Whitesands language

Last updated
Whitesands
East Tanna
Narak
Native to Vanuatu
Region Tanna Island, east coast
Native speakers
7,500 (2001) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 tnp
Glottolog whit1269
Lang Status 99-NE.svg
Whitesands is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Whitesands, or East Tanna, or Narak, [2] is a language spoken on the eastern coast of Tanna, in southern Vanuatu. It is closely related to the neighbouring North Tanna and Lenakel languages. [3]

Contents

Phonology

Consonants

Whitesands has 16 consonant phonemes: [3] : 9 

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t tʲ k
Fricative f s x h
Rhotic r ɹ
Lateral l
Semivowel w j

Vowels

It has six phonemic vowels: [3] : 8 

Front Central Back
Close i ə u
Mid ɛ ɔ
Open ɐ

References

  1. ↑ Whitesands at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ François, Alexandre; Franjieh, Michael; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Schnell, Stefan (2015), "The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu" (PDF), in François, Alexandre; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Franjieh, Michael; Schnell, Stefan (eds.), The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity, Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia, Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access, pp. 1–21.
  3. 1 2 3 Hammond, Jeremy (June 2009). "The Grammar of Nouns and Verbs in Whitesands, an Oceanic Language of Southern Vanuatu" (PDF). CORE.


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