Unua language
(Redirected from Onua language)
| Unua | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Malekula |
Native speakers | (750 cited 1999)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | onu |
| Glottolog | unua1237 |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
 Unua is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Unua, or Onua, is an Oceanic language spoken in south-east Malekula, Vanuatu. It is said to be a dialect of the same language, Unua-Pangkumu, as Rerep (Pangkumu).[2]
Phonology
[edit | edit source]The following table lists the contrastive consonant sounds of Unua. There are 16 consonant phonemes for younger Unua speakers and an additional three contrastive velarized labial consonants for older speakers, shown below in parentheses.
| Bilabial | Coronal | Dorsal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labial | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | (pʷ) | t | k |
| prenasal | ᵐb | (ᵐbʷ) | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | |
| Affricate | t͡ʃ | ||||
| Fricative | β | (βʷ) | s | ɣ | |
| Rhotic/Trill | ᵐʙ | ɾ, r | |||
| Approximant | l | ||||
The following table lists the contrastive vowel sounds of Unua. Younger speakers have five vowel phonemes and older speakers have an additional three, shown in parentheses.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | (ʉ) | u |
| Mid | e (ø) | (ɵ) | o |
| Low | a |
Grammar
[edit | edit source]Unua has SVO ordering.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Unua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).