Cèmuhî language

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Cèmuhî (Camuhi, Camuki, Tyamuhi, Wagap) is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of New Caledonia, in the area of Poindimié, Koné, and Touho. The language has approximately 3,300 speakers and is considered a regional language of France.

Cèmuhî
Wagap
Native toNew Caledonia
RegionTouho: east coast from Congouma to Wagap and inland valleys
Native speakers
2,600 (2009)[1]
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3cam
Glottologcemu1238
Cèmuhî is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Cèmuhî was studied by the French linguist Jean-Claude Rivierre [fr].

Phonology

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Consonants

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The consonants of Cèmuhî are shown in the table below.[2]

Consonant phonemes
Labiovelar Labial Retroflex Palatal Velar Laryngeal
Voiceless stop p t c k
Prenasalized stop ᵐbʷ ᵐb ⁿd ᶮɟ ᵑg
Nasal , h̃ʷ m n ɲ ŋ
Continuant w (r), l (h)

Rivierre analyzes the contrasts of Cèmuhî along three emic categories: nasal, semi-nasal (i.e. prenasalized), and oral consonants.[2]

Vowels

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The chart below shows Cèmuhî vowels, all of which can contrast in both length and nasality.[2]

Vowels
  Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Tone

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Like its neighbour Paicî, Cèmuhî is one of the few Austronesian languages which have developed contrastive tone. However, unlike other New Caledonian tonal languages, Cèmuhî has three tonal registers: high, mid, and low tones.[3][2]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Cèmuhî at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c d Rivierre 1980.
  3. ^ Rivierre 1972.

Bibliography

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  • Rivierre, Jean-Claude (1972). "Les Tons de la langue de Touho (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : Etude diachronique". Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris (in French). 67 (1): 301–316.
  • Rivierre, Jean-Claude (1980). La Langue de Touho : Phonologie et grammaire du Cèmuhî (Nouvelle-Calédonie) (in French). Paris: Société d'Etudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France. p. 363.
  • Rivierre, Jean-Claude (1983). Dictionnaire cèmuhî – français, suivi d'un lexique français – cèmuhî (in French). Paris: Société d'Etudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France. p. 375.
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