Rumu language

"Kairi language" redirects here. For the Australian language, see Gayiri language.

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

Rumu
Kairi
Region	Papua New Guinea
Native speakers	(700 cited 1990)[1]
Language family	Papuan Gulf ? Kikorian Turama–Kikorian Rumu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	klq
Glottolog	rumu1243

Phonology

Consonants^[2]

	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^[2]

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

Diphthongs^[2]

	-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⟩.^[2]