Nemi language
Appearance
Nemi | |
---|---|
Native to | Hienghène, New Caledonia |
Native speakers | 910 (2009 census)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | nem |
Glottolog | nemi1240 |
ELP | Nemi |
The Nemi language is a Kanak language spoken by 320 people in the north of New Caledonia, in the commune of Hienghène.
Phonology
Nemi features labiovelarized plosives and voiceless nasals[2].
Consonants | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bilabial | Labiovelar | ||||||
Stops | Tenuis | p | pʷˠ | t | c | k | |
Aspirated | pʰ | pʷˠʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||
Nasalized Stops | Prenasalized | ᵐp | ᵐpʷˠ | ⁿt | ᶮc | ᵑk | |
Postnasalized | pᵐ | pʷˠᵐ | tⁿ | cᶮ | kᵑ | ||
Nasals | Voiced | m | mʷˠ | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
Voiceless | m̥ | m̥ʷˠ | n̥ | ɲ̥ | ŋ̥ | ||
Continuants | Voiced | f | w | (l) | j | h | |
Voiceless | v | w̥ | j̥ | ||||
Nasal | w̃ w̥̃ | h̃ |
Vowels in Nemi have a two way length distinction.
Vowels | Front | Middle | Back |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | u | |
Middle | e | o | |
Low | a |
References
- ^ Nemi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Rivierre, Françoise. 1975. Phonologie du némi (Nouvelle-Calédonie) et notes sur les consonnes postnasalisées. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris 70. 345-356.