Numèè language

Numèè
Kwényi
Naa Numee
Native to	New Caledonia
Region	Nouméa, Isle of Pines
Native speakers	2,200 (2009 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic New Caledonian – Loyalties New Caledonian Southern Extreme Southern Numèè
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kdk
Glottolog	nume1242
ELP	Numèè
Numèè is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Numèè (Naa Numee, Naa-Wee), or Kwényi (Kwenyii), is a New Caledonian language, the one spoken at the southern tip of the island, as well as on the Isle of Pines offshore. Despite its name, it is probably not the language that gave its name to the capital of New Caledonia, Nouméa; that seems to have been its close relative Ndrumbea, which used to be spoken there.

Phonology

Like its close relative Ndrumbea, Numèè is a tonal language, with three contrasting tones, high, mid, and low.

Vowels

Numèè, or rather its dialect Kwênyii, has a total of 35 vowels, all monophthongs: 17 short, and 18 long.

Vowel phonemes of Kwênyii

	Front				Front rounded				Central				Back
	oral		nasal		oral		nasal		oral		nasal		oral		nasal
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i	iː	ĩ	ĩː	y	yː	ỹ	ỹː					u	uː	ũ	ũː
Near-close		ɪː											ʊ	ʊː
Close-mid	e	eː	ẽ	ẽː	ø	øː	ø̃	ø̃ː					o	oː	õ	õː
Open-mid	ɛ			ɛ̃ː					ə	əː
Open									a	aː	ã	ãː

Consonants

Kwênyii has 25 consonants.

Consonants of Kwênyii

		Labial		Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar
		plain	lab.				plain	lab.
Nasal		m	mʷ	n	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ	ŋʷ
Stop	voiceless	p	pʷ	t	ʈ	c	k	kʷ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ᵐbʷ	ⁿd	ᶯɖ	ᶮɟ	ᵑɡ
Fricative		v					ɣ
Continuant					ɽ	j		w

References

• Rivierre, Jean-Claude [in French] (1973). Phonologie comparée des dialectes de l'extrême-sud de la Nouvelle Calédonie. Paris: Société d'études linguistiques et anthropologiques de France.
• Jean-Claude Rivierre, Clément Vandegou (2020). Dictionnaire numèè-français (PDF).