Orokolo language explained

Orokolo
States:	Papua New Guinea
Region:	Ihu Rural LLG, Gulf Province
Speakers:	7,500
Date:	1986
Ref:	e25
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Trans–New Guinea
Fam2:	Eleman
Fam3:	nuclear Eleman
Fam4:	Western
Iso3:	oro
Glotto:	orok1267
Glottorefname:	Orokolo

Orokolo is a Trans–New Guinea language of the Eleman branch spoken in Ihu 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. It is spoken in various villages, including Vailala (-7.9456°N 145.4277°W).^[1] It is notable for having a very small consonant inventory.

Literature

This first New Testament (Pupu Oharo Āre) was translated by the Rev. S. H. Dewdney, a Congregational missionary with the London Missionary Society, and Lavako Maika, an evangelist. It was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1963. Genesis, called Genese, was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in Australia in 1970. Ruth, called Rute, was published by the Bible Society in Australia, in 1972.^[2]

Phonology

Orokolo has six consonant phonemes.^[3]

Orokolo consonant phonemes!!Bilabial!Alveolar!Velar!Glottal

Obstruent	p	t	k
Continuant	m	l		h

/m l/ are nasal [m n] word-initially and oral [β l] intervocalically. The alveolar plosive /t/ is about 10 times rarer than it is in the related language Toaripi. 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 not allophones. 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, giving it an unusually low consonant-vowel ratio of 1.^[4]

Orokolo vowel phonemes!!Front!Central!Back

Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid			ɔ
Open		a

/o/ and /ɔ/ are not distinguished orthographically, both being written o.

External links

• Materials on Orokolo are included in the open access Arthur Capell collection (AC1) and Tom Dutton (TD1) collection held by Paradisec.
• The New Testament is on YouVersion.https://www.bible.com/bible/3352/GEN.1.ORO

Notes and References

1. Web site: Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup . United Nations in Papua New Guinea . Humanitarian Data Exchange . 1.31.9 . 2018.
2. Book: ORO Bible | Pupu Oharo Āre 1963, Genese 1970, Rute 1972 | YouVersion .
3. Book: Brown, H.A. . The linguistic situation in the Gulf District and adjacent areas, Papua New Guinea . 1973 . Pacific Linguistics . Franklin . K. . 279-376 . Chapter 8: The Eleman Language Family.
4. Web site: WALS Online - Chapter Consonant-Vowel Ratio . 2024-09-28 . wals.info.