West Uvean (also Uvean or Faga Ouvéa; ''Fagauvea'' in the vernacular) is a Polynesian outlier language spoken on the island of

Ouvéa Ouvéa () or Uvea is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The settlement of Fayaoué , on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune. Geography Ouv ...

, in the Loyalty island group of New Caledonia, and in the capital of Nouméa. It has long been in contact with Iaai, the Southern Oceanic language also spoken on the same island. Consequently, four vowels have been added, and the syllable structure has become complex, allowing for final consonants. West Uvea is the only Polynesian language to use a

quinary Quinary (base-5 or pental) is a numeral system with 5 (number), five as the radix, base. A possible origination of a quinary system is that there are five finger, digits on either hand. In the quinary place system, five numerals, from 0 (number) ...

numeral system. It is probably the original decimal Polynesian people influenced by the nearby Iaai people who used a quinary numeral system, and changed from a decimal system to a quinary one. There are two sets of numerals from 11 to 20, the second way was the archaic form. The word 'tupu' means 'sum', 'teanua' in 'tahi a teanua' means 'human body', 'nea' in 'tahi enea' means 'man'. Nowadays, the West Uvea or Faga Uvea people use French or Iaai numeral systems more frequently.

Name

The speakers designate their language by the name Fagauvea, which is also the name used in French. The name ''West Uvean'' sometimes used in English is meant to distinguish the language from the related ''East Uvean'' or Wallisian, spoken on

Wallis Island Wallis ( Wallisian: ''Uvea'') is a Polynesian atoll/island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity (''collectivité d'outre-mer'', or ''COM'') of Wallis and Futuna. It lies north of Tonga, northeast of Fiji, east-n ...

(Uvea).

Phonology

// is only heard in intervocalic position.

References

Futunic languages Languages of New Caledonia {{CPacific-lang-stub