Cèmuhî (Camuhi, Camuki, Tyamuhi, Wagap) is an
Oceanic
Oceanic may refer to:
*Of or relating to the ocean
*Of or relating to Oceania
**Oceanic climate
**Oceanic languages
**Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)"
Places
*Oceanic, British Columbia Oceanic is an unincorporated set ...
language spoken on the island of
New Caledonia, in the area of
Poindimié
Poindimié is a commune in the North Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The Poindimié Islands, a group of seven tiny islets where seabirds and sea turtles nest, lies off the coast of the commune. ...
,
Koné, and
Touho
Touho is a municipality ( commune) in the North Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. Touho lies on the east coast of the main island (Grande Terre) and is served by a road and an airfield.
The vocati ...
. The language has approximately 3,300 speakers and is considered a
regional language of France.
Phonology
Consonants
The consonants of Cèmuhî (after
Rivierre 1980) are shown in the table below.
Rivierre (
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...
) analyzes the contrasts of Cèmuhî along three
emic
In anthropology, folkloristics, and the social and behavioral sciences, emic () and etic () refer to two kinds of field research done and viewpoints obtained.
The "emic" approach is an insider's perspective, which looks at the beliefs, values, ...
categories: nasal, semi-nasal (i.e.
prenasalized
Prenasalized consonants are phonetic sequences of a nasal and an obstruent (or occasionally a non-nasal sonorant such as ) that behave phonologically like single consonants. The primary reason for considering them to be single consonants, rather ...
), and oral consonants.
Vowels
The chart below shows Cèmuhî vowels, all of which can contrast in both length and nasality.
Tone
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.
[Rivierre (1972, ]1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...
).
See also
*
Northern New Caledonian languages
Notes
Bibliography
* (1972). Les Tons de la langue de Touho (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : Etude diachronique. ''Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris'', 1972, vol.67, n°1, p. 301-316.
*
*
External links
Audio recordings in the Cèmuhî language in open access, by Jean-Claude Rivierre
(source: ''Pangloss Collection
The Pangloss Collection is a digital library whose objective is to store and facilitate access to audio recordings in endangered languages of the world. Developed by the LACITO centre of CNRS in Paris, the collection provides free online access to ...
'').
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cemuhi Language
New Caledonian languages
Languages of New Caledonia
Tonal languages in non-tonal families