Futunan language
| Futunan | |
|---|---|
| Faka futuna | |
| Region | Futuna Island, Wallis and Futuna and New Caledonia |
Native speakers | (6,600 cited 1986–1987)[1] 3,600 in Wallis and Futuna (2011) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | fud |
| Glottolog | east2447 |
Futunan or Futunian is the Polynesian language spoken on Futuna (and Alofi). The term East-Futunan is also used to distinguish it from the related West Futunan (Futuna-Aniwan) spoken on the outlier islands of Futuna and Aniwa in Vanuatu.
Ca. 1987, Fakafutuna was spoken by 3,600 on Futuna, as well as by some of the 3,000 migrant workers in New Caledonia.[1]
Phonology
Futunan has five vowels; a, e (/e/), i, o, u (/u/) which can be short or long. Long vowels are denoted by a macron: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū. Futunan has 11 consonants: 4 plosives (p, k, t and a glottal stop /ʔ/, noted by an apostrophe); 3 nasals m, n and g (/ŋ/) and 4 fricatives f, v, l and s[2]. /ŋ/ corresponds to the sound ng as in "parking".
The Futunan has a syllabic structure of CVCV type, which means that two consonants are necessarily separated by a vowel; The opposite is not true (examples: eio (yes), tauasu (meeting where one drinks kava), aua (particle of the negative imperative), etc.). Words end with a vowel.
References
- ^ a b Futunan at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
- ^ Moyse-Faurie, Claire (1993). Dictionnaire futunien-français avec index français-futunien. Peeter Selaf.
External links
- An online French–Futunan dictionary
- Database of audio recordings in Futunan (Fakafutuna) - basic Catholic prayers
.jpg){kind=small} | This Austronesian languages-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Wallis and Futuna-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |