Namakura language

File:WIKITONGUES- James speaking Namakura.webm

A Namakura speaker, recorded in Vanuatu.

The Namakura language, Makura or Namakir, is an Oceanic language of Vanuatu. The language is spoken in Shefa Province, north Efate, Tongoa, and Tongariki. It is the only North-Central Vanuatu language to have preserved the Proto-Oceanic *q, reflected as a glottal stop.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Coronal	Velar	Glottal
		plain	lab.
Nasal		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Plosive	voiceless	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
	prenasal	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
	voiced	Template:IPAlink
Approximant		Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
Rhotic				Template:IPAlink

• /v/ may also range to bilabial as Template:IPAblink, in free variation.
• /h/ can also range to uvular as Template:IPAblink, in free variation.
• /ⁿd/ can also range to a retroflex Template:IPAblink in free variation. When followed by a /r/, it is then realized as a trilled-articulated sound .
• /r/ can be heard as a flap Template:IPAblink in initial position and as a trill Template:IPAblink elsewhere.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link Template:IPA link

• Two nasal vowel sounds [ẽ õ] are also rarely heard.
• /i/ when preceding a vowel can be heard as a glide [j].

External links

• Materials on Makura are included in a number of collections held by Paradisec.

Notes

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