Yuanga language

Yuanga (Yuaga), or Nua, is a New Caledonian language spoken in the north of the island.

Phonology

Consonants

LabialDental/AlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottal
plainlab.plainpal.
Stopvoicelesspʈk
aspiratedpʰʷt̪ʰtʲʰʈʰ
prenasalᵐbᵐbʷⁿ̪d̪ⁿdʲᶯɖᵑɡ
Fricativeplainvθxh
aspirated
Nasalvoicedmŋ
aspiratedmʰʷn̪ʰnʲʰ
Approximantvoicedwlj
aspirated()
  • [lʰ] is probably not a distinct phoneme, although it is perhaps perceived and heard among a few speakers.
  • Stops /p, pʷ, t̪, tʲ/ may have voiced realizations [b, bʷ, d̪, dʲ] when in intervocalic position.
  • /ʈ/ may be heard as voiced [ɖ] or a flapped [ɾ] in intervocalic position.
  • /k/ in intervocalic position may be realized as a stop [ɡ] or fricated as either [ɣ] or [x].
  • /vʰ/ may also be heard as voiceless [fʰ] in free variation.
  • /θ, x/ may be voiced as [ð, ɣ] in intervocalic position.[2]

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Highiĩuũ
High-mideoõ
Low-midɛɔ
Lowaã
  • /e/ may be heard as [ɪ] when following palatalized stops.
  • /o/ may be heard as [ʊ] in free variation following consonants other than labio-velar stops.
  • /ɔ/ is more closed as [ɔ̝] when following labio-velar stops and labio-velar nasals.[2]

References

  1. Yuanga at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 12Schooling, Stephen J. (1992). The phonology of Yuanga, a language of New Caledonia. In Malcolm D. Ross (ed.), Papers in Austronesian Linguistics 2: Canberra: Australian National University. pp. 97–146.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: publisher location (link)