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Nehan language
Nehan, also known as Nissan or Nihan, is an Austronesian language spoken on the Green Islands, north of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
Nehan has three dialects. Two are spoken on Nissan Island; Uanuleik, spoken by about 5000 people, and Sirouatan, spoken by about 1000 people. The other, spoken on Pinipel Island, is simply called Pinipel and is spoken by about 1000 people. The lexical similarity between Uanuleik and Pinipel is about 83%.
Nehan is the dominant language in the communities where it is spoken; most everyday communication is in the language, although Tok Pisin, the lingua franca of Papua New Guinea, is sometimes used. For example, Tok Pisin is used in some speeches at village meetings (occasionally in conjunction with Nehan in the same meeting, or same speech); at village court (formerly conducted primarily in Nehan, but now done in Tok Pisin by some speakers); at the large market at the government station, as well as with outsiders.
Most people who marry into Nehan communities learn the language and communicate using it, while others learn to understand it but use Tok Pisin while speaking instead.
Older speakers prefer to use Nehan in all cases, although they will use Tok Pisin if necessary.
The following table shows Nehan's consonantal phonemes. Orthography that does not match the IPA symbol is indicated using brackets.
The following table shows Nehan's vowel phonemes. Orthography that does not match the IPA symbol is indicated using brackets.
All vowels can occur in lengthened form. Diphthongs are common — /a/ can be combined with any vowel, while /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are often found with /i/ and /u/ — but clusters of vowels occurring in separate syllables from each other also occur.
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Nehan language
Nehan, also known as Nissan or Nihan, is an Austronesian language spoken on the Green Islands, north of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
Nehan has three dialects. Two are spoken on Nissan Island; Uanuleik, spoken by about 5000 people, and Sirouatan, spoken by about 1000 people. The other, spoken on Pinipel Island, is simply called Pinipel and is spoken by about 1000 people. The lexical similarity between Uanuleik and Pinipel is about 83%.
Nehan is the dominant language in the communities where it is spoken; most everyday communication is in the language, although Tok Pisin, the lingua franca of Papua New Guinea, is sometimes used. For example, Tok Pisin is used in some speeches at village meetings (occasionally in conjunction with Nehan in the same meeting, or same speech); at village court (formerly conducted primarily in Nehan, but now done in Tok Pisin by some speakers); at the large market at the government station, as well as with outsiders.
Most people who marry into Nehan communities learn the language and communicate using it, while others learn to understand it but use Tok Pisin while speaking instead.
Older speakers prefer to use Nehan in all cases, although they will use Tok Pisin if necessary.
The following table shows Nehan's consonantal phonemes. Orthography that does not match the IPA symbol is indicated using brackets.
The following table shows Nehan's vowel phonemes. Orthography that does not match the IPA symbol is indicated using brackets.
All vowels can occur in lengthened form. Diphthongs are common — /a/ can be combined with any vowel, while /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are often found with /i/ and /u/ — but clusters of vowels occurring in separate syllables from each other also occur.