Vurës
Vureas
Pronunciation[βyˈrœs]
Native toVanuatu
RegionVanua Lava
Native speakers
2,000 (2016)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3msn (shared with Mwesen)
Glottologvure1239
ELPVurës
Vurës is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Vurës (Vureas, Vures) is an Oceanic language spoken in the southern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 2000 speakers.[2]

Vurës was described by linguist Catriona Malau, in the form of a grammar[2] and a dictionary.[3]

Name

The name Vurës [βyˈrœs] is named after the bay located in southwestern Vanua Lava in the language itself. In Mota, the bay is referred to as Vureas [βureas]. Cognates in other Torres-Banks languages include Mwotlap Vuyes [βuˈjɛs] and Mwesen Vures [βuˈrɛs]. These come from a reconstructed Proto-Torres–Banks form *βureas(i,u), with an unknown final high vowel.

Dialectology

Vurës shows enough similarities with the neighbouring language Mwesen that the two have sometimes been considered dialects of a single language, sometimes called Mosina (after the name of Mwesen village in the language Mota). And indeed, a 2018 glottometric study has calculated that Vurës and Mwesen share 85% of their historical innovations, revealing a long history of shared development between these two lects.[4]

However, studies have shown that Mwesen and Vurës have various dissimilarities, e.g. in their vowel systems,[5] in their noun articles,[6] in their pronoun paradigms[7][8] — enough to be considered clearly distinct.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial-
velar		 Labial Dental Alveolar Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless k͡pʷ ⟨q⟩ t̪ ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ (ʔ)
prenasal ᵐb ⟨b⟩ ⁿd̪ ⟨d⟩
Nasal ŋ͡mʷ ⟨m̄⟩ m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨n̄⟩
Fricative β ⟨v⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɣ ⟨g⟩
Liquid rhotic r ⟨r⟩
lateral l ⟨l⟩
Semivowel w ⟨w⟩
  • /r/ is also heard as a tap [ɾ] in free variation.
  • A glottal stop /ʔ/ only rarely occurs in some words.
  • /β/ is heard as [p̚] before a voiceless stop.
  • /k͡pʷ/ is heard as [k͡p] when preceding another consonant.
  • Stop sounds /t̪ k/ are aspirated [t̪ʰ kʰ] before vowels.[9]

Vowels

Vurës has 9 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs /i e ɛ a œ ø y ɔ o/:[10][11]

Vurës vowels
Front Back
plain round
Close i ⟨i⟩y ⟨u⟩(ʊ) ⟨u⟩
Close-mid e ⟨ē⟩ ø ⟨ö⟩ o ⟨ō⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩œ ⟨ë⟩ɔ ⟨o⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩
  • [ʊ] is only a marginal sound that occurs in a small amount of words, mostly borrowings.[9]
  • The vowel inventory also includes a diphthong [i​͡a] ⟨ia⟩.[12]

References

Citations

Bibliography

Look up Category:Vurës lemmas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.