Unua language
{{short description|Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Unua
|region=Malekula
|state=Vanuatu
|speakers=750
|date=1999
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Austronesian
|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
|fam3=Oceanic
|fam4=Southern Oceanic
|fam5=North-Central Vanuatu
|fam6=Central Vanuatu
|fam7=Malakula
|fam8=Malakula Coastal
|fam9=Unua-Pangkumu
|iso3=onu
|glotto=unua1237
|glottorefname=Unua
|map = Lang Status 99-NE.svg
|mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Unua is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}
}}
Unua, or Onua, is an Oceanic language spoken in south-east Malekula, Vanuatu. It is said to be a dialect of the same language, Unua-Pangkumu, as Rerep (Pangkumu).{{cite book |last1=Pearce |first1=Elizabeth |title=A Grammar of Unua |date=2015 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |location=Boston/Berlin/Munich |isbn=978-1-61451-765-8}}
Phonology
The following table lists the contrastive consonant sounds of Unua. There are 16 consonant phonemes for younger Unua speakers and an additional three contrastive velarized labial consonants for older speakers, shown below in parentheses.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Consonants |
| rowspan="2" colspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | Bilabial ! rowspan="2" | Coronal ! rowspan="2" | Dorsal |
|---|
| {{small|plain}}
! {{small|labial}} |
| colspan="2" | Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} | | {{IPA link|n}} | |
| rowspan="2" | Plosive
! {{small|voiceless}} | {{IPA link|p}} | ({{IPA link|pʷ}}) | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|k}} |
| {{small|prenasal}}
| {{IPA link|ᵐb}} | ({{IPA link|ᵐbʷ}}) | {{IPA link|ⁿd}} | {{IPA link|ᵑɡ}} |
| colspan="2" | Affricate
| | | {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} | |
| colspan="2" | Fricative
| {{IPA link|β}} | ({{IPA link|βʷ}}) | {{IPA link|s}} | {{IPA link|ɣ}} |
| colspan="2" | Rhotic/Trill
| {{IPA link|ᵐʙ}} | | {{IPA link|ɾ}}, {{IPA link|r}} | |
| colspan="2" | Approximant
| | | {{IPA link|l}} | |
The following table lists the contrastive vowel sounds of Unua. Younger speakers have five vowel phonemes and older speakers have an additional three, shown in parentheses.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Vowels | |||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High
| {{IPA link|i}} | ({{IPA link|ʉ}}) | {{IPA link|u}} | |||
| Mid
| {{IPA link|e}} ({{IPA link|ø}}) | ({{IPA link|ɵ}}) | {{IPA link|o}} | |||
| Low
| | {{IPA link|a}} | |
Grammar
Unua has SVO ordering.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Languages of Vanuatu}}
{{Southern Oceanic languages}}
{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}
{{SOceanic-lang-stub}}