Learn Rapa Nui language
Eastern Polynesian like Tahitian and Hawaiian, with a fragile revitalisation story: decades of Spanish dominance in schools, then renewed immersion efforts, media, and keyboard tools you can install today.
Learn to speak some rapanui language to impress the islanders! Showing some cultural interest by speaking the local language can open many doors on the island.
Rapa Nui alphabet
| Aa | Āā | Ee | Ēē | Hh | Ii | Īī | Kk | Mm | Nn | Oo | Ōō | Pp | Rr | Tt | Uu | Ūū | Vv | ' | Ŋŋ |
The rapanui alphabet contains 20 letters of which 10 are vowels and 10 are consonants.
Long vowels
All vowels have a long variation. The long vowels are marked by a line above the letter, such as "ē" and "ū".
Ŋ
The consonant letter "Ŋ" (pronounced "enge") is used as "ng" in the English language (e.g. "king"). Since the letter "g" doesn't exist in the rapanui language, ŋ is used instead of "ng".
Glottal stop (')
The straight apostrophe (pronounced 'e'e in rapanui) is a so called glottal stop and sounds like the hyphen in the expression uh-oh!. 'E'e is a consonant in the rapanui alphabet.
Lesson 1
| Rapa Nui | English | |
 |
¡'Iorana! | Hello! / Goodbye! |
|
Au | Me / I |
|
Koe | You (singular) |
|
¿Pē hē (a) koe?   The a is mostly omitted when speaking, but should be present when writing. |
How are you? |
|
Riva-riva | (I'm) fine |
|
¿Ki hē (a) koe? The a is mostly omitted when speaking, but should be present when writing. |
Where are you going? |
|
He oho au | I'm going |
|
He oho au ki tō'oku hare | I'm going home (literally: to my house) |
|
He oho au he hī | I'm going fishing |
|
¿I hē (a) koe? The a is mostly omitted when speaking, but should be present when writing. |
Where are you? |
|
¿I hē te hare toa? | Where is the store? |
|
¿Ehia tara? | How much does it cost? (literally: how much money?) |
|
¡Māuru-uru! | Thank you! |
Lesson 2
| Rapa Nui | English | |
|
Ko aŋi-aŋi 'ana au | I understand |
|
Kai aŋi-aŋi 'ana au | I don't understand |
|
¡Ka oho mai! | Come here! |
|
¡Ka oho ka hī! | Go fishing! |
|
¡Ka va'ai mai i te ika! | Give me the fish! |
|
¡Ka oho riva-riva! | Good luck! (literally: walk well) |
|
Ko haŋa 'ana au | I want |
|
Ko haŋa 'ana au mo oho ki te hare komo | I want to go to the bathroom |
|
¿Ko 'ite 'ana koe i he te hare komo? | Do you know where the bathroom is? |
|
'Ina, kai 'ite 'ana au | No, I don't know |
|
'Ē-ē, ko 'ite 'ana au | Yes, I know |
|
Ko haŋa 'ana au mo kai | I want to eat |
|
Kai haŋa 'ana au mo kai | I don't want to eat |
| Lesson 2 conversation | |
Rapa Nui pronouns
| Singular | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Au | I |
|
Koe | You |
|
Ia | He / she |
| Plural | ||
|
Tāua | We (me and you) |
|
Māua | We (me and him/her) |
|
Mātou | We (me and them - not you) |
|
Tātou | We (all of us) |
|
Kōrua | You |
|
Rāua | They |
Rapa Nui tenses
| Rapa Nui | English |
|---|---|
| He oho au | I go |
| Ko oho 'ana au | I went (unfinished event) * |
| I oho ai au | I went (finished event) * |
| Kai oho 'ana au | I didn't go |
| E oho 'ana au | I am going (ongoing event) |
| I oho rō au | I have gone |
| E oho rō au | I will go |
| E oho rō 'ana au | I go ** |
- * When someone calls you asking where you are, and you're away fishing, you'd answer Ko oho a au ki te ika hī. If you're telling a story about how you one day went fishing, you'd want to say I oho ai au ki te ika hī.
- ** E -VERB- rō 'ana is used when talking about something that you always do, and that you'll continue to do. This is used when talking about a hobby you have, or a language that you speak. E vānaŋa rō 'ana au i te 'arero paratane means that you know how to speak English, and not necessarily that you're speaking it in this very same moment.
The grammatical term 'ana can also be shortened to 'ā.
