The Namakura language, ''Makura'' or ''Namakir'', is an

Oceanic language The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. The language is spoken in

Shefa Province Shefa is one of the six provinces of Vanuatu, located in the center of the country and including the islands of Epi and Efate and the Shepherd Islands. The province's name is derived from the initial letters of SHepherd and EFAte. It has a populat ...

, north

Efate Efate (french: Éfaté) is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. It is also known as Île Vate. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanua ...

Tongoa Tongoa Island is an inhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Geography Tongoa is the largest island of Shepherd Islands archipelago. The island is heavily vegetated and shows geothermal activity. Tongoa is of recent vol ...

, and

Tongariki Tongariki Island is an inhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. The island is a part of Shepherd Islands archipelago. Geography Tongariki is a small island of volcanic origin located in the eastern Shepherd Islands, hav ...

Phonology

Consonants

* /v/ may also range to bilabial as , in free variation. * /h/ can also range to uvular as , in free variation. * /ⁿd/ can also range to a retroflex in free variation. When followed by a /r/, it is then realized as a trilled-articulated sound . * /r/ can be heard as a flap in initial position and as a trill elsewhere.

Vowels

* Two nasal vowel sounds �� õare also rarely heard. * /i/ when preceding a vowel can be heard as a glide

External links

* Materials on Makur
are included in a number of collections
held by

Paradisec The Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) is a cross-institutional project that supports work on endangered languages and cultures of the Pacific and the region around Australia. They digitise reel-to ...

References

Notes

Central Vanuatu languages {{SOceanic-lang-stub