Vocabulary

Presented below is the ROILA vocabulary, sorted by their English meaning. Also provided are links to sample audio recordings (Coming Soon). We also provide a shorter version of the vocabulary.

ROILA words are generated by a genetic algorithm which outputs a vocabulary that is deemed to have the least confusion amongst its consituent words. The algorithm is scalable and hence it can generate a vocabulary based on a user defined size.

The meanings of the words are taken from Basic English a concise version of the English language comprising of only 800 words (besides 3 word markers of our own). The words of Basic English were first sorted based on frequency of occurence using metrics provided by the Department of Psychology, Gent so that the shorter a ROILA word was the more frequent word it would be assigned as its meaning.

English ROILA Audio (Coming Soon)
able fumela
about kapim
accident fituje
account menoka
acid watenu
across josoko
act jilufe
addition wosebi
after bafema
again wikef
against fifufo
agreement similu
air wifawe
all bomem
almost fipolu
among nelobi
amount pemona
and sowu
angle supofa
angry likoja
animal popike
answer fokofo
any sojan
anything kela
apple pikulo
approval wiweno
argument sisana
arm lanuwe
army kalutu
art kowonu
as muwak
at kufim
attack kisate
attempt sekuja
attention jobeku
authority pubowu
awake pakume
away bufak
baby besesu
back nole
bad topik
bag jotaka
balance sumafu
ball jinolu
band lomuto
base nasupi
basket temini
bath nolosu
be mufe
beautiful bujufi
because kijo
bed fisama
bee tusani
before wetow
behavior pofuko
belief woseti
bell mojefi
bent wusiwu
between folifo
big kasok
bird mipuki
birth nuwofo
bit fatimu
bite minino
bitter tomeku
black japipa
blade tibawu
blood fitani
blow jomemi
blue kutuju
board lefabi
boat jonofi
body finos
bone pebafe
book fojato
boot toloji
bottle lupuma
bottom lawuti
box lujusi
boy belutu
brain kinili
branch wanowi
brass tobaka
bread nususa
breath mekobi
brick wajipi
bridge masete
bright mesewi
broken konowi
brother bufofe
brown lesaka
brush tajumu
bucket wapisi
bug lamine
building jisape
burn lisune
burst witofi
business bolemo
but fojib
butter punolo
button kawuba
by pofan
cake mebiju
camera limuna
can leto
card kapuwe
care besowu
carriage wulelu
cart wenosi
cat lakowo
cause bomefu
certain kebase
chain pufoni
chance faliwu
change fanajo
cheap nafoju
cheese mokafu
chemical tojiki
chest mimujo
chief kinelu
chin tikulu
church kumake
circle poteto
clean jekute
clear fomuja
clock likopu
cloud tofine
coat mikafa
cold bosipu
collar tupebe
color wekepo
come fiki
comfort sinefa
committee pomofe
common menomo
company jakapu
competition pulawu
complete lukana
complex tewola
condition motaju
connection pabipe
control jasinu
cook mawobu
copy lufimu
cotton tafuwo
cough wikito
country fulinu
cover josipi
cow pekumi
crack nimawu
crazy patap
credit masabi
crime kosino
cruel sepawi
crush sisumo
cry lanila
cup lukile
current sipoja
curtain tutuko
cut fawofo
damage nijofa
danger metoto
dark junobi
daughter fonebe
day wepip
dead biboko
dear febiti
death bukuf
debt tafite
decision litifa
deep kinipi
degree susita
delicate wefipu
design sopoma
desire puwase
destruction tofomu
detail sawuli
development tinalo
device wemete
difference juwike
different fesisi
direction pesiko
dirty bujeti
discovery tofumu
discussion titame
disease pawume
distance pejabu
division senoto
do bimuj
dog fipuko
door bowata
doubt lelaka
down petej
drain wineno
drawer tibawi
dress junuku
drink fabutu
driving kiwulo
drop jasupa
dry mewuse
dust petiju
ear nipepo
early jimope
earth jiseku
east luwali
edge pileki
education samala
effect petamu
egg pefawa
electric sinuju
end pekot
engine nipumo
enough besili
equal tekafo
error wekapa
even tawut
event pasote
ever wufiw
every bekusa
everything jusaw
