Rotuman language
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Rotuman, also referred to as Rotunan, Rutuman or Fäeag Rotuạm (citation form: Faega Rotuma), is an Austronesian language spoken by the Indigenous Rotuma people in the South Pacific. Linguistically, as well as culturally, Rotuma has had Polynesian-influence culture and incorporated as a dependency into the Colony of Fiji in 1881. Contemporary Rotuman is a result of significant Polynesian borrowing, following Samoan and Tongan migrations into Rotuma.[2]
Rotuman | |
---|---|
Fäeag Rotuạm | |
Native to | Fiji |
Region | Rotuma |
Ethnicity | Rotumans |
Native speakers | 7,500 (2002)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
Official status | |
Official language in | Rotuma, Fiji |
Recognised minority language in | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | rtm |
Glottolog | rotu1241 |
Rotuman is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. |
The Rotuman language has sparked much interest with linguists because the language uses metathesis to invert the ultimate vowel in a word with the immediately preceding consonant, resulting in a vowel system characterized by umlaut, vowel shortening or extending and diphthongization.
Unlike its Pacific neighbors, Rotuman is typically considered an AVO (agent–verb–object) language.