has nine; Aita adds phonemic nasals (e.g. this example of a minimal pair, {{IPA|/buta/}} {{gloss|time}} vs. {{IPA|/muta/}} {{gloss|taste}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Phoneme Inventory of the Aita Dialect of Rotokas |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236719083_The_Phoneme_Inventory_of_the_Aita_Dialect_of_Rotokas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323125239/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236719083_The_Phoneme_Inventory_of_the_Aita_Dialect_of_Rotokas |archive-date=2023-03-23 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=ResearchGate |language=en}}</ref>{{rp||page=208}}). The Central dialect's limited inventory likely arose by collapsing the phonemic distinction between nasals and non-nasals.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=206}}

Nasals in Aita always correspond to voiced plosives in Central (e.g. "tree" is {{lang|roo|emaoto}} in Aita and {{lang|roo|ebaoto}} in Central<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=208}}), but voiced plosives in Central can correspond to either nasals or voiced plosives in Aita.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}}

==== Central Rotokas ====
Consonants occur in three [[Place of articulation|places of articulation]]: [[Bilabial consonant|bilabial]], [[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]], and [[Velar consonant|velar]], each with a voiced and an unvoiced variant.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}} The three voiced phonemes each have wide allophonic variation, with the allophonic sets {{IPA|[β, b, m]}}, {{IPA|[ɾ, n, l, d]}}, and {{IPA|[ɡ, ɣ, ŋ]}}.<ref name=":1" />{{rp||page=274}} This makes the choice of symbols for phonemes somewhat arbitrary.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}} 

Nasals are rarely heard. They will sometimes be misused when speakers try to pronounce English words (e.g. "bye-bye" being pronounced {{IPA|[maemae]}}), or when trying to imitate a foreigner speaking Rotokas (even if they were not used by the foreigner).<ref name=":1" />{{rp||page=274}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Central Rotokas
!
![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
![[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t}}
|{{IPA link|k}}
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d}}
|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|}

* In the 1960s, {{IPA|/t/}} was described as being {{IPA|[ts]~[s]}} before {{IPA|/i/}}.<ref name=":1" />{{rp||page=274}} Later research in the 2000s found this to no longer be true, possibly due to widespread bilingualism with [[Tok Pisin]].<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}}

==== Aita Rotokas ====
The Aita dialect has nine consonant phonemes, with a three-way distinction required between voiced, voiceless, and nasal consonants.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Aita Rotokas
!
![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
!Voiceless
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t}}
|{{IPA link|k}}
|-
!Voiced
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d}}
|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|}

* {{IPA|/b/}} varies between {{IPA|[b]}} and {{IPA|[β]}}.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}}
* {{IPA|/d/}} is chiefly realized as {{IPA|[ɾ]}}.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}}
* {{IPA|/t/}} is {{IPA|[s]}} before {{IPA|/i/}}.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}}

===Vowels===
Vowels in the Central dialect may be long or short, but the Aita dialect seems to have no length distinction.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=209}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}} ({{IPA link|iː}})
|
|{{IPA link|u}} ({{IPA link|uː}})
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}} ({{IPA link|eː}})
|
|{{IPA link|o}} ({{IPA link|oː}})
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA link|a}} ({{IPA link|aː}})
|
|}

=== Orthography ===
{{Main|Rotokas alphabet}}

The Rotokas orthography uses 12 letters of the Latin alphabet, with no [[diacritic]]s or [[Ligature (writing)|ligatures]]. The letters are ''a'', ''e'', ''g'', ''i, k'', ''o'', ''p, r, s'', ''t'', ''u'' and ''v.'' Long vowels are written as doubled. /t/ is written as s before i and t elsewhere and has also been written with an orthography based on the IPA symbols for its phonemes.<ref name=":0" />{{rp||page=207}}

===Stress===
Stress is probably not phonemic.<ref name=":2" /> Words with 2 or 3 syllables are stressed on the initial syllable; those with 4 are stressed on the first and third; and those with 5 or more on the antepenultimate. This is complicated by long vowels, and there are exceptions to the third rule among some verb constructions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Firchow |first=Irwin B. |url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_roo_morsyn-1 |title=Vocabulary of Rotokas--Pidgin--English |last2=Firchow |first2=Jacqueline |last3=Akoitai |first3=David |date=1973 |publisher=Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics |others=The Long Now Foundation}}</ref>

== Grammar ==
{{Expand section|date=January 2025}}
Typologically, Rotokas is a fairly typical [[subject–object–verb|verb-final]] language, with [[adjective]]s and demonstrative pronouns preceding the [[noun]]s they modify, and [[postposition]]s following. Although [[adverb]]s are fairly free in their ordering, they tend to precede the verb, as in the following example:

{{interlinear|lang=roo|indent=3
|osirei-toarei avuka-va iava ururupa-vira tou-pa-si-veira
|eye-MASC.DU old-FEM.SG POST closed-ADV be-PROG-2.DU.MASC-HAB
|The old woman's eyes are shut.}}

