The Namakura language, ''Makura'' or ''Namakir'', is an

Oceanic language The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. The language is spoken in

Shefa Province Shefa is one of the six provinces of Vanuatu, located in the center of the country and including the islands of Epi (island), Epi and Efate and the Shepherd Islands. The province's name is derived from the initial letters of SHepherd and EFAte. It ...

, north

Efate Efate (), also known as Île Vate (), is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third larg ...

Tongoa Tongoa is an inhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Geography Tongoa is the largest island of Shepherd Islands archipelago. The island is heavily vegetated and shows geothermal activity. Tongoa is of recent volcanic ...

, and

Tongariki Tongariki Island is an inhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. The island is a part of Shepherd Islands archipelago. Name The name ''Tongariki'' is from Emae, reflecting the Proto-Polynesian Proto-Polynesian (abbr ...

. It is the only North-Central Vanuatu language to have preserved the

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbreviated as POc) is a proto-language that comparative linguistics, historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic languages, Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian ...

''*q'', reflected as a

glottal stop The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...

Phonology

Consonants

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

Vowels

* Two nasal vowel sounds �� õare also rarely heard. * /i/ when preceding a vowel can be heard as a glide

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

External links

References

Notes