Nyelâyu (Yâlayu), also known as Nyalâyu, is a
Kanak language of northern
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
, 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
The Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (, POUM; , POUM) was a Spanish communist party formed during the Second Spanish Republic, Second Republic and mainly active around the Spanish Civil War. It was formed by the fusion of the Trotskyism, Tro ...
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''
e"ray fish" , , ''phe''
Ê°e"sharpening stone"
* ''teec''
eec
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
"scorching" , , ''theec''
Ê°eec"washed up"
* ''nu''
u"coconut palm" , , ''nhu''
Ê°u"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.
[ Ozanne-Rivierre (1998).]
Vowels
The vowels /y/ and /ø/ are in parentheses, because they are very rare and appear only in a few words.
Notes
References
*
*
New Caledonian languages
Languages of New Caledonia
{{NewCaledonia-stub