Numèè language
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| Numèè | |
|---|---|
| Kwényi | |
| Naa Numee | |
| Native to | New Caledonia |
| Region | Nouméa, Isle of Pines |
Native speakers | 2,200 (2009 census)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kdk |
| Glottolog | nume1242 |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
 Numèè is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Numèè (Naa Numee, Naa-Wee), or Kwényi (Kwenyii), is a New Caledonian language, the one spoken at the southern tip of the island, as well as on the Isle of Pines offshore. Despite its name, it is probably not the language that gave its name to the capital of New Caledonia, Nouméa; that seems to have been its close relative Ndrumbea, which used to be spoken there.
Phonology
[edit | edit source]Like its close relative Ndrumbea, Numèè is a tonal language, with three contrasting tones, high, mid, and low.
Vowels
[edit | edit source]Numèè, or rather its dialect Kwênyii, has a total of 35 vowels, all monophthongs: 17 short, and 18 long.[2]
| Front | Front rounded | Back | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oral | nasal | oral | nasal | oral | nasal | |||||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i | iː | ĩ | ĩː | y | yː | ỹ | ỹː | u | uː | ũ | ũː |
| Near-close | ɪː | ʊ | ʊː | |||||||||
| Close-mid | e | eː | ẽ | ẽː | ø | øː | ø̃ | ø̃ː | o | oː | õ | õː |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɛ̃ː | ə | əː | ||||||||
| Open | a | aː | ã | ãː | ||||||||
Consonants
[edit | edit source]Kwênyii has 26 consonants.[3]
Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Numèè at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ See Rivierre, 1973, p.105.
- ^ Kwényïï - homepage of Académie des Langues Kanak.
References
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