Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Words for colours in Tuvaluan with notes on their etymology and usage. There are four basic colour terms in Tuvaluan, black, white, red and yellow. Other colour terms are compounds based on the colours (lanu) of the natural world, or loanwords from English - indicated with an *.
uli - black / dark
kèna /k:ena/ - white
kùla /k:ula/ - red
sèga /s:enga/ - yellow
lanu moana (colour of the ocean) - dark blue
pulú* /pulu:/ - blue
lanu launiu (colour of the coconut leaf) - green
kulini* - green
ólenisi* /o:lenisi/ - orange
kulei* - grey
violeti* - violet
kákí* /ka:ki:/ - khaki
Information about Tuvaluan colours by Emanuel Fuchs