Maskelynes language

Maskelynes (/ˈmæskəlɪns/), or Kuliviu (Uliveo), is an Oceanic language spoken on the Maskelyne Islands off south Malekula, Vanuatu.

Maskelynes
Kuliviu, Uliveo
Native toVanuatu
RegionMalekula
Native speakers
1,100 (2001)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3klv
Glottologmask1242
Maskelynes is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Coronal Dorsal
plain labiovelarized
Nasal m mʷ n ŋ
Plosive unvoiced p pʷ t̪ k
voiced ᵐb ᵐbʷ ⁿd̪ ᵑg
Fricative β βʷ s x~ɣ~ʀ
Approximant w l j
Rhotic r~ɾ
  • /ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑg/ are in free variation as unreleased [ᵐb̚, ⁿd̚, ᵑg̚] or unvoiced [p, t, k] word-finally or before a consonant[2]
    • /ᵑg/ is also in free variation as nasal [ŋ] word-finally, especially among young speakers[3]
  • /ᵑg/ is realized as a voiceless [k] among some speakers, especially young[3]
  • /p, pʷ, t/ are unreleased [p̚, p̚, t̚] word-finally or before a consonant (though /p/ has never been recorded before a consonant)[4]
  • /mʷ, pʷ, ᵐbʷ, βʷ/ lose their labialization word-finally when not followed by a vowel and before /o, u/[5]
    • /ᵐbʷ/ is in free variation as trilled [ᵐʙ] (tapped [ᵐⱱ̟] in Peskarus) before /u/ and sometimes before /ə/[3]
  • /βʷ/ is [β] before voiced consonants[6]
  • /β, βʷ/ are [ɸ] before voiceless consonants and word-finally[6]
  • /β/ is in free variation with [ɸ] for some speakers[6]
  • /w, j/ are vocalic [u, i] when in nucleus following /e, a, o/[7]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u (u̥)
Mid ɛ ə o
Open ɑ
  • /i/ is near-close [ɪ] between front consonants[8]
  • /ɛ/ is close-mid [e] word-finally[8]
  • /ə/ is [ɵ] after labiovelarized consonants or before /xu̥/[8]
  • /əj, əw/ are realised as single morphemes, [i, u][7]
  • /u/ is realised as front [y] between front consonants, and near-close [ʊ] when proceeded or preceded by back consonants[9]
  • /o/ is front [ø] between front consonants[9]

Voiceless vowel

A voiceless [u̥] occurs at the ends of words. It is uncertain if it is an allophone of /u/ or a separate phoneme[10]

Phonotactics

Possible syllable structures in Maskelynes: (C/S)V(S)(C)[11]

Letter-to-phoneme correspondence
Maskelynes alphabet
Letter a b b̃ d e ǝ g h i k l m m̃ n ŋ o p p̃ r s t u w v ṽ w/u y/i
IPA ɑ ᵐb ᵐbʷ ⁿd̪ ɛ ə ᵑɡ x i k l m mʷ n ŋ o p pʷ r s t̪ u u̥ β βʷ w j

Grammar

Verbs

The verbs of Maskelynes are agglutinative, mostly being modified by prefixes, though the stem of a verb can stand on its own. These prefixes encode for, in order of appearance in verb: 1. tense-aspect-modes; 2. subject, person and number; 3. various modes, including realis and irrealis; 4. two tense-modes; 5. reduplication. The object of a sentence is encoded by a suffix.[12]

Examples of verbal agglutination:[13]

sa-g-e-mun-i

PROH-2SG.SUBJ-IRR-drink-3SG.OBJ

sa-g-e-mun-i

PROH-2SG.SUBJ-IRR-drink-3SG.OBJ

Don't you drink it.

go-to-madha-mun-mun-i

2SG.SUBJ-REL-IMM.PST-ITER~drink-3SG.OBJ

go-to-madha-mun-mun-i

2SG.SUBJ-REL-IMM.PST-ITER~drink-3SG.OBJ

You who just now kept drinking it

Reduplication

Reduplication in Maskelynes has various usages, and can encode for e.g. plurality, habituality, iterative aspect, etc.[14]

References
  1. Maskelynes at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Healey 2013, pp. 14–15.
  3. Healey 2013, p. 15.
  4. Healey 2013, p. 13.
  5. Healey 2013, p. 19.
  6. Healey 2013, p. 17.
  7. Healey 2013, pp. 18–19.
  8. Healey 2013, p. 20.
  9. Healey 2013, p. 21.
  10. Healey 2013, pp. 24–25.
  11. Healey 2013, p. 25.
  12. Healey 2013, Section 8.1: Verb morphology.
  13. Healey 2013, p. 181.
  14. Healey 2013, section 8.5: Reduplication.

Bibliography
  • Healey, David S. (2013). A GRAMMAR OF MASKELYNES: THE LANGUAGE OF ULUVEU ISLAND, VANUATU (PDF) (PhD). University of the South Pacific. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2020-05-31.


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