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Micronesian Languages
The Micronesian languages form a family of Oceanic languages. The twenty languages are known for their lack of plain labial consonant and have instead two series, palatalized and labio-velarized labials, similar to the related Kanak languages. Languages According to Jackson (1983, 1986) the languages group as follows: *Micronesian family ** Nauruan **Nuclear Micronesian family *** Kosraean ***Central Micronesian family **** Gilbertese ****Western Micronesian family ***** Marshallese ***** Chuukic-Pohnpeic family ****** Chuukic (Chuukic) ****** Pohnpeic (Ponapeic) The family appears to have originated in the east, likely on Kosrae, and spread westwards. Kosrae appears to have been settled from the south, in the region of Malaita (Solomon Islands) or in northern Vanuatu. Kevin Hughes (2020) revises Jackson's classification, especially with regards to the position of Nauruan, who states that there is no compelling argument from classifying Nauruan apart from other Micro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples. The region has a tropical marine climate and is part of the Oceanian realm. It includes four main archipelagos—the Caroline Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Mariana Islands, and the Marshall Islands — as well as numerous islands that are not part of any archipelago. Political control of areas within Micronesia varies depending on the island, and is distributed among six sovereign nations. Some of the Caroline Islands are part of the Republic of Palau and some are part of the Federated States of Micronesia (often shortened to "FSM" or "Micronesia"—not to be confused with the identical name for the overall region). The Gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshallese Language
Marshallese ( or ), also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands. The language of the Marshallese people, it is spoken by nearly all of the country's population of 59,000, making it the principal language. There are also roughly 27,000 Marshallese citizens residing in the United States, nearly all of whom speak Marshallese, as well as residents in other countries such as Nauru and Kiribati. There are two major dialects, the western Ralik Chain, Rālik and the eastern Ratak Chain, Ratak. Classification Marshallese, a Micronesian languages, Micronesian language, is a member of the Eastern Oceanic languages, Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian languages. The closest linguistic relatives of Marshallese are the other Micronesian languages, including Gilbertese language, Gilbertese, Nauruan language, Nauruan, Pohnpeian language, Pohnpeian, Mokilese language, Mokilese, Chuukese language, Chuukese, Carolinian people, Refaluwasch, and Kosraean language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Oceanic Languages
The Southern Oceanic languages are a linkage (rather than family) of Oceanic languages spoken in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It was proposed by John Lynch in 1995 and supported by later studies. It appears to be a linkage rather than a language family with a clearly defined internal nested structure. Classification Clark (2009) groups the North Vanuatu and Central Vanuatu languages together into a North-Central Vanuatu (NCV) group and also reconstructs Proto-North-Central Vanuatu, but this is not accepted by Lynch (2018). In addition to the Temotu languages and the Northwest Solomonic languages of the western Solomon Islands, Geraghty (2017) notes that many Southern Oceanic languages are often lexically and typologically aberrant, likely with Papuan substrata - particularly the Espiritu Santo, Malakula, South Vanuatu, and New Caledonian languages, and perhaps also some Central Vanuatu languages of Ambrym and Efate. Nevertheless, languages in the eastern Solomon Isl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Lynch (linguist)
John Dominic Lynch (8 July 1946 – 25 May 2021) was an Australian-Vanuatuan linguist who specialised in the Historical linguistics, historical development of the Oceanic languages. He was a professor at the University of Papua New Guinea for over twenty years and elected its vice chancellor in 1986 before finishing his career at the University of the South Pacific in Port Vila, Vanuatu. He retired as professor emeritus of the Pacific languages at the end of 2007. While at the University of the South Pacific, Lynch served as the director of the Pacific Languages Unit, an association dedicated to the research and promotion of languages in the Pacific. Throughout his career, he was known as a gifted writer and administrator. He also served as chief editor of ''Oceanic Linguistics'' for twelve years following the resignation of Byron Bender. Early life and education John Dominic Lynch was born on 8 July 1946 in Sydney, Australia, the eldest of five sons born to Dorothy Patricia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
