Chuukese (), also rendered Trukese (), is a Chuukic language of the Austronesian language family spoken primarily on the islands of Chuuk in the Caroline Islands in Micronesia. There are communities of speakers on Pohnpei and Guam. Estimates show that there are about 45,900 speakers in Micronesia.
Classification Chuukese is an Austronesian language of the Micronesian subbranch. It is one of the dialects making up the Chuukic subgroup of Micronesian languages, together with its close relatives like Woleaian and Carolinian.
Phonology Chuukese has the unusual feature of permitting word-initial geminate (double) consonants. The common ancestor of Western Micronesian languages is believed to have had this feature, but most of its modern descendants have lost it.
and only differ in orthography, with both older and current representing the sound .
+ Chuukese consonants Labial Alveolar Postalveolar/Palatal Velarplainlab.NasalplaintensePlosive/Affricate FricativeplaintenseTrillApproximant
Consonants are doubled in Chuuk when they have a voiceless sound. Some consonant combinations are frequently denasalized between vowels when doubled.
+ Chuukese vowels Front CentralBack High Mid Low can be heard as either central or back .
Orthography Chuukese is one of the few languages allowing for word initial double consonants: Chuukese spelling a á e é i o ó u ú f ff s ss k kk m mm mw mmw n ng nng p pp pw ppw r ch t tt w y IPA
References
External links
Chuukese Wordlist at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database () Howard, Jocelyne. "CHUUKESE TRANSLATIONS." () University of Hawaii. Kaipuleohone have archive materials for Chuukese including written materials, audio recordings, and additional audio recordings from Brian Diettrich's MA thesis. Portland State University Multicultural Topics in Communications Sciences & Disorders | Chuukese