North Efate language
Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu
North Efate | |
---|---|
Nakanamanga | |
Nguna | |
Region | Efate, Vanuatu |
Native speakers | 9,500 (2001) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | llp |
Glottolog | nort2836 |
North Efate is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
North Efate, also known as Nakanamanga or Nguna, is an Oceanic language spoken on the northern area of Efate in Vanuatu, as well as on a number of islands off the northern coast – including Nguna, and parts of Tongoa, Emae and Epi.
The population of speakers is recorded to be 9,500. This makes Nakanamanga one of the largest languages of Vanuatu, an archipelago known for having the world's highest linguistic density.
Phonology
The consonant and vowels sounds of North Efate (Nguna).
Labial | Dental | Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | plain | p | t̪ | k |
implosive | ɓʷ | |||
Fricative | v | s | ||
Nasal | plain | m | n | ŋ |
prenasal | ᵑm | |||
Liquid | l r | |||
Semivowel | w |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Low | a |
Subdialects of North Efate include:
- Buninga
- Emau
- Livara
- Nguna
- Paunangis
- Sesake
Typology follows Subject Object Verb order as is observed in Nguna
Official languages | |||||||||||||||||||
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Indigenous languages (Southern Oceanic and Polynesian) |
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