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

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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