Kivatu

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Kivatu
Kiuatou
vatu k’vatu
Pronunciation[w̥atu kʼw̥atu]
Created byJukethatbox
Date2024
Native toKivatu Archipelago
EthnicityK’wa, Kokosi and Kikiñ peoples
Native speakers~70,000 (2024)
~31,850 K’wa
~21,980 Kokosi
~15,890 Kikiñ
~280 other
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Kivatu(vatu k’vatu, pronounced: [w̥atu kʼw̥atu]), also called Kiuatou, is a language isolate spoken natively in the Kivatu Archipelago by the K’wa, Kokosi and Kikiñ people in order of population. There are a total of about 70,000 native speakers of Kivatu, with 45.5% being ethnically K’wa, 31.4% being Kokosi, 22.7% being Kikiñ and the remaining 0.4% being other unspecified ethnicities.

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Coronal Velar Palatal
Plosive pulmonic p b t d k g
ejective pʼ bʼ tʼ dʼ
Nasal m n ŋ ɲ
Fricative pulmonic ɸ s z ç
palatalised sʲ zʲ
(Lateral) Approximant l w̥ w j̥ j

Kivatu is one of few languages that features voiceless approximants, specifically a voiceless labial-velar approximant, [w̥] and a voiceless palatal approximant, [j̥].

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ʉ~u
Close-mid e o~o̞
Open a ɑ