Dorig language

Last updated
Dorig
Dōrig
Pronunciation [ⁿdʊˈriɣ]
Native to Vanuatu
Region Gaua
Native speakers
300 (2012) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 wwo
Glottolog weta1242
ELP Dorig
Lang Status 60-DE.svg
Dorig is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Dorig(formerly called Wetamut) is a threatened Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu.

Contents

The language’s 300 speakers live mostly in the village of Dorig (IPA: [ⁿdʊˈriɰ] ), on the south coast of Gaua. Smaller speaker communities can be found in the villages of Qteon (east coast) and Qtevut (west coast).

Dorig's immediate neighbours are Koro and Mwerlap. [2]

Name

The name Dorig is derived from the name of the village where it is spoken.

Phonology

Dorig has 8 phonemic vowels. These include 7 short monophthongs /iɪɛaɔʊu/ and one long vowel /aː/. [3]

Dorig vowels
  Front Back
Close i i u u
Near-close ɪ ē ʊ ō
Open-mid ɛ e ɔ o
Open a a, ā

Dorig has 15 consonant phonemes. [4] [5]

Dorig consonants
Labiovelar Bilabial Alveolar Dorsal
Voiceless stop k͡p ʷ q t t k k
Prenasalized stop ᵐb b ⁿd d
Nasal ŋ͡m ʷ m m n n ŋ
Fricative β ~ ɸ v s s ɣ g
Rhotic r r
Lateral l l
Approximant w w

The phonotactic template for a syllable in Dorig is: /CCVC/ — e.g. /rk͡pʷa/ ‘woman’ (< *rVᵐbʷai); /ŋ͡mʷsar/ ‘poor’ (< *mʷasara); /wrɪt/ ‘octopus’ (< *ɣurita). Remarkably, the consonant clusters of these /CCVC/ syllables are not constrained by the Sonority Sequencing Principle. Historically, these /CCVC/ syllables reflect former trisyllabic, paroxytone words */CVˈCVCV/, after deletion of the two unstressed vowels: [6] e.g. POc. *kuRíta ‘octopus’ > *wərítə > /wrɪt/.

Grammar

The system of personal pronouns in Dorig contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural). [7]

Spatial reference is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages. [8]

Related Research Articles

Labial–velar consonants are doubly articulated at the velum and the lips, such as. They are sometimes called "labiovelar consonants", a term that can also refer to labialized velars, such as the stop consonant and the approximant.

Mwotlap is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of Ra and Vanua Lava, as well as migrant groups in the two main cities of the country, Santo and Port Vila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Efate language</span> Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu

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.

In historical linguistics, transphonologization is a type of sound change whereby a phonemic contrast that used to involve a certain feature X evolves in such a way that the contrast is preserved, yet becomes associated with a different feature Y.

Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. It is the most conservative Torres–Banks language, and the only one to keep its inherited five-vowel system intact while also preserving most final vowels.

Lakon is an Oceanic language, spoken on the west coast of Gaua island in Vanuatu.

Koro is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 280 speakers live in the village of Koro, on the south coast of Gaua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lo-Toga language</span> Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu

Lo-Toga is an Oceanic language spoken by about 580 people on the islands of Lo and Toga, in the Torres group of northern Vanuatu. The language has sometimes been called Loh(sic) or Toga, after either of its two dialects.

Mwerlap is an Oceanic language spoken in the south of the Banks Islands in Vanuatu.

Hiw is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of Hiw, in the Torres Islands of Vanuatu. With about 280 speakers, Hiw is considered endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemerig language</span> Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu

Lemerig is an Oceanic language spoken on Vanua Lava, in Vanuatu.

Nume is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 700 speakers live on the northeast coast of Gaua.

Olrat was an Oceanic language of Gaua island, in northern Vanuatu. It became extinct in 2009, with the death of its last speaker Maten Womal.

Mwesen is an Oceanic language spoken in the southeastern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 10 speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vurës language</span> Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu

Vurës is an Oceanic language spoken in the southern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 2000 speakers.

Löyöp is an Oceanic language spoken by about 240 people, on the east coast of Ureparapara Island in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. It is distinct from Lehali, the language spoken on the west coast of the same island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lehali language</span> Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu

Lehali is an Oceanic language spoken by about 200 people, on the west coast of Ureparapara Island in Vanuatu. It is distinct from Löyöp, the language spoken on the east coast of the same island.

Volow is an Oceanic language variety that used to be spoken in the area of Aplow, in the eastern part of the island of Motalava, Vanuatu.

The Torres–Banks languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in the Torres Islands and Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu.

Proto-Torres-Banks is the reconstructed ancestor of the seventeen languages of the Torres and Banks Islands of Vanuatu. Like all indigenous languages of Vanuatu, it belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian languages.

References

  1. François (2012): 88).
  2. List of Banks islands languages.
  3. François (2005 :445)
  4. François (2022).
  5. François (2010 :396)
  6. François (2010 :407)
  7. François (2016).
  8. François (2015).

Bibliography