example nuboka
exchange safile
existence tofiwu
experience lepepu
expert pomino
eye lifelu
face bubime
fact fomose
fall jetepe
false pujowi
family biwome
far fejupu
farm notupu
fat kifefi
father batuwa
fear lajaso
feel wetok
feeling fopena
female nojafo
field kulami
fight wikab
finger mupine
fire nejoj
first titib
fish busenu
fixed ninebi
flag sikufe
flame welona
flat pawoba
flight lewute
floor jipipi
flower piwaja
fly kefoji
fold winusu
food pabulu
foolish sijulu
foot sotuja
for bijej
force kufake
fork weseto
form mififa
forward koloke
frame talamu
free fojane
friend biketa
from nikuf
front womamu
fruit wikute
full fosefi
fun babot
furniture kelupu
future jipime
game simoti
garden panope
general jifaka
get butij
girl batuno
give bufo
glass leneno
glove wanita
go kanek
goat tumofu
gold kifiso
good wopa
government lasobo
grass sobinu
great toton
green koleti
grey welipu
grip wawiji
group makuni
guide sibapo
gun fekopu
hair funuka
hammer timofi
hand jiwos
hanging lokatu
happy bojiju
harbor tosanu
hard bomuwo
harmony wobiju
hat lebije
hate fekaku
have saki
he liba
head babej
healthy pelite
hearing memopa
heart fafaku
heat mipute
help tabob
here fiwas
hi/hello jabami
high fijefi
history kekisi
hole fibale
hollow tipeja
hook mopepu
hope bolowe
horn pulaso
horse jubusi
hospital jawawo
hour fulina
house bubas
how lipam
humor sokewi
I pito
idea bitute
if kenet
ill pubemu
important fesuni
in bafop
increase wipamu
industry tofoba
ink wujine
inside pawop
instrument wofenu
insurance momibu
interest lunema
iron sewulo
island mofetu
it supa
jelly wutusa
jewel wunufa
join kekulo
journey saluwe
judge kesomu
jump kuloja
keep babusa
key jusuti
kick kokafo
kind batapa
kiss jeleno
knee suweno
knife makose
know bati
knowledge pekiwi
land seseme
language nawobu
last wonat
late buloku
laugh lekulo
law jewomo
lead kelali
learning pusike
leather tawopu
left webufo
leg linolo
let lutot
letter kemamu
level luleje
library pitebe
life fenob
lift nelete
light foteli
like jutof
limit tewusi
line fewiti
lip tufona
liquid woseta
list kesalo
listen lulaw
little kute
living funite
lock linapi
long lepol
look nokit
loose mimane
loss nufoki
loud mobino
love loki
low likobi
machine kukoma
make pisal
male nelifi
man losa
manager mitika
map nitojo
mark kemoli
market muwase
married fasife
mass sinaju
match mababi
material pokule
may bemotu
meal nulano
measure tupaji
meat mewite
medical lobifa
meeting janoka
memory mafeje
metal sawena
middle jumila
military mimena
milk mifini
mind bibiji
mine busibe
minute bitipa
mixed powitu
money fesis
monkey newuwa
month jopofi
moon komupe
morning bijina
mother fikuj
motion semeje
mountain nasali
mouth jojitu
move biliju
much sufal
muscle tawole
music fupuma
must waboki
nail semeji
name wafub
narrow wuweme
nation pumeti
natural mijafi
near kelumo
necessary manuta
neck lifelo
need pubow
needle tobako
nerve pisulo
net subefe
new kulil
news fowewo
night telal
no buse
noise nefina
normal kukeme
north lejoku
nose kululu
not bimuw
note lokubo
now lamab
number felit
nut sosisu
observation wuneja
of fomu
off pusif
offer kisume
office fifiji
oil mimubu
old bajato
on bawot
one kilu
only kopo
open mifuf
operation mesuku
opinion mikuwi
opposite sukisu
or buno
orange pokoku
order fumene
organization tewowe
other wolej
out kaben
outside bajike
oven wepuka
over pofop
owner pisosa
page mowewe
pain jomala
paint munune
paper banafu
part busamu
past jejale
paste kewopo
payment tulofo
peace kuwuje
pen peneko
pencil watule
person tiwil
physical pabeji
picture witajo
pig mojuwo
pin sopale
pipe sawusa
place bajeji
plane jonubo
plant tiwaba
plate pefuse
play biwasa
please sapup
pleasure kepila
pocket nanube
point fasoli
poison pepima
polish weboko
political posapu
poor jatola
porter sosufe
position komete
possible jijaba
pot pobapo
potato tojufe
powder sopunu
