Loading AI tools
Big Nambas (native name V'ənen Taut) is an Oceanic language spoken by about 3,400 people (as of 2001[update]) in northwest Malekula, Vanuatu. Approximately nineteen villages in the Big Nambas region of the Malekula Interior use the language exclusively with no variation in dialect. It was studied in-depth over a period of about 10 years by missionary Greg. J. Fox, who published a grammar and dictionary in 1979. A Big Nambas translation of the Bible has been completed recently by Andrew Fox.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2024) |
| Big Nambas | |
|---|---|
| V'ənen Taut | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈθ̼ənɛn tautʰ] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Northwest Malekula |
Native speakers | 3,400 (2001)[1] |
| Latin script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nmb |
| Glottolog | bign1238 |
 Big Nambas is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The consonant phonemes of Big Nambas are as shown in the following table:
- /p, t, k/ are aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] word finally. /t̼/ is not noted as behaving likewise.
- /m, p/ are rounded [mʷ, pʷ] before the front vowels /i, e/
- The voiced fricatives /β, ð̼, ɣ/ are devoiced [ɸ, θ̼, x] word initially and finally.
- /l/ is realized as [ɬ] word finally or when adjacent to /t/, and as [ɮ] when adjacent to /n/ word medially.
Big Nambas has a 5-vowel system with the following phonemes:
Big Nambas has a complex syllable structure with a large amount of consonant clusters possible. Additionally, clusters of up to four vowels are permitted (e.g. nauei "water"). Stress in Big Nambas is phonemic, but partly predictable. The consonants /t β r l n/ all exhibit phonemic gemination when two identical ones occur between syllables. Linguolabial consonants are often marked with an apostrophe in the orthography to distinguish them from their bilabial counterparts.
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2015) |
Big Nambas is a synthetic, head-marking language.
Nouns
Nouns in Big Nambas are capable of phrasal expansion. There are three noun classes in Big Nambas:
- Obligatorily possessed nouns, most commonly constituent parts of any object (body parts, tree parts, ordinals, possessive)
- Optionally possessed nouns, with the subclasses:
- Nouns taking the third singular possessives nan or nen
- Nouns taking the prefix ar- "all"
- Title nouns (names and kinship terms)
- Unpossessed nouns (personal and interrogative pronouns)
Big Nambas features a system of complex nouns, formed by derivation. Derived nouns can be of one of five types:
- Abstract nouns, formed by suffixing -ien to verb stems (e.g. tkar "be pregnant" vs. tkar-ien "pregnancy")
- Articled nouns, formed by prefixing na- or n- to a verb stem beginning with a vowel (i-u "it rains" vs. n-u "(the) rain")
- Ordinal nouns, formed by prefixing the nominalizer ni- and suffixing the possessive -a (tl "three" vs. ni-tl-a "the third of")
- Determinative nouns, formed by prefixing ter- to some adjective stems (p'arei "long" vs. ter-p'arei "the long one")
- Reverential nouns, formed by suffixing -et to some nouns (nut "place" vs. nutet "a sacred place", cf. nap' "fire" vs. nep'et "sacred fire")
Nouns in Big Nambas may be compounded by following them with a verb stem.
dəh-
tail-be
uas
yellow
"yellow-tail (fish)"
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
