Maskelynes language explained

Maskelynes
Also Known As:	Kuliviu, Uliveo
Region:	Malekula
State:	Vanuatu
Speakers:	1,100
Date:	2001
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Austronesian
Fam2:	Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:	Oceanic
Fam4:	Southern Oceanic
Fam5:	North-Central Vanuatu
Fam6:	Central Vanuatu
Fam7:	Malakula
Fam8:	Malakula Coastal
Iso3:	klv
Glotto:	mask1242
Glottorefname:	Maskelynes
Map:	Lang Status 99-NE.svg

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

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Coronal	Dorsal
		plain
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
		ᵐb	pronounced as /ink/	ⁿd̪	ᵑg
Fricative		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /ink/
Approximant			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Rhotic				pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /ink/

• pronounced as //ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑg// are in free variation as unreleased pronounced as /[ᵐb̚, ⁿd̚, ᵑg̚]/ or unvoiced pronounced as /[p, t, k]/ word-finally or before a consonant
  • pronounced as //ᵑg// is also in free variation as nasal pronounced as /[ŋ]/ word-finally, especially among young speakers
• pronounced as //ᵑg// is realized as a voiceless pronounced as /[k]/ among some speakers, especially young
• pronounced as //p, pʷ, t// are unreleased pronounced as /[p̚, p̚, t̚]/ word-finally or before a consonant (though pronounced as //p// has never been recorded before a consonant)
• pronounced as //mʷ, pʷ, ᵐbʷ, βʷ// lose their labialization word-finally when not followed by a vowel and before pronounced as //o, u//
  • pronounced as //ᵐbʷ// is in free variation as trilled pronounced as /[ᵐʙ]/ (tapped pronounced as /[ᵐⱱ̟]/ in Peskarus) before pronounced as //u// and sometimes before pronounced as //ə//
• pronounced as //βʷ// is pronounced as /[β]/ before voiced consonants
• pronounced as //β, βʷ// are [{{IPA-link|ɸ}}] before voiceless consonants and word-finally
• pronounced as //β// is in free variation with pronounced as /[ɸ]/ for some speakers
• pronounced as //w, j// are vocalic pronounced as /[u, i]/ when in nucleus following pronounced as //e, a, o//

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/ (pronounced as /ink/)
Mid	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Open			pronounced as /ink/

• pronounced as //i// is near-close pronounced as /[ɪ]/ between front consonants
• pronounced as //ɛ// is close-mid pronounced as /[e]/ word-finally
• pronounced as //ə// is pronounced as /[ɵ]/ after labiovelarized consonants or before pronounced as //xu̥//
• pronounced as //əj, əw// are realised as single morphemes, pronounced as /[i, u]/
• pronounced as //u// is realised as front pronounced as /[y]/ between front consonants, and near-close pronounced as /[ʊ]/ when proceeded or preceded by back consonants
• pronounced as //o// is front pronounced as /[ø]/ between front consonants

Voiceless vowel

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

Phonotactics

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

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	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/

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.

Examples of verbal agglutination:

Reduplication

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

External links

• Resources in and about the Maskelynes language at OLAC
• Paradisec has a number of collections that include Maskelynes language materials
• Maskelynes (Kuliviu) at Omniglot

Bibliography

• Healey . David S. . 2013 . A GRAMMAR OF MASKELYNES: THE LANGUAGE OF ULUVEU ISLAND, VANUATU . PhD . University of the South Pacific . 2020-05-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200531090432/http://digilib.library.usp.ac.fj/gsdl/collect/usplibr1/index/assoc/HASH3017.dir/doc.pdf . 2020-05-31 . live.