power fasewa
present jukafi
price lonope
print sajeku
prison lamela
private kipupu
process nutemi
produce topuse
profit totuba
property nifese
protest wijite
public koteja
pull jalaju
pump tilose
punishment tefumo
purpose nebaja
push kufoli
put tobop
quality semife
question fifupo
quick jimeja
quiet jetupo
quite fifiko
rain mabosu
range pitele
rat nimeto
rate peliku
ray jonawo
reaction sopoko
reading lelejo
ready bipiki
reason filaja
receipt wunelu
record kamoju
red tifeke
regret pajafe
regular nenepo
religion tapafo
request pejujo
respect koniko
responsible mefibo
rest felapo
reward sewetu
rhythm towuno
rice sulese
right besati
ring jufebu
river lisimi
road jikafe
robot lobo
rod tujojo
roll lekalo
roof nanume
room bifabe
root tupoli
rough mufisu
round lajeja
rub sujelu
rule mafusu
run bobuja
sad lekaja
safe jalawe
sail tatewa
salt sanena
same jebab
sand putiba
say palak
scale wejeta
school bokubo
science mulisi
screw mowapa
sea lesuma
seat kijopo
second bufawa
secret jilaja
secretary nijabi
see make
seed wufobi
seem jalinu
self takanu
send fofuki
sense janulu
separate posiji
serious jabiju
servant tiwine
sex nafewu
shake mofata
shame mimeme
sharp pibuba
she mona
sheep tejoni
ship jitufi
shirt malifu
shock nupawo
shoe nonisa
short kamipu
shut bulumu
side tuwun
sign jamawu
silk watuwi
silver nofiju
simple julewa
sister fofala
size malula
skin mesuba
skirt watemu
sky melifu
sleep masup
slip pefowe
slow kipupi
small jatuwe
smash wiwofe
smell kelowo
smile lililo
smoke lanuna
smooth sesefu
snake pojeja
snow nojebu
so jobew
soap sukumi
society nikajo
sock wepipo
soft ninota
solid fewisu
some nutat
something puku
son bipane
song jowatu
sort futaba
sound mifemo
soup pelake
south latibo
space lalaso
special futatu
spoon wosufo
spring nojime
square nobuki
stage mebame
star kepetu
start bofute
statement nubuno
station kifeji
stay tipet
steam tebewe
steel sepata
step jesime
stick jonefu
stiff wabewa
still wimut
stitch wukewu
stomach nesamu
stone mipesi
stop babalu
store kepete
story fefule
straight jekesa
strange jutota
street jabube
stretch tafali
strong jupusa
structure wakuse
substance wutobo
such bubafo
sudden nibofo
sugar motiwi
suggestion tineti
summer kikama
sun fokibu
support luteka
surprise junapu
sweet lenesi
swim niwaku
system jufifo
table jineme
tail pesuna
take nomes
talk seni
tall nimewi
taste luluno
tax tafapu
teaching samafe
test kefoju
than wobap
that pimo
then pikik
theory nupike
there fopaf
thick tanepu
thin safufi
thing sowob
this bamas
though fiwoju
thought tukaj
throat nanipi
through bebibe
thumb tofepa
thunder tekuka
ticket matubu
tight lunupa
till fosonu
time nojeb
tin wiloki
tired jijoso
toe tijumi
together bitabu
tommorrow bojifu
tongue noleka
too peka
tooth tawuno
top jalule
touch jajujo
town buwija
trade natuta
train jopofo
transport tokijo
tray wofuba
tree latewi
trick majefi
trouble fawufi
true busapa
turn botama
twist timabi
two seju
umbrella wujone
under buneka
unit nakelo
universe tasesa
up kape
use seput
value powako
very, also the word marker for plural grammatical numbering tuji
vessel wejewi
view molali
violent sojufu
voice kafame
waiting fepasa
walk fosit
wall kubitu
want jiwi
war folopi
warm lujesu
wash minuba
waste lopapi
watch bolapo
water tejim
wave pubito
wax wenafe
way nawe
weather nejapa
week fapiko
weight musoko
well lukot
west lepaso
wet mojemu
what biwu
wheel paketa
while bofabi
whip temuwi
whistle sujosi
white fepaka
who mumub
why mojuf
wide pewebe
will nibif
wind lijowe
window kajona
wine lepoba
wing puwitu
winter pataje
wire nuwoma
wise nupomu
with bopup
woman nipib
wood pakula
word fatatu
word marker for future tense jifo
word marker for past tense jifi
work towo
worm wamilu
wound papebe
writing linufu
wrong bemeko
year buliwi
yellow wipoba
yesterday joninu
you bama
young fafobe

