Nengone language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nengone
RegionMaré Island, New Caledonia
Native speakers
8,700 (2009 census)[1]
Austronesian
  • Loyalty Islands
    • Nengone
Language codes
ISO 639-3nen
Glottologneng1238
Nengone is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Nengone is a language of the

Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
.

Phonology

The phonological inventory of consonants is atypically large for an Oceanic language. Many sounds which are

allophones in other sub-families are distinct phonemes in the Nengone language:[2]

Consonant sounds
Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive
voiceless p t ʈ k ʔ
voiced b d ɖ ɡ
Affricate
voiceless t͡ʃ
voiced d͡ʒ
Fricative
voiceless (f) θ s ʃ (x) h
voiced z ɣ
Nasal voiceless ŋ̊
voiced m n ɲ ŋ
Rhotic r
Approximant
voiceless
voiced w ɭ j

Phonemes in parentheses only occur in words borrowed from other languages.[2]

Vowel sounds
Front Back
High
i u
Mid e o
ɛ ɔ
Low
a

Bibliography

  • Tryon, D.T. and Dubois, M.J. Nengone dictionary. Part I: Nengone-English. C-9, viii + 452 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1969.
  • Tryon, D.T. and Dubois, M.J. Nengone dictionary. Part II: English-Nengone. C-23, iv + 205 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1971.

References

  1. ^ Nengone at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^