Ninde language

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Ninde
RegionMalekula, Vanuatu
Native speakers
1,100 (2001)[1]
Language family
Austronesian
Writing system
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3mwi
Glottologlabo1244
ELPNinde
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Ninde, or Labo (also Nide, Meaun, Mewun) is an Oceanic language spoken by about 1,100 people in the area of Malekula island, in Vanuatu.

One unusual feature is that it has both a voiced and a voiceless bilabial trill.[2]

In popular culture[]

In an episode of the British television programme An 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 word nimdimdip for palm tree, naho for fruit, or nuhuli for leaf. They then visit the grave of a woman who was named Nicola.

However, this general statement is actually not true. The only words of Ninde that start with /n/ are the inanimate common nouns of the language; the /n/ reflects an old nominal article which has been fused to the radical of these common nouns. As for the name Nicola, which is a borrowed European name, it cannot be taken as representative of the Ninde language.

External links[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Lynch & Crowley (2001).
  2. ^ LINGUIST List 8.45: Bilabial trill. Linguistlist.org. Retrieved on 2010-12-08.

References[]

  • Lynch, John and Crowley, Terry. 2001. Languages of Vanuatu: A New Survey and Bibliography. Pacific Linguistics. Canberra: Australian National University.


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