Here is the same table, now from ROILA words to English meanings.

ROILA English Audio (Coming Soon)
babalu stop
babej head
babot fun
babusa keep
bafema after
bafop in
bajato old
bajeji place
bajike outside
bama you
bamas this
banafu paper
batapa kind
bati know
batuno girl
batuwa father
bawot on
bebibe through
bekusa every
belutu boy
bemeko wrong
bemotu may
besati right
besesu baby
besili enough
besowu care
bibiji mind
biboko dead
bifabe room
bijej for
bijina morning
biketa friend
biliju move
bimuj do
bimuw not
bipane son
bipiki ready
bitabu together
bitipa minute
bitute idea
biwasa play
biwome family
biwu what
bobuja run
bofabi while
bofute start
bojifu tommorrow
bojiju happy
bokubo school
bolapo watch
bolemo business
bolowe hope
bomefu cause
bomem all
bomuwo hard
bopup with
bosipu cold
botama turn
bowata door
bubafo such
bubas house
bubime face
bufak away
bufawa second
bufo give
bufofe brother
bujeti dirty
bujufi beautiful
bukuf death
buliwi year
buloku late
bulumu shut
buneka under
buno or
busamu part
busapa true
buse no
busenu fish
busibe mine
butij get
buwija town
fabutu drink
fafaku heart
fafobe young
faliwu chance
fanajo change
fapiko week
fasewa power
fasife married
fasoli point
fatatu word
fatimu bit
fawofo cut
fawufi trouble
febiti dear
fefule story
fejupu far
fekaku hate
fekopu gun
felapo rest
felit number
fenob life
fepaka white
fepasa waiting
fesis money
fesisi different
fesuni important
fewisu solid
fewiti line
fibale hole
fifiji office
fifiko quite
fifufo against
fifupo question
fijefi high
fiki come
fikuj mother
filaja reason
finos body
fipolu almost
fipuko dog
fisama bed
fitani blood
fituje accident
fiwas here
fiwoju though
fofala sister
fofuki send
fojane free
fojato book
fojib but
fokibu sun
fokofo answer
folifo between
folopi war
fomose fact
fomu of
fomuja clear
fonebe daughter
fopaf there
fopena feeling
fosefi full
fosit walk
fosonu till
foteli light
fowewo news
fulina hour
fulinu country
fumela able
fumene order
funite living
funuka hair
fupuma music
futaba sort
futatu special
jabami hi/hello
jabiju serious
jabube street
jajujo touch
jakapu company
jalaju pull
jalawe safe
jalinu seem
jalule top
jamawu sign
janoka meeting
janulu sense
japipa black
jasinu control
jasupa drop
jatola poor
jatuwe small
jawawo hospital
jebab same
jejale past
jekesa straight
jekute clean
jeleno kiss
jesime step
jetepe fall
jetupo quiet
jewomo law
jifaka general
jifi word marker for past tense
jifo word marker for future tense
jijaba possible
jijoso tired
jikafe road
jilaja secret
jilufe act
jimeja quick
jimope early
jineme table
jinolu ball
jipime future
jipipi floor
jisape building
jiseku earth
jitufi ship
jiwi want
jiwos hand
jobeku attention
jobew so
jojitu mouth
jomala pain
jomemi blow
jonawo ray
jonefu stick
joninu yesterday
jonofi boat
jonubo plane
jopofi month
jopofo train
josipi cover
josoko across
jotaka bag
jowatu song
jubusi horse
jufebu ring
jufifo system
jukafi present
julewa simple
jumila middle
junapu surprise
junobi dark
junuku dress
jupusa strong
jusaw everything
jusuti key
jutof like
jutota strange
juwike difference
kaben out
kafame voice
kajona window
kalutu army
kamipu short
kamoju record
kanek go
kape up
kapim about
kapuwe card
kasok big
kawuba button
kebase certain
kefoji fly
kefoju test
kekisi history
kekulo join
kela anything
kelali lead
kelowo smell
kelumo near
kelupu furniture
kemamu letter
kemoli mark
kenet if
kepete store
kepetu star
kepila pleasure
kesalo list
kesomu judge
kewopo paste
kifefi fat
kifeji station
kifiso gold
kijo because
kijopo seat
