| Western Fijian | |
|---|---|
| Wayan | |
| Native to | Fiji |
| Region | western half ofViti Levu,Yasawa Islands andMamanuca Islands |
Native speakers | (57,000 cited 1977)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wyy |
| Glottolog | west2519 |
Western Fijian, also known asWayan[2]: 212 is anOceanic language spoken inFiji by about 57,000 people.
It is distinct fromEastern Fijian (also known as Bauan or Standard Fijian).
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | ||||||
| Nasal | mmː | n | ŋ | ŋʷ | |||
| Plosive | voiced/pren. | ᵐb | ⁿd | ⁿdʒ | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡʷ | |
| voiceless | t | tʃ | k | kʷ | (ʔ) | ||
| Fricative | voiced | β | ð | ||||
| voiceless | s | h | |||||
| Trill | rⁿr | ||||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | ||||
/mː/ is heard in the Wayan dialect.[2]: 212
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | iiː | uuː | |
| Mid | eeː | ooː | |
| Low | aaː |
Most Fijian languages have a uniqueprenasalizedalveolar trill, transcribed here as⟨ⁿr⟩. Western Fijian in particular, is unique among Fijian languages for having labialized velar consonants. All vowels come in long and short forms, and so does thebilabial nasal (/m/).[2]: 212
.jpg) | ThisAustronesian languages-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |