Sungwadia language

Sungwadia, also known as Marino and North Maewo, is an Oceanic language spoken on Maewo, Vanuatu.

Sungwadia
Marino
North Maewo
Native to	Vanuatu
Region	Maewo
Native speakers	500 (2008)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic North-Central Vanuatu North Vanuatu Sungwadia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mrb
Glottolog	mari1426
ELP	Marino
Sungwadia is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial- velar	Labial	Alveolar	Velar
Plosive	voiceless	kʷ		t	k
	prenasal		ᵐb	ⁿd
Nasal		ŋʷ	m	n	ŋ
Fricative			f	s	x
Rhotic				r
Lateral				l
Approximant		w

• /k/ can also have prenasal allophones [ᵑɡ] or [ᵑk].
• /ŋʷ/ can also have an allophone of a labial [mʷ] in word-initial position.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

• /e, o/ can also have allophones of more open sounds [ɛ, ɔ].
• /i/ can also be heard as a semivowel [j] in word-final position.^[2]

Notes

1. Sungwadia at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Henri (2011).

References

• Henri, Agnès (2011). Le sungwadia. Éléments de description d'une langue du Vanuatu. Collection linguistique de la Société de Linguistique de Paris (in French). Vol. 97. Leuven: Peeters. p. 463.