kikama summer
kilu one
kinelu chief
kinili brain
kinipi deep
kipupi slow
kipupu private
kisate attack
kisume offer
kiwulo driving
kokafo kick
koleti green
koloke forward
komete position
komupe moon
koniko respect
konowi broken
kopo only
kosino crime
koteja public
kowonu art
kubitu wall
kufake force
kufim at
kufoli push
kukeme normal
kukoma machine
kulami field
kulil new
kuloja jump
kululu nose
kumake church
kute little
kutuju blue
kuwuje peace
lajaso fear
lajeja round
lakowo cat
lalaso space
lamab now
lamela prison
lamine bug
lanila cry
lanuna smoke
lanuwe arm
lasobo government
latewi tree
latibo south
lawuti bottom
lebije hat
lefabi board
lejoku north
lekaja sad
lekalo roll
lekulo laugh
lelaka doubt
lelejo reading
leneno glass
lenesi sweet
lepaso west
lepepu experience
lepoba wine
lepol long
lesaka brown
lesuma sea
leto can
lewute flight
liba he
lifelo neck
lifelu eye
lijowe wind
likobi low
likoja angry
likopu clock
lililo smile
limuna camera
linapi lock
linolo leg
linufu writing
lipam how
lisimi river
lisune burn
litifa decision
lobifa medical
lobo robot
lokatu hanging
loki love
lokubo note
lomuto band
lonope price
lopapi waste
losa man
lufimu copy
lujesu warm
lujusi box
lukana complete
lukile cup
lukot well
lulaw listen
luleje level
luluno taste
lunema interest
lunupa tight
lupuma bottle
luteka support
lutot let
luwali east
mababi match
mabosu rain
mafeje memory
mafusu rule
majefi trick
make see
makose knife
makuni group
malifu shirt
malula size
manuta necessary
masabi credit
masete bridge
masup sleep
matubu ticket
mawobu cook
mebame stage
mebiju cake
mefibo responsible
mekobi breath
melifu sky
memopa hearing
menoka account
menomo common
mesewi bright
mesuba skin
mesuku operation
metoto danger
mewite meat
mewuse dry
mifemo sound
mififa form
mifini milk
mifuf open
mijafi natural
mikafa coat
mikuwi opinion
mimane loose
mimeme shame
mimena military
mimubu oil
mimujo chest
minino bite
minuba wash
mipesi stone
mipuki bird
mipute heat
mitika manager
mobino loud
mofata shake
mofetu island
mojefi bell
mojemu wet
mojuf why
mojuwo pig
mokafu cheese
molali view
momibu insurance
mona she
mopepu hook
motaju condition
motiwi sugar
mowapa screw
mowewe page
mufe be
mufisu rough
mulisi science
mumub who
munune paint
mupine finger
musoko weight
muwak as
muwase market
nafewu sex
nafoju cheap
nakelo unit
nanipi throat
nanube pocket
nanume roof
nasali mountain
nasupi base
natuta trade
nawe way
nawobu language
nebaja purpose
nefina noise
nejapa weather
nejoj fire
nelete lift
nelifi male
nelobi among
nenepo regular
nesamu stomach
newuwa monkey
nibif will
nibofo sudden
nifese property
nijabi secretary
nijofa damage
nikajo society
nikuf from
nimawu crack
nimeto rat
nimewi tall
ninebi fixed
ninota soft
nipepo ear
nipib woman
nipumo engine
nitojo map
niwaku swim
nobuki square
nofiju silver
nojafo female
nojeb time
nojebu snow
nojime spring
nokit look
nole back
noleka tongue
nolosu bath
nomes take
nonisa shoe
notupu farm
nuboka example
nubuno statement
nufoki loss
nulano meal
nupawo shock
nupike theory
nupomu wise
nususa bread
nutat some
nutemi process
nuwofo birth
nuwoma wire
pabeji physical
pabipe connection
pabulu food
pajafe regret
paketa wheel
pakula wood
pakume awake
palak say
panope garden
papebe wound
pasote event
pataje winter
patap crazy
pawoba flat
pawop inside
pawume disease
pebafe bone
pefawa egg
pefowe slip
pefuse plate
pejabu distance
pejujo request
peka too
pekiwi knowledge
pekot end
pekumi cow
pelake soup
peliku rate
pelite healthy
pemona amount
peneko pen
pepima poison
pesiko direction
