Nume language

Last updated
Nume
Tarasag, Gog
Native to Vanuatu
Region Gaua
Native speakers
700 (2012) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 tgs
Glottolog nume1241
ELP Nume

Nume (also called Gog and Tarasag) is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 700 speakers live on the northeast coast of Gaua. [1]

Contents

Nume is a distinct language from its immediate southern neighbors, Mwerlap and Dorig. [2]

Names

The name Nume originates in the name of a village, now abandoned. Tarasag is currently the community's main village. The alternate name Gog refers to the broader area, and by extension, to the island.

Phonology

Nume has 15 consonant phonemes. [3]

Consonants
Labiovelar Bilabial Alveolar Dorsal
Voiceless stop k͡p ʷ ⟨q⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩
Prenasalized stop ᵐb ⟨b⟩ ⁿd ⟨d⟩
Fricative β ⟨v⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɣ ⟨g⟩
Nasal ŋ͡m ʷ ⟨m̄⟩ m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨n̄⟩
Rhotic r ⟨r⟩
Lateral l ⟨l⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩

Nume has 7 phonemic vowels, which are all short monophthongs. [4]

Vowels
Front Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Near-close ɪ ⟨ē⟩ ʊ ⟨ō⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩

Grammar

The system of personal pronouns in Nume contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural). [5]

Spatial reference in Nume is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torba Province</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banks Islands</span>

The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to their northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The island group lies about 40 km (25 mi) north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 2009, the islands had a population of 8,533. The island group's combined land area is 780 km2.

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.

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.

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

<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.

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.

Vera'a, also known as Vatrata, is an Oceanic language spoken on the western coast of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu.

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. 1 2 François (2012): 88).
  2. ↑ List of Banks islands languages.
  3. ↑ François 2022.
  4. ↑ François (2005a): 445).
  5. ↑ François (2016).
  6. ↑ François (2015).

Bibliography


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.