| Nemi | |
| States: | Hienghène, New Caledonia |
| Speakers: | 910 |
| Date: | 2009 census |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Austronesian |
| Fam3: | Oceanic |
| Fam4: | Southern Oceanic |
| Fam5: | New Caledonian – Loyalties |
| Fam6: | New Caledonian |
| Fam7: | Northern New Caledonian |
| Fam8: | North Northern |
| Fam9: | Nemi languages |
| Iso3: | nem |
| Glotto: | nemi1240 |
| Glottorefname: | Nemi |
| Map: | Lang Status 60-DE.svg |
The Nemi language is a Kanak language spoken by 320 people in the north of New Caledonia, in the commune of Hienghène. Dialects include Ouanga, Ouélis, and Kavatch.[1]
The phonology of Nemi is as follows:[2]
| Labiovelar | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | voiced | pronounced as /mʷˠ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| voiceless | pronounced as /m̥ʷˠ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Stops | tenuis | pronounced as /pʷˠ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| aspirated | pronounced as /pʷˠʰ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| prenasalized | pronounced as /ᵐpʷˠ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| postnasalized | pronounced as /pʷˠᵐ/ | pronounced as /pᵐ/ | pronounced as /tⁿ/ | pronounced as /cᶮ/ | pronounced as /kᵑ/ | ||
| Continuants | voiced oral | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| voiceless oral | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| voiced nasal | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| voiceless nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
Note that the 'labiovelar' consonants are labialized and velarized bilabial consonants (with the exception of pronounced as //w// and its voiceless, nasal, and voiceless nasal counterparts, which are labial-velar approximants.).
| Front | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /iː/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /uː/ | |
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /eː/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /oː/ | |
| Low | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /aː/ | |||
The vowel /a/ actually represents the low central unrounded vowel, [{{IPA link|ä}}], and not the low front unrounded vowel, [{{IPA link|a}}].