pesuna tail
petamu effect
petej down
petiju dust
pewebe wide
pibuba sharp
pikik then
pikulo apple
pileki edge
pimo that
pisal make
pisosa owner
pisulo nerve
pitebe library
pitele range
pito I
piwaja flower
pobapo pot
pofan by
pofop over
pofuko behavior
pojeja snake
pokoku orange
pokule material
pomino expert
pomofe committee
popike animal
posapu political
posiji separate
poteto circle
powako value
powitu mixed
pubemu ill
pubito wave
pubow need
pubowu authority
pufoni chain
pujowi false
puku something
pulaso horn
pulawu competition
pumeti nation
punolo butter
pusif off
pusike learning
putiba sand
puwase desire
puwitu wing
safile exchange
safufi thin
sajeku print
saki have
saluwe journey
samafe teaching
samala education
sanena salt
sapup please
sawena metal
sawuli detail
sawusa pipe
seju two
sekuja attempt
semeje motion
semeji nail
semife quality
seni talk
senoto division
sepata steel
sepawi cruel
seput use
sesefu smooth
seseme land
sewetu reward
sewulo iron
sibapo guide
sijulu foolish
sikufe flag
similu agreement
simoti game
sinaju mass
sinefa comfort
sinuju electric
sipoja current
sisana argument
sisumo crush
sobinu grass
sojan any
sojufu violent
sokewi humor
sopale pin
sopoko reaction
sopoma design
sopunu powder
sosisu nut
sosufe porter
sotuja foot
sowob thing
sowu and
subefe net
sufal much
sujelu rub
sujosi whistle
sukisu opposite
sukumi soap
sulese rice
sumafu balance
supa it
supofa angle
susita degree
suweno knee
tabob help
tafali stretch
tafapu tax
tafite debt
tafuwo cotton
tajumu brush
takanu self
talamu frame
tanepu thick
tapafo religion
tasesa universe
tatewa sail
tawole muscle
tawopu leather
tawuno tooth
tawut even
tebewe steam
tefumo punishment
tejim water
tejoni sheep
tekafo equal
tekuka thunder
telal night
temini basket
temuwi whip
tewola complex
tewowe organization
tewusi limit
tibawi drawer
tibawu blade
tifeke red
tijumi toe
tikulu chin
tilose pump
timabi twist
timofi hammer
tinalo development
tineti suggestion
tipeja hollow
tipet stay
titame discussion
titib first
tiwaba plant
tiwil person
tiwine servant
tobaka brass
tobako needle
tobop put
tofepa thumb
tofine cloud
tofiwu existence
tofoba industry
tofomu destruction
tofumu discovery
tojiki chemical
tojufe potato
tokijo transport
toloji boot
tomeku bitter
topik bad
topuse produce
tosanu harbor
toton great
totuba profit
towo work
towuno rhythm
tufona lip
tuji very, also the word marker for plural grammatical numbering
tujojo rod
tukaj thought
tulofo payment
tumofu goat
tupaji measure
tupebe collar
tupoli root
tusani bee
tutuko curtain
tuwun side
wabewa stiff
waboki must
wafub name
wajipi brick
wakuse structure
wamilu worm
wanita glove
wanowi branch
wapisi bucket
watemu skirt
watenu acid
watule pencil
watuwi silk
wawiji grip
weboko polish
webufo left
wefipu delicate
wejeta scale
wejewi vessel
wekapa error
wekepo color
welipu grey
welona flame
wemete device
wenafe wax
wenosi cart
wepip day
wepipo sock
wepuka oven
weseto fork
wetok feel
wetow before
wifawe air
wijite protest
wikab fight
wikef again
wikito cough
wikute fruit
wiloki tin
wimut still
wineno drain
winusu fold
wipamu increase
wipoba yellow
witajo picture
witofi burst
wiweno approval
wiwofe smash
wobap than
wobiju harmony
wofenu instrument
wofuba tray
wolej other
womamu front
wonat last
wopa good
wosebi addition
woseta liquid
woseti belief
wosufo spoon
wufiw ever
wufobi seed
wujine ink
wujone umbrella
wukewu stitch
wulelu carriage
wuneja observation
wunelu receipt
wunufa jewel
wusiwu bent
wutobo substance
wutusa jelly
wuweme narrow
  1. John E. Clifford’s avatar

