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Nyelâyu | |
---|---|
Pronunciation | [jãlɑjʊ] |
Native to | New Caledonia |
Native speakers | 2,000 (2009 census) [1] |
Austronesian
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
yly |
Glottolog |
nyal1254 Nyalayu/Belep
bala1316 Balade |
ELP | Belep |
Nyâlayu is not endangered according to the classification system of the
UNESCO
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Nyelâyu (Yâlayu), also known as Nyalâyu, is a Kanak language of northern New Caledonia, spoken by approximately 2,000 speakers. There are two dialects that are not mutually intelligible. Pooc (or Haat) is spoken in the Belep islands, which are located just north of Grande Terre. Puma (or Paak or Ovac) is spoken in the northernmost regions of New Caledonia in the areas around Poum in the west and Pouébo and Balade in the east.
Labiovelar | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stops | plain | pʷ | p | t | c | k | |
aspirated | pʰʷ | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | ||
prenasalized | ᵐbʷ | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | ᵑg | ||
Nasals | plain | mʷ | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
aspirated | mʰʷ | mʰ | nʰ | ɲʰ | |||
Fricatives | β | ɣ (x) | h | ||||
Semivowels | plain | w | j | ||||
aspirated | wʰ | jʰ | |||||
Trill | r | ||||||
Laterals | l lʰ l᷉ |
Voiceless stops, nasals, and approximants exhibit a contrast of aspiration exhibited in the following examples.
Aspirated consonants are very subtly marked. Aspiration seems to be a prosodic trait that affects the overall realization of the syllable by lowering the register of the voice. [2]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i (y) iː | u uː | |
Mid | e (ø) eː | o oː | |
Open | a aː |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | ĩ ĩː | ũ ũː | |
Mid | ẽ ẽː | õ õː | |
Open | ã ãː |
The vowels /y/ and /ø/ are in parentheses, because they are very rare and appear only in a few words. [2]