It is very closely related to Nukumanu and Nukuria from Papua New Guinea and to Ontong Java and Sikaiana from Solomon Islands.
According to Moyle, “there is a length distinction in the vowels and between single and geminate consonants that is phonemic and important for correct pronunciation.” Moyle states that these distinctions affect not only the vowel length but also the stress patterns when saying different words.
apurupurusink {} sinkingMoyle also states that, “In Takuu, most verbs agree in number with plural subjects by reduplicating the first syllable of the root.
When the first syllable is reduplicated, the vowel is omitted, forming an initial geminate consonant.
It is also routinely retained in singing to achieve a predetermined number of syllables in a poetic line.
Reduplication is also a feature of sentences where the verb action relates to many or all the available items standing as subjects or objects.
According to Richard Moyle’s research on the Takuu language, they have words for counting cardinals, coin money, net mesh, coconuts and stones, fish, length of ropes, length of woods, humans, and canoes.
[2] In 2006 a team of filmmakers (Briar March and Lyn Collie) visited the atoll twice, “making a documentary that records culture and life on the atoll, and examines the possibility that the community might have to relocate to Bougainville mainland if their physical situation worsens”.
Briar, Lyn, Scott and John all discovered that the Takuu people reside in “traditional thatched houses that stand in crowded rows, so close to each other that the eaves almost touch.
There are few trees on the island apart from coconut palms, and the main street serves as a marae, a space for ritual ceremonies”.
Music is a fundamental part of their life and because of their “long periods of isolation”; many of the indigenous songs, stories and dances have survived till this day.
This shows that the Takuu people place great value on their indigenous practices and religious belief.