Rapa Nui
Lists: Natural languages | Language families | Conlangs | Other Lists
Fact corner
- Language: Rapa Nui
- Alternate names: Rapanui, Easter Island, Pascuense
- SIL-code: Ethnologue:rap
- Language family: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic,
Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Nuclear, East, Rapanui - Number of speakers: 3,392
- Script: Latin script
On this page... (hide)
Introduction
The Rapa Nui language is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Rapanui, the inhabitants of Easter Island.
The Rapa Nui language is isolated within Eastern Polynesian, whereas all other Eastern Polynesian languages (the Marquesic languages, Rapan, and the Tahitic languages) form a separate branch, Central Eastern Polynesian.
The verb
Rapa Nui has a very complex verb structure, with markers for tense, aspect, and mood.
- Tense markers: he, e, i, ko, ka/ki
- Aspect: form with the 'ko' particle.
- Mood: no marker for indciative, ana/mo for conditional, ka/ki for imperative.
External links
- The Language of Easter Island
- Veronica du Feu: Rapanui: A Descriptive Grammar(approve sites)