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Maskelynes (/ˈmæskəlɪns/), or Kuliviu (Uliveo), is an Oceanic language spoken on the Maskelyne Islands off south Malekula, Vanuatu.
Consonants
- /ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑg/ are in free variation as unreleased [ᵐb̚, ⁿd̚, ᵑg̚] or unvoiced [p, t, k] word-finally or before a consonant[2]
- /ᵑg/ is realized as a voiceless [k] among some speakers, especially young[3]
- /p, pʷ, t/ are unreleased [p̚, p̚, t̚] word-finally or before a consonant (though /p/ has never been recorded before a consonant)[4]
- /mʷ, pʷ, ᵐbʷ, βʷ/ lose their labialization word-finally when not followed by a vowel and before /o, u/[5]
- /βʷ/ is [β] before voiced consonants[6]
- /β, βʷ/ are [ɸ] before voiceless consonants and word-finally[6]
- /β/ is in free variation with [ɸ] for some speakers[6]
- /w, j/ are vocalic [u, i] when in nucleus following /e, a, o/[7]
Vowels
- /i/ is near-close [ɪ] between front consonants[8]
- /ɛ/ is close-mid [e] word-finally[8]
- /ə/ is [ɵ] after labiovelarized consonants or before /xu̥/[8]
- /əj, əw/ are realised as single morphemes, [i, u][7]
- /u/ is realised as front [y] between front consonants, and near-close [ʊ] when proceeded or preceded by back consonants[9]
- /o/ is front [ø] between front consonants[9]
Voiceless vowel
A voiceless [u̥] occurs at the ends of words. It is uncertain if it is an allophone of /u/ or a separate phoneme[10]
Phonotactics
Possible syllable structures in Maskelynes: (C/S)V(S)(C)[11]
Letter-to-phoneme correspondence
Verbs
The verbs of Maskelynes are agglutinative, mostly being modified by prefixes, though the stem of a verb can stand on its own. These prefixes encode for, in order of appearance in verb: 1. tense-aspect-modes; 2. subject, person and number; 3. various modes, including realis and irrealis; 4. two tense-modes; 5. reduplication. The object of a sentence is encoded by a suffix.[12]
Examples of verbal agglutination:[13]
sa-g-e-mun-i
PROH-2SG.SUBJ-IRR-drink-3SG.OBJ
Don't you drink it.
go-to-madha-mun-mun-i
2SG.SUBJ-REL-IMM.PST-ITER~drink-3SG.OBJ
You who just now kept drinking it
Reduplication
Reduplication in Maskelynes has various usages, and can encode for e.g. plurality, habituality, iterative aspect, etc.[14]
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