Nukuria language
{{Short description|Polynesian language}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Nuguria
| altname = Nukuria
| states = Papua New Guinea
| region = Nuguria
| speakers = 550
| date = 2003
| ref = e18
| familycolor = Austronesian
| fam2 = Malayo-Polynesian
| fam3 = Oceanic
| fam4 = Polynesian
| fam5 = Ellicean
| iso3 = nur
| glotto = nuku1259
| glottorefname = Nukuria
| notice = IPA
}}
Nuguria, or Nukuria, is a Polynesian Outlier language spoken by approximately 550 people on Nuguria, in the eastern islands of Papua New Guinea.{{Cite book |last=Marck |first=Jeff |title=Topics in Polynesian Languages and Culture History |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=2000 |location=Canberra |language=en |doi=10.15144/PL-504 |hdl=1885/90887 |isbn=9780858834682 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free}}
Classification
Nukuria is a Polynesian language, part of the Austronesian language family.{{Cite web |title=Glottolog 5.1 - Nukuria |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nuku1259 |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=glottolog.org}}
The Nukuria language is closely related to other nearby languages such as Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuoro, and Luangiua.{{Cite journal |last=Kirch |first=P. V. |date=1984 |title=The Polynesian Outliers: Continuity, Change, and Replacement |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249047052 |journal=The Journal of Pacific History |language=en |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=224–238 |doi=10.1080/00223348408572496 |jstor=25168559}}{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=William H. |date=1985 |title=Evidence for an Outlier Source for the Proto Eastern Polynesian Pronominal System |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=24 |issue=1/2 |pages=85–133 |doi=10.2307/3623064 |jstor=3623064}}
Status
The language was taught in primary schools on Nuguria and was used for daily communications between adults and children.{{Citation |title=Nukeria |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/nur |access-date=19 October 2018 |publisher=Ethnologue}}
Research on the language (as well as the location it is spoken) is scarce. Past research stated Nuguria was at risk of endangerment; at that point it was still being passed to children.{{cn|date=December 2018}} However, recent research indicates that Nukuria is now most likely an extinct language.{{Cite book |last=Blust |first=R. A. |title=The Austronesian Languages |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=2009 |series=Pacific Linguistics |volume=602 |location=Canberra |language=en |hdl=1885/10191}}
Phonology
The Nukuria language's alphabet contains five vowels: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, and fifteen consonants: /p/, /b/, /m/, /f/, /v/, /t/, /s/, /n/, /l/, /r/, /k/, /g/, /ŋ/, /w/, /h/.{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sidney H. |date=1916 |title=Polynesian Linguistics. III. Polynesian Languages of the Solomon Islands |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=18–23 |jstor=20701126}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Nukuria consonants ! colspan="2" | |
| colspan="2" |Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | {{IPA link|ŋ}} | |
|---|
| rowspan="2" |Stop
!voiceless | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|k}} | |
| voiced
| {{IPA link|b}} | | {{IPA link|g}} | |
| rowspan="2" |Fricative
!voiceless | {{IPA link|f}} | {{IPA link|s}} | | {{IPA link|h}} |
| voiced
| {{IPA link|v}} | | | |
| colspan="2" |Approximant
| | {{IPA link|l}} | {{IPA link|w}} | |
| colspan="2" |Trill
| | {{IPA link|r}} | | |
Grammar
There is a distinct scarceness of research on the grammar and alphabet of the Nukuria language, but, as with many Austronesian languages, Nukuria has a subject-verb-object sentence structure.{{cn|date=December 2018}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Polynesian languages}}
{{Austronesian languages}}
{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}