| Orokolo | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Ihu Rural LLG,Gulf Province |
Native speakers | (7,500 cited 1986)[1] |
Trans–New Guinea
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | oro |
| Glottolog | orok1267 |
Orokolo is aTrans–New Guinea language of theEleman branch spoken inIhu Rural LLG,Gulf Province,Papua New Guinea by about 50,000 people (2010). Alternate names are Bailala, Haira, Kaipi, Kairu-Kaura, Muro, Muru, Vailala, and West Elema.[1] It is spoken in various villages, including Vailala (7°56′44″S145°25′40″E / 7.945571°S 145.427676°E /-7.945571; 145.427676 (Vailala East No.1)).[2] It is notable for having a very smallconsonant inventory.
This firstNew Testament (Pupu Oharo Āre) was translated by the Rev. S. H. Dewdney, a Congregational missionary with theLondon Missionary Society, and Lavako Maika, an evangelist. It was published by theBritish and Foreign Bible Society in 1963.Genesis, calledGenese, was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society inAustralia in 1970.Ruth, calledRute, was published by the Bible Society in Australia, in 1972.[3]
Orokolo has six consonant phonemes.[4]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obstruent | p | t | k | |
| Continuant | m | l | h |
/m l/ arenasal [m n] word-initially and oral [β l] intervocalically. The alveolar plosive /t/ is about 10 times rarer than it is in the related languageToaripi. Most instances of historical /t/ shifted to /k/ in Orokolo, as shown by the cognates below. The exception to this is when */t/ followed /i/ and preceded /a/, in which case it was retained in Orokolo and the Sepoe dialect of Toaripi, but shifted to /s/ in Toaripi proper.
| Orokolo | Toaripi | Sepoe | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| /uki/ | /uti/ | "bone" | |
| /keke/ | /tete/ | "fishscale" | |
| /kukululu/ | /tutululu/ | "thundering" | |
| /harita/ | /farisa/ | /farita/ | "arrow" |
| /haita/ | /saesa/ | /saita/ | "dish" |
However, since original /k/ still appears in this position (e.g. /heaikapo/ "long"), /t/ and /k/ are distinct phonemes and notallophones. The other major sound change which characterises Orokolo is the shift of */f/ and */s/ to /h/, reducing the fricative inventory to one member; compare for instance Orokolo /hapa/ "open" and /ahe/ "sugarcane" with Toaripi /fapai/, /ase/.
Orokolo also has six vowels,[4] giving it an unusually low consonant-vowel ratio of 1.[5]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open-mid | ɔ | ||
| Open | a |
/a/ may be pronounced as [ə] when preceding a long stressed vowel. In other unstressed positions, it can be pronounced as [æ].
/o/ and /ɔ/ are not distinguished orthographically, both being written <o>.