    Nice phone spread, except maybe n/m problems.
    How is accent (stress or pitch or whatever) assigned or is that passed over as requiring too much wiring (leaving the robot voice of lore)?

  2. John E. Clifford’s avatar

    Five of the consonants are labial, separated by minimal differences; does this really optimize distinctions? The four dentals seem more clearly separated and the k and j are obviously distinct.

  3. Chris Doty’s avatar

    Bilabials tend to be really common cross-linguistically, so I don’t know that it’s that weird (although it seems like a robot would have some issue with them).

    Stranger, I think, is the lack of non-low back vowels. Is this because of speech recognition issues? It’s very weird cross-linguistically, and I’d guess you’ll have human learners who have issues with it (especially with your /e/ versus /a/ and /u/ versus /o/).

  4. Chris Doty’s avatar

    Actually, I was just listening to the audio samples here (http://roila.org/installation/sphinx-4-speech-recognizer/) and I think the issue might be more that your IPA transcriptions are off, since the pronunciations sound like what I’d expect from the letters.

  5. Onymous’s avatar

    Probably should have used at minimum Special English or Simplified English. Basic English is highly dependent on English turns of phrase, and whats the point of purposely making a separate language if chunks of it only make sense in context of English.

  6. Stefan’s avatar

    All above, you claim that ROILA “is constructed to make it easy for humans to learn”.

    I really don’t get how this can be said of a vocabulary that is — from the human point of view — constructed randomly of some vowels and consonants, without an underlying system that helps memoizing those words. Perhaps it would have been possible to have a human-friendly system as well as a machine-friendly low-confusion generation.

  7. Alex F’s avatar

    I agree with Onymous — the Basic English vocabulary is a very poor choice to base the lexicon on. As Mark Rosenfelder puts it (http://www.zompist.com/kitlong.html#howmany“), *Ogden and Richards cheated*: the expressivity of Basic English relies crucially on the English polysemy and the English idiomatic constructions the words they selected are involved in. These are things you’d do well not to replicate in ROILA.
    I’m worried you’ve already fallen into this trap, actually. On the Grammar page you have _Pimo kapim kanek_ “I about go”. Why does “about” mark the immediate future? If that’s the only thing you use _kapim_ for, then you should gloss it as such; but if it also means “relating to” or “approximately” or “around, nearby” or …, then I smell a thoughtless calque of English.

