- Woleaian
Woleaian is the main language of the island of
Woleai and surrounding islands in the state ofYap of theFederated States of Micronesia . Woleaian is officially classified as a Trukic language, and within this family its closest relative is Satawalese, with which it is largely mutually intelligible. Woleaian is divided into two dialects: Woleaian andLamotrek . There are approximately 1700 speakers of Woleaian.Woleai has a writing system of its own, a syllabary influenced in part by Latin letters.
Phonology
Woleaian has geminate (long) consonants and vowels.
In the orthography of Sohn (1975), along with a few approximations in the
IPA , the inventory is,Note that both "sh" and "r" become "ch" when long, and that "l" becomes "nn".
Vowels occur long and short, except for "eo" and "oa," which are only found long.
Further reading
Sohn, H.M. 1975. "Woleaian Reference Grammar." University of Hawaii Press.
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