I recently noticed that no words I have ever seen in Hawaiian have any sibilants at all - not an ‘S’, not an ‘sh’, not a ‘Z’ or any other I can identify. Is this accurate?
Are there other known languages with no sibilants?
Here are search results from the UCLA Phonological Segment Inventory Database:[ul]
[li]ALAWA: Australian, Maran[/li][li]ARRERNTE: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]AUCA: S. American, Andean[/li][li]BARDI: Australian, Nyulnyulan[/li][li]BURARRA: Australian, Burarran[/li][li]DERA: Papuan, Trans-New Guinea[/li][li]DINKA: Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Nilotic, Dinka-Nuer[/li][li]DIYARI: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]DYIRBAL: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]EKARI: Papuan, Trans-New Guinea[/li][li]GADSUP: Papuan, Trans-New Guinea[/li][li]GARAWA: Australian, Garawan[/li][li]GUGU-YALANDYI: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]HAWAIIAN: Austro-Tai, Austronesian, E. Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Polynesian[/li][li]KALKATUNGU: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]KOIARI: Papuan, Trans-New Guinea[/li][li]MALAKMALAK: Australian, Daly[/li][li]MARANAO: Austro-Tai, West Malayo-Polynesian[/li][li]MAUNG: Australian, Yiwaidjan[/li][li]MBABARAM: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]MURINHPATHA: Australian, ungrouped[/li][li]NASIOI: Papuan, East Papuan[/li][li]NGARINJIN: Australian, Wororan[/li][li]NGIYAMBAA: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]NUNGGUBUYU: Australian, ungrouped[/li][li]NYAH KUR: Austro-Asiatic, Mon[/li][li]RORO: Austro-Tai, E. Malayo-Polynesian[/li][li]ROTOKAS: Papuan, East Papuan[/li][li]SENTANI: Papuan, Trans-New Guinea[/li][li]TIWI: Australian, ungrouped[/li][li]WARAY: Australian, ungrouped[/li][li]WESTERN DESERT: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]WIK-MUNKAN: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]YANYUWA: Australian, Ungrouped[/li][li]YIDINY: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][li]YOLNGU: Australian, Pama-Nyungan[/li][/ul]As you can see, almost all of these languages are Australian or Papuan, though there are a few exceptions.
I should add that I’m a linguist by training, and I’ve only ever heard of two of these languages: Hawaiian and Dyirbal. Dyirbal has only about five remaining speakers, but it’s well-known among linguists and even to some extent in popular culture for its two quirky features.
The first of these is its gender system, which, instead of the more familiar classifications of masculine/feminine, masculine/feminine/neuter, or animate/inanimate, has the following four genders: “men and animate objects”, “women, fire, and dangerous things”, “edible fruits and vegetables”, and “other”. The second gender became the title of a well-known book.
The second cool thing about Dyirbal is its highly complex taboo system. Quoth Wikipedia:
Notice that most of the languages listed above are Australian. It seems to be that a lot of Australian aboriginal languages (including many that haven’t been shown to be related) lack fricatives. This is a pretty textbook case of an areal feature - something common to the languages in a certain area, rather than necessary the result of genetic relatedness.
Rotokas is on the list as well; this language (distantly related to Hawai’ian; Austronesian languages frequently have fairly small sound inventories) has the distinction of being the language with the smallest set of sounds known.
Though it’s possibly tied with Pirahã, depending on which list of that language’s phonemes you agree with.