Nemi language

The Nemi language is a Kanak language of the Austronesian language family spoken by 320 people in the north of New Caledonia, in the commune of Hienghène. Dialects include Ouanga, Ouélis, and Kavatch.

Nemi
Native to	Hienghène, New Caledonia
Native speakers	910 (2009 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic New Caledonian – Loyalties New Caledonian Northern New Caledonian North Northern Nemi languages Nemi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nem
Glottolog	nemi1240
ELP	Nemi
Nemi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Sample audio of spoken Nemi (intro and last part are French)

Phonology

The phonology of Nemi is as follows:

Consonants

		Labiovelar	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasals	voiced	mʷˠ	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
	voiceless	m̥ʷˠ	m̥	n̥	ɲ̥	ŋ̥
Stops	tenuis	pʷˠ	p	t	c	k
	aspirated	pʷˠʰ	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ
	prenasalized	ᵐpʷˠ	ᵐp	ⁿt	ᶮc	ᵑk
	postnasalized	pʷˠᵐ	pᵐ	tⁿ	cᶮ	kᵑ
Continuants	voiced oral	w	v	(l)	j
	voiceless oral	w̥	f		j̥		h
	voiced nasal	w̃
	voiceless nasal	w̥̃					h̃

Note that the 'labiovelar' consonants are labialized and velarized bilabial consonants (with the exception of /w/ and its voiceless, nasal, and voiceless nasal counterparts, which are labial-velar approximants.).

Vowels

	Front		Back
	short	long	short	long
High	i	iː	u	uː
Mid	e	eː	o	oː
Low	a	aː

The vowel /a/ actually represents the low central unrounded vowel, [ä], and not the low front unrounded vowel, [a].

Bibliography

• Haudricourt, André-Georges; Ozanne-Rivierre, Françoise (1982). Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : pije, fwâi, nemi, jawe. Précédé d'une phonologie comparée des langues de Hienghène et du proto-océanien. Paris: Société d'Etudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France. p. 285. ISBN 978-2852971349.

External links

• Information about the Nemi language