Pohnpeic, also rendered Ponapeic, is a subgroup of the
Chuukic–Pohnpeic branch of
Micronesian in the
Austronesian language family
The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...
. The languages are primarily spoken in
Pohnpei State of the
Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...
.
Languages
*
Mokilese
*
Pingelapese
The Pingelapese language is a Micronesian language native to Pingelap, an atoll belonging to the state of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. This atoll is the homeland to the Pingelapese people, consisting of a three-square mile range ...
*
Pohnpeian
*
Ngatikese
Innovations
Pohnpeic languages are distinct from the closely related
Chuukic languages
Chuukic (), historically also rendered as Trukic (), is a subgroup of the Chuukic–Pohnpeic family of the Austronesian language family. The languages are primarily spoken in Chuuk State and Yap State of the Federated States of Micronesia, as ...
as a result of uniquely developed innovations. One such innovation is nasal substitution, where the first element in a consonant
geminate
In phonetics and phonology, gemination (; from Latin 'doubling', itself from '' gemini'' 'twins'), or consonant lengthening, is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from ...
becomes a
homorganic
In phonetics, a homorganic consonant (from Latin and ) is a consonant sound that is articulated in the same place of articulation as another. For example, , and are homorganic consonants of one another since they share the bilabial place of ...
nasal consonant
In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive or nasal stop in contrast with an oral stop or nasalized consonant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The vast majo ...
. An example of this change is seen where Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic */kkaŋ/ 'sharp' became
Mokilese , whereas in
Chuukese it is .
Phonology
1 In the Pohnpeic languages, geminate obstruents are realized as homorganic nasal-obstruent clusters.
2 Often before .
3 Before .
4 The reflex is *∅ sporadically before PMc *e.
Reconstructed vocabulary
References
Chuukic–Pohnpeic languages
{{Micronesia-stub