==Vocabulary==
Selected basic vocabulary items in Rotokas:<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Firchow|Firchow|2008}}</ref>
:{| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Rotokas
|-
| bird || {{lang|roo|kokioto}}
|-
| blood || {{lang|roo|revasiva}}
|-
| bone || {{lang|roo|kerua}}
|-
| breast || {{lang|roo|rorooua}}
|-
| ear || {{lang|roo|uvareoua}}
|-
| eat || {{lang|roo|aio}}
|-
| egg || {{lang|roo|takura}}
|-
| eye || {{lang|roo|osireito}}
|-
| fire || {{lang|roo|tuitui}}
|-
| give || {{lang|roo|vate}}
|-
| go || {{lang|roo|ava}}
|-
| ground || {{lang|roo|rasito}}
|-
| hair || {{lang|roo|orui}}
|-
| hear || {{lang|roo|uvu}}
|-
| leg || {{lang|roo|kokotoa}}
|-
| louse || {{lang|roo|iirui}}
|-
| man || {{lang|roo|oidato}}
|-
| moon || {{lang|roo|kekira}}
|-
| name || {{lang|roo|vaisia}}
|-
| one || {{lang|roo|katai}}
|-
| road, path || {{lang|roo|raiva}}
|-
| see || {{lang|roo|keke}}
|-
| sky || {{lang|roo|vuvuiua}}
|-
| stone || {{lang|roo|aveke}}
|-
| sun || {{lang|roo|ravireo}}
|-
| tongue || {{lang|roo|arevuoto}}
|-
| tooth || {{lang|roo|reuri}}
|-
| tree || {{lang|roo|evaova}}
|-
| two || {{lang|roo|erao}}
|-
| water || {{lang|roo|uukoa}}
|-
| woman || {{lang|roo|avuo}}
|}

== Sample text ==
{| class="wikitable"
!No.
!Rotokas<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_roo_gen-1 |title=Jenesis (Rotokas Genesis Translation) |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics |others=The Long Now Foundation}}</ref>
!Translation (English)
|-
!2
|{{lang|roo|Vo tuariri rovoaia Pauto vuvuiua ora rasito pura-rovoreva. Vo osia rasito raga toureva, uva viapau oavu avuvai. Oire Pauto urauraaro tuepaepa aue ivaraia uukovi. Vara rutuia rupa toupaiva. Oa iava Pauto oisio puraroepa, Aviavia rorove. Oire aviavia rorova.}}
|In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The spirit of God was hovering over the water. Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light.
|}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Jerry |title=Languages of the Bougainville district |last2=Hurd |first2=Conard |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics |year=1963 |location=Ukarumpa}}
*{{Cite book |last=Firchow |first=Irwin |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/51/11/74/5111746506820246556974918357909765330/Rotokas_grammar.pdf |title=Rotokas Grammar |year=1974 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401175123/https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/51/11/74/5111746506820246556974918357909765330/Rotokas_grammar.pdf |archive-date=2019-04-01}} (Unpublished manuscript)
*{{Cite journal |last=Firchow |first=Irwin |year=1987 |title=Form and Function of Rotokas Words |url=http://www.zapata.org/stuart/linguistics/rotokas/firchow1987/index.shtml |journal=Language and Linguistics in Melanesia |volume=15 |issue=1–2 |pages=5–111 |issn=0023-1959 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705161940/http://www.zapata.org/stuart/linguistics/rotokas/firchow1987/index.shtml |archive-date=2019-07-05}}
*{{Cite book |last=Firchow |first=Irwin B. |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/31319 |title=Rotokas-English dictionary |last2=Firchow |first2=Jacqueline |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics |year=2008 |location=Ukarumpa}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Firchow |first=Irwin B. |last2=Firchow |first2=Jacqueline |year=1969 |title=An abbreviated phonemic inventory |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=11 |issue=9 |pages=271–276 |jstor=30029468}}
*{{Cite book |last=Firchow |first=Irwin B. |url=https://archive.org/stream/rosettaproject_roo_morsyn-1 |title=Vocabulary Rotokas-Pidgin-English |last2=Firchow |first2=Jacqueline |last3=Akoitai |first3=David |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics |year=1973 |location=Ukarumpa |pages=vii-xii |chapter=Introduction}} (Brief grammatical sketch)
*{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Stuart |year=2006 |title=The Phoneme Inventory of the Aita Dialect of Rotokas |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/oceanic_linguistics/v045/45.1robinson.pdf |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=206–209 |doi=10.1353/ol.2006.0018 |jstor=4499953 |s2cid=145809531 |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0013-192E-4}}
*{{Cite book |last=Wurm |first=Stephen |title=Language atlas of the Pacific area |last2=Hattori |first2=S. |publisher=Australian Academy of the Humanities |year=1981 |isbn=9780858832398 |location=Canberra}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Firchow |first=Jackie |url=https://pnglanguages.sil.org/resources/archives/42258 |title=Organised Phonology Data |year=1992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209183203/https://pnglanguages.sil.org/resources/archives/42258 |archive-date=2023-12-09}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Robinson |first=Stuart |title=Split intransitivity in Rotokas, a Papuan language of Bougainville |date=2011 |access-date=6 January 2022 |degree=PhD |publisher=Ipskamp Printers |url=https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_795664/component/file_2272973/content |format=PDF |location=Nijmegen |hdl=2066/85822}}

{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Languages of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville]]
[[Category:North Bougainville languages]]