Kuanua Alphabet

Alphabet

Originally the Kuanua language did not have a set of letters used in writing because it was an oral language. The introduction of writing has helped to identify the letters employed in the oral kuanua to establish an alphabet. The alphabet varies in certain dialects. For example, Boawa Village (LungaLunga) has the h and s in its dialect whereas Kabakada, only about three kilometers away, does not employ h and s. Boawa people speak the Masawa dialect of Kuanua. Generally, the kuanua alphabet is a, b, d, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w. It is not hard to pronounce Kuanua words because the language is mostly phonetic…. The -A also is used frequently as a prefix before all nouns. The sound ng is pronounced as in the suffix ing , in English, added to a term to indicate present continuous tense.  Examples are: mangoro – many; mangula – busy; and mang – bandicoot. The letter I is pronounced as in the English letter E. The letter E is pronounced e as in get, bed, and leg.

Photo credit: Esau Mellie.
Harbour of Rabaul taken from the side of Kokopo..The Raluana dialect of Kuanua is spoken in Kokopo..