Rotokas

Rotokas is an Oceanic language spoken on Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the many languages of the region and is classified within the Papuan language family. The Rotokas language is notable for its extremely small phonemic inventory, particularly its consonant system. It has one of the lowest numbers of distinct consonant sounds of any known language.

The grammar of Rotokas shares features common to Oceanic languages, including aspects of its verb conjugation and noun classification. The language has been the subject of linguistic research due to its unique phonological features, which have attracted considerable attention from scholars studying language structure and diversity. While precise population figures vary, the number of speakers is estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Efforts are underway to document and preserve the language, as is the case with many indigenous languages facing the pressures of globalization.