Language/Kosraean/Pronunciation/Alphabet

Kosraean (or Kusaiean) is a Micronesian language spoken in Kosrae state. In 2005 there were about 6,620 speakers of Kosraean in Micronesia, and another 1,100 speakers elsewhere. A standard spelling system for Kosraen has been used since 1977.

Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages:Say Hello and Greetings in Kosraean.

Writing System

Consonants

	Labial		Dental			Post-alveolar			Velar
	nor.	vel.	nor.	vel.	rnd.	nor.	vel.	rnd.	nor.	vel.	rnd.
Stop	p	pw	t	tw	to				k	kw	ko
Fricative	f	fw	s	sw	so	sr	srw	sro
Nasal	m	mw	n	nw	no				ng	ngw	ngo
Approximant			l	lw	lo	y	yw	yo		w	wo
Flap						r	rw	ro

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ih	u
Mid	e	uc	o
Low-mid	ac	uh	oh
Low	ah	a	oa

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial		Dental			Post-alveolar			Velar
	nor.	vel.	nor.	vel.	rnd.	nor.	vel.	rnd.	nor.	vel.	rnd.
Stop	p	pˠ	t	tˠ	tʷ				k	kˠ	kʷ
Fricative	f	fˠ	s	sˠ	sʷ	ʂ	ʂˠ	ʂʷ
Nasal	m	mˠ	n	nˠ	nʷ				ŋ	ŋˠ	ŋʷ
Approximant	w	wˠ	l	lˠ	lʷ	j	jˠ	jʷ
Flap						ɽ	ɽˠ	ɽʷ

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː	ɨ ɨː	u uː
Mid	e eː	ə əː	o oː
Low-mid	ɛ ɛː	ʌ ʌː	ɔ ɔː
Low	æː	aː	ɒ͡ɑ