Maskelynes | |
---|---|
Kuliviu, Uliveo | |
Native to | Vanuatu |
Region | Malekula |
Native speakers | 1,100 (2001)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | klv |
Glottolog | mask1242 |
Maskelynes is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Maskelynes (/ˈmæskəlɪns/), or Kuliviu (Uliveo), is an Oceanic language spoken on the Maskelyne Islands off south Malekula, Vanuatu.
Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | labiovelarized | ||||
Nasal | m | mʷ | n | ŋ | |
Plosive | unvoiced | p | pʷ | t̪ | k |
voiced | ᵐb | ᵐbʷ | ⁿd̪ | ᵑg | |
Fricative | β | βʷ | s | x~ɣ~ʀ | |
Approximant | w | l | j | ||
Rhotic | r~ɾ |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u (u̥) | |
Mid | ɛ | ə | o |
Open | ɑ |
A voiceless [u̥] occurs at the ends of words. It is uncertain if it is an allophone of /u/ or a separate phoneme[10]
Possible syllable structures in Maskelynes: (C/S)V(S)(C)[11]
Letter | a | b | b̃ | d | e | ǝ | g | h | i | k | l | m | m̃ | n | ŋ | o | p | p̃ | r | s | t | u | w | v | ṽ | w/u | y/i |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | ɑ | ᵐb | ᵐbʷ | ⁿd̪ | ɛ | ə | ᵑɡ | x | i | k | l | m | mʷ | n | ŋ | o | p | pʷ | r | s | t̪ | u | u̥ | β | βʷ | w | j |
The verbs of Maskelynes are agglutinative, mostly being modified by prefixes, though the stem of a verb can stand on its own. These prefixes encode for, in order of appearance in verb: 1. tense-aspect-modes; 2. subject, person and number; 3. various modes, including realis and irrealis; 4. two tense-modes; 5. reduplication. The object of a sentence is encoded by a suffix.[12]
Examples of verbal agglutination:[13]
sa-g-e-mun-i
PROH-2SG.SUBJ-IRR-drink-3SG.OBJ
Don't you drink it.
go-to-madha-mun-mun-i
2SG.SUBJ-REL-IMM.PST-ITER~drink-3SG.OBJ
You who just now kept drinking it
Reduplication in Maskelynes has various usages, and can encode for e.g. plurality, habituality, iterative aspect, etc.[14]
Official languages | |||||||||||||||||||
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Indigenous languages (Southern Oceanic and Polynesian) |
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