Big Nambas language

Infobox Language
name=Big Nambas
nativename=V'ənen Taut
pronunciation= [ˈθ̼ənɛn tautʰ]
region=Northwest Malekula, Vanuatu
speakers=1,800 (as of|1983|lc=on)
familycolor=Austronesian
fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
fam3=Central-Eastern
fam4=Eastern
fam5=Oceanic
fam6=Central-Eastern
fam7=Remote
fam8=North and Central Vanuatu
fam9=Malekula Interior
fam10=Malekula Central
script=Latin alphabet
iso2=map
iso3=nmb

Big Nambas (native name "V'ənen Taut" IPA| [ˈθ̼ənɛn tautʰ] ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by about 1,800 people (as of|1983|lc=on) in northwest Malekula, Vanuatu. Approximately nineteen villages in the Big Nambas region of the Malekula Interior use the language exclusively with no variation in dialect. It was studied in-depth over a period of about 10 years by missionary G. J. Fox, who published a grammar and dictionary in 1979.

Phonology

The consonant phonemes of Big Nambas are as shown in the following table:

Big Nambas has a 5-vowel system comprised of the following phonemes:

Big Nambas has a complex syllable structure with a large amount of consonant clusters possible. Additionally, clusters of up to four vowels are permitted. Stress in Big Nambas is phonemic, but partly predictable. The consonants /t β r l n/ all exhibit phonemic gemination when two identical ones occur between syllables. Linguolabial consonants are often marked with an apostrophe in the orthography to distinguish them from their bilabial counterparts.

Grammar

Big Nambas is a synthetic head-marking language.

Example Texts and Phrases

External links

* [http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/chapter7/venet/vent.html V'enen Taut recordings]

References

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