Santa Cruz | |
---|---|
Natügu | |
Native to | Solomon Islands |
Region | Santa Cruz Islands, Eastern Solomons. |
Native speakers | (5,900 cited 1999) [1] |
Austronesian
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously:
ntu – Natügu
nlz – Nalögo
npx – Noipx |
Glottolog |
natu1250 |
Coordinates: 10°40′S 165°50′E / 10.667°S 165.833°E |
The Santa Cruz language (locally known as Natügu) is the main language spoken on the island of Nendö or 'Santa Cruz', in the Solomon Islands.
The name Natügu means "our language" (natü "language, word" + -gu "1st + 2nd person plural suffix").
It was widely believed until recently that Santa Cruz was a Papuan language. Like the rest of the Reefs – Santa Cruz languages, however, it has been shown to be a member of the Austronesian language family. [2]
Dialects are Bënwë (Banua), Londai, Malo, Nea, Nooli. Speakers of most dialects understand Lwowa and Mbanua well. The Nea and Nooli dialects are the most divergent, actually a separate language (Nalögo).
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | round | pal. | plain | round | pal. | plain | round | pal. | |||
Stop | voiceless | p | pʷ | pʲ | t | tʷ | k | kʷ | kʲ | ||
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | ||||||||
voiced | b | bʷ | bʲ | d | dʷ | ɡ | ɡʷ | ||||
Nasal | m | mʷ | n | nʲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | |||||
Fricative | v | s | |||||||||
Approximant | l | j | w |
Voiced stops can also be heard as prenasalized. [3]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ʉ | u |
Close-mid | e | ɵ | o |
Near-open | æ | ə | ɔ |
Open | a |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | ũ | ||
Close-mid | ẽ | ɵ̃ | õ |
Near-open | æ̃ | ə̃ | ɔ̃ |
Open | ã |