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| Ninde | |
|---|---|
| Region | Malekula,Vanuatu |
Native speakers | 1,100 (2001)[1] |
| Latin script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mwi |
| Glottolog | labo1244 |
| ELP | Ninde |
 Ninde is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Ninde, orLabo (alsoNide, Meaun, Mewun) is anOceanic language spoken by about 1,100 people in theSouthwest Bay area ofMalekula island, inVanuatu.
One unusual feature is that it has both a voiced and a voicelessbilabial trill.[2]
In an episode of the British television programmeAn Idiot Abroad,Karl Pilkington meets the chief of a local tribe, who comments upon the Ninde language. He explains that "all the words of Ninde begin with /n/", such as the wordnimdimdip for palm tree,naho for fruit, ornuhuli for leaf. They then visit the grave of a woman who was named Nicola.
However, this general statement is actually not true. Ninde words that start with /n/ are generallyinanimatecommon nouns of the language; the /n/ reflects an old nominalarticle (<Proto-Oceanic*na) which has beenfused to the radical of these common nouns. As for the nameNicola, which is a borrowed European name, it cannot be taken as representative of the Ninde language.
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