Nemi language

{{short description|Austronesian language spoken in New Caledonia}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Nemi

|nativename=

|states=Hienghène, New Caledonia

|speakers=910

|date = 2009 census

|ref = e18

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Oceanic

|fam4=Southern Oceanic

|fam5=New Caledonian – Loyalties

|fam6=New Caledonian

|fam7=Northern New Caledonian

|fam8=North Northern

|fam9=Nemi languages

|iso3=nem

|glotto=nemi1240

|glottorefname=Nemi

|map = Lang Status 60-DE.svg

|mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Nemi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

}}

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.Isabelle Bril, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Complex Predicates in Oceanic Languages: Studies in the Dynamics of Binding and Boundness (2012), p. 389.

File:Nouvelle Calédonie Gilbert Théin Nemi.ogg

==Phonology==

The phonology of Nemi is as follows:Rivierre, Françoise. 1975. Phonologie du némi (Nouvelle-Calédonie) et notes sur les consonnes postnasalisées. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris 70. 345-356.

class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align: center;" |+ Consonants
colspan="2" | ! Labiovelar ! Bilabial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal
rowspan="2" | Nasals ! voiced | {{IPA link|mʷˠ}} | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | {{IPA link|ɲ}} | {{IPA link|ŋ}} |
voiceless | {{IPA link|m̥ʷˠ}} | {{IPA link|m̥}} | {{IPA link|n̥}} | {{IPA link|ɲ̥}} | {{IPA link|ŋ̥}} |
rowspan="4" | Stops ! tenuis | {{IPA link|pʷˠ}} | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|c}} | {{IPA link|k}} |
aspirated | {{IPA link|pʷˠʰ}} | {{IPA link|pʰ}} | {{IPA link|tʰ}} | | {{IPA link|kʰ}} |
prenasalized | {{IPA link|ᵐpʷˠ}} | {{IPA link|ᵐp}} | {{IPA link|ⁿt}} | {{IPA link|ᶮc}} | {{IPA link|ᵑk}} |
postnasalized | {{IPA link|pʷˠᵐ}} | {{IPA link|pᵐ}} | {{IPA link|tⁿ}} | {{IPA link|cᶮ}} | {{IPA link|kᵑ}} |
rowspan="4" | Continuants ! voiced oral | {{IPA link|w}} | {{IPA link|v}} | ({{IPA link|l}}) | {{IPA link|j}} | |
voiceless oral | {{IPA link|w̥}} | {{IPA link|f}} | | {{IPA link|j̥}} | | {{IPA link|h}}
voiced nasal | {{IPA link|w̃}} | | | | |
voiceless nasal | {{IPA link|w̥̃}} | | | | | {{IPA link|h̃}}

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

class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align: center;" |+ Vowels
rowspan=2| ! colspan=2|Front ! colspan=2|Back
{{small|short}} ! {{small|long}} ! {{small|short}} ! {{small|long}}
High | {{IPA link|i}} | {{IPA link|iː}} | {{IPA link|u}} | {{IPA link|uː}}
Mid | {{IPA link|e}} | {{IPA link|eː}} | {{IPA link|o}} | {{IPA link|oː}}
Low | {{IPA link|ä|a}} | {{IPA link|aː}} | |

The vowel /a/ actually represents the low central unrounded vowel, [{{IPA link|ä}}], and not the low front unrounded vowel, [{{IPA link|a}}].