Rapa Nui phonology

Rapa Nui has ten consonants and five vowels.

Consonants

		Labial		Alveolar		Velar		Glottal
Nasal			/m/ ‹m›		/n/ ‹n›		/ŋ/ ‹g›
Stop		/p/ ‹p›	/b/ ‹b›	/t/ ‹t›	/d/ ‹d›	/k/ ‹k›	/ɡ/ ‹y›	/ʔ/ ‹‘›
Fricative		/f/ ‹f›	/v/ ‹v›			/x/ ‹s›	/ɣ/ ‹z›	/h/ ‹h›
Flap	central		/ⱱ/ ‹x›		/ɾ/ ‹r›
	lateral				/ɺ/ ‹l›		/ʟ̆/ ‹w›

As present generation Rapa Nui speak Spanish as their first language in younger years and learn Rapa Nui later in life, flap /ɾ/ in word-initial position can be pronounced alveolar trill [r].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
			unr.	rnd.
High	/i/ ‹ø›			/u/ ‹u›
Mid	/e/ ‹e›	/ɵ/ ‹ɵ›		/o/ ‹o›
Mid-low	/ɛ/ ‹ɛ›		/ʌ/ ‹ʌ›	/ɔ/ ‹ɔ›
Low	/æ/ ‹æ›	/a/ ‹a›	ɑ ‹i›	ɒ ‹j›

All vowels can be either long or short and are always long when they are stressed in the final position of a word. Most vowel sequences are present, with the exception of *uo. Repetition sequences do not occur except in eee ('yes').

External links

• Rapa Nui language