Pohnpeic, also rendered Ponapeic, is a subgroup of the Chuukic–Pohnpeic branch of Micronesian in the Austronesian language family. The languages are primarily spoken in

Pohnpei State Pohnpei State (IPA: pɔ:n peɪ) is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are, from east to west, Kosrae State, Chuuk State, and Yap State. The state's main island is Pohnpei. History The pre-colonia ...

of the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

Languages

Mokilese Mokilese also known as Mwoakilloan, Mwokilese, or Mwoakilese is a Micronesian languages, Micronesian language originally spoken on Mokil Atoll, Mwoakilloa, Federated States of Micronesia. Of the 1200 Mokilese speakers, only about 500 live on Moki ...

Pingelapese The Pingelapese language is a Micronesian language native to Pingelap, an atoll belonging to the state of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. This atoll is the homeland to the Pingelapese people, consisting of a three-square mile range ...

Pohnpeian Pohnpeian is a Micronesian language spoken as the indigenous language of the island of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands. Pohnpeian has approximately 30,000 (estimated) native speakers living in Pohnpei and its outlying atolls and islands with a ...

Ngatikese Ngatikese, or Sapwuahfik, is a Micronesian language originating on Sapwuahfik atoll, Federated States of Micronesia. Of the 700 Ngatikese speakers, only about 450 live on Sapwuahfik. It was previously considered a distinct dialect of Pohnpeian, ...

Innovations

Pohnpeic languages are distinct from the closely related

Chuukic languages Chuukic (), historically also rendered Trukic (), is a subgroup of the Chuukic–Pohnpeic family of the Austronesian language family. The languages are primarily spoken in Chuuk State and Yap State of the Federated States of Micronesia. Langu ...

as a result of uniquely developed innovations. One such innovation is nasal substitution, where the first element in a consonant

geminate In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from ''gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from s ...

becomes a

homorganic In phonetics, a homorganic consonant (from ''homo-'' "same" and ''organ'' "(speech) organ") is a consonant sound that is articulated in the same place of articulation as another. For example, , and are homorganic consonants of one another since ...

nasal consonant In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive or nasal stop in contrast with an oral stop or nasalized consonant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The vast majorit ...

. An example of this change is seen where Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic */kkaŋ/ 'sharp' became

, whereas in Chuukese it is .

Phonology

¹ In the Pohnpeic languages, geminate obstruents are realized as homorganic nasal-obstruent clusters.
² Often before .
³ Before .
⁴ The reflex is *∅ sporadically before PMc *e.

Reconstructed vocabulary

References

Chuukic–Pohnpeic languages {{Micronesia-stub