    Making the past and future markers _jifi_, _jifo_ differ only in one vowel is a bad idea for distinctiveness, especially given your focus on machine understanding. They’ll more easily be confused with each other this way.

    What is “pasteice” (_kewopo_)?

  8. Onymous’s avatar

    In general the language falls the counter intuitive problem; the simpler the language is the MORE difficult it is to parse.

  9. Leke’s avatar

    Here is a little ROILA live search dictionary I put together:
    http://rebol.vlexo.net/Programming/roila/searchDic.html
    There is also a field for creating practice sentences while you use the dictionary.

  10. akahmys’s avatar

    Pito loki ROILA.

  11. Ali’s avatar

    There is no word for the word “Robot”. Now do I say “Bad Robot” when I want to spank my robot?

  12. Lisastarchild’s avatar

    Whats the ROILA for robot?

  13. mubin’s avatar

    Sorry we didnt update that yet. The word for robot in ROILA is LOBO.

  14. Ed’s avatar

    How does it deal with names?

  15. Steven Wayne Lytle’s avatar

    What are the intended meanings of the following ambiguous words? (Or do they include all the English meanings?)

    back nole
    band lomuto
    can leto
    earth jiseku
    fall jetepe
    fat kifefi
    fly kefoji
    glass leneno
    horn pulaso
    judge kesomu
    kind batapa
    lead kelali
    letter kemamu
    light foteli
    like jutof
    orange pokoku
    plane jonubo
    present jukafi
    right besati
    second bufawa
    slip pefowe
    spring nojime
    stage mebame
    step jesime
    still wimut
    then pikik
    too peka
    watch bolapo
    will nibif

  16. Jan Jakubczyk’s avatar

    What’s ROILA for “ROILA”?
    (ROILA has no “r”)
    The vowels are somewhat unusual: A E I O U for [æ] [e] [i] [o] [ʌ]. Confusing when you try to read.
    ROILA’s phonotactics: CV..CV or CV…CVC, created “for ease of machine recognition” is suspicious. The final consonant of preceding word at word boundaries may disappear with improper pronunciation. Some audio examples show this improper pronunciation (maybe it was just created on speech synthesizer, not in any way specialized in ROILA, but designed for English/Spanish. ROILA is not English/Spanish, and it should have specialized speech synthesizer.) In phrase “fosit jifi” words were in no way separated, “t” was not aspirated/emphasized, it wasn’t even audible! Maybe it is not supposed to be pronounced in that way?
    BTW. If you just disallow CV…CVC, no consonant clusters can appear.
    Were the words created by some algorithm (to attempt ease of distinction/pronunciation/recognition), or just randomly generated according to phonotactics?
    Does the system automatically see word boundaries or there should be pauses?
    Is there some pitch/stress? Is syllable length constant?

  17. mubin’s avatar

    thanks jan for your comments, they are all valuable. Indeed at this moment ROILA does not have r, so we may need to find a substitute word for ROILA.

    Our focus in the project was not on speech synthesis (not yet anyway). We only wanted to have speech synthesis to setup a prototype where the robot could talk back in ROILA. The ideal way to do it is to use a specific speech synthesizer for ROILA, trained with natural speakers and data as you suggest. The recordings are hence from the “English” voice of the speech synthesizer.

    Word choice was based on our evaluation results where we found out that CV type words perform better than non CV type words in terms of recognition accuracy. That would somehow negate your argument of difficult pronunciation. In our experiment CV type words included CVCV, CVCVC and CVCVCV.

    The words are created from a genetic algorithm which tries to find the optimal vocabulary whose words have the least confusion amongst them. There is no stress and syllable length is always 1 or 2 phonemes.

  18. Jared’s avatar

    In the Book, Learning ROILA, it says the ‘o’ is pronounced as OH (boat, moan).

    On this website under Language guide (and in the audio examples) it says that ‘o’ is pronounce as AO (frost).

    Which is correct?

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