North Efate language

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.

North Efate
Nakanamanga
Nguna
RegionEfate, Vanuatu
Native speakers
9,500 (2001)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3llp
Glottolognort2836
North Efate is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The population of speakers is recorded to be 9,500.[2] This makes Nakanamanga one of the largest languages of Vanuatu, an archipelago known for having the world's highest linguistic density.[3]

Phonology

The consonant and vowels sounds of North Efate (Nguna).[4]

Consonant sounds
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
Vowel sounds
Front Central Back
High iu
Mid eo
Low a

Subdialects of North Efate include:[5]

  • Buninga
  • Emau
  • Livara
  • Nguna
  • Paunangis
  • Sesake

Typology follows Subject Object Verb order as is observed in Nguna[2]

References
  • Ray, Sidney H. (1887). "Sketch of Nguna Grammar". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 16: 409–418. doi:10.2307/2841882. JSTOR 2841882.
  • Schütz, Albert J. (1969). "Nguna Grammar". Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications.

Notes
  1. North Efate at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. "Efate, North". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  3. François, Alexandre; Franjieh, Michael; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Schnell, Stefan (2015), "The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu", in François, Alexandre; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Franjieh, Michael; Schnell, Stefan (eds.), The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity, Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia, Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access, pp. 1–21, ISBN 9781922185235
  4. Schütz, Albert J. (1969). Nguna Grammar. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications.
  5. "Glottolog 3.3 - North Efate". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
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