Unua language
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).[3]
| Unua | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Malekula |
Native speakers | 750 (1999)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | onu |
| Glottolog | unua1237 |
| ELP | Unua[2] |
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.
Consonant Phonemes of Unua
| Bilabial | Labiovelar | Dental/alveolar | Alveopalatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless plosives | p | (pʷ) | t | k | |
| Voiced plosives | mb | (mbw) | nd | ɳg | |
| Affricate | tʃ | ||||
| Fricatives | β | (βʷ) | s | ɣ | |
| Nasals | m | n | |||
| Rhotic/Trills | mʙ | ɾ,r | |||
| Laterals | 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.
Vowel Phonemes of Unua
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | (ʉ) | u |
| Mid | e (ø) | (ɵ) | o |
| Low | a |
Grammar
Unua has SVO ordering.
References
- Unua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Endangered Languages Project data for Unua.
- Pearce, Elizabeth (2015). A Grammar of Unua. Boston/Berlin/Munich: De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-1-61451-765-8.
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