Nyâlayu language

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Nyelâyu
Pronunciation	[jãlɑjʊ]
Native to	New Caledonia
Native speakers	2,000 (2009 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic New Caledonian – Loyalties New Caledonian Northern New Caledonian Extreme Northern Nyelâyu
Dialects	Tiari-Balade Belep Arama
Language codes
ISO 639-3	yly
Glottolog	nyal1254  Nyalayu/Belep bala1316  Balade
ELP	Belep
Nyâlayu is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Nyelâyu (Yâlayu), also known as Nyalâyu, is a Kanak language of northern New Caledonia, spoken by approximately 2,000 speakers. There are two dialects that are not mutually intelligible. Pooc (or Haat) is spoken in the Belep islands, which are located just north of Grande Terre. Puma (or Paak or Ovac) is spoken in the northernmost regions of New Caledonia in the areas around Poum in the west and Pouébo and Balade in the east.

Phonology

Consonants

Voiceless stops, nasals, and approximants exhibit a contrast of aspiration exhibited in the following examples.

• pe "ray fish" || phe "sharpening stone"
• teec "scorching" || theec "washed up"
• nu "coconut palm" || nhu "hot"

Aspirated consonants are very subtly marked. Aspiration seems to be a prosodic trait that affects the overall realization of the syllable by lowering the register of the voice.

Vowels

The vowels /y/ and /ø/ are in parentheses, because they are very rare and appear only in a few words.

Notes

References

• Ozanne-Rivierre, Françoise (1998). Le Nyelâyu de Balade (Nouvelle-Calédonie). Paris: Peeters Press.
• McCracken, Chelsea (2013). A grammar of Belep (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/71287.

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