// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Paku language say to its friend? Paku up.

Not to be confused with Paku language.

Paku
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Kalimantan
Native speakers	15–50 (2018/2020)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian East Barito South Paku
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pku
Glottolog	paku1239

Paku (Bakau) is an Austronesian language spoken in four villages in the East Barito Regency of Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia. It is closely related to the Malagasy language spoken on Madagascar. Most of the remaining speakers are also fluent in other languages. The use of the language is decreasing and speakers are increasingly shifting to Ma'anyan, a lingua franca of East Barito. In 2018, it was estimated there was about 50 speakers of the language in the villages of Tampa, Tarinsing, Bantei Napu, and Kalamus in the regency of East Barito.

Phonology

Vowels

Paku vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Low		a

• [ə] occurs as a free variant of /e/ in unstressed syllables, e.g., /meˈlintaŋ/ 'yellow' is pronounced [məˈlɪntaŋ].

Consonants

Paku consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t			k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d			g
Affricate				d͡ʒ
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Trill			r
Fricative			s
Approximant		w	l		j

References

• Diedrich, Daniela (2018). A Grammar of Paku: A Language of Central Kalimantan (PhD thesis). The University of Melbourne. hdl:11343/225728.

Further reading

• Dewi Mulyani Santoso; R. Budi Santoso; Ardin Lumban Tobing; Chairun Nisa; Widodo H. Toendan (1989). Fonologi Bahasa Paku [Paku Phonology] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. ISBN 979-459-038-X – via repositori.kemdikbud.go.id.
• Dunis Iper; Wihadi Admojo; Petrus Poerwadi (2002). Struktur Bahasa Paku [Paku Structure] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Pusat Bahasa. ISBN 979-685-268-3 – via repositori.kemdikbud.go.id.