Dorig language

Dorig (formerly called Wetamut) is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu.

Not to be confused with Doric Greek or Doric dialect (Scotland).
Dorig
Native toVanuatu
RegionGaua
Native speakers
300 (2012)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3wwo
Glottologweta1242[2]

The language’s 300 speakers live mostly in the village of Dorig (IPA: [ⁿdʊˈriɰ]), on the south coast of Gaua. Smaller speaker communities can be found in the villages of Qteon (east coast) and Qtevut (west coast).

Dorig's immediate neighbours are Koro and Mwerlap.[3]

Phonology

Dorig has 8 phonemic vowels. These include 7 short monophthongs /i ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ u/ and one long vowel /aː/.[4]

Dorig vowels
 FrontBack
Close i iu u
Near-close ɪ ēʊ ō
Open-mid ɛ eɔ o
Open a a ∙ aː ā

The phonotactic template for a syllable in Dorig is: /CCVC/ — e.g. /rk͡pʷa/ ‘woman’; /ŋ͡mʷsar/ ‘poor’; /wrɪt/ ‘octopus’. Remarkably, the consonant clusters of these /CCVC/ syllables are not constrained by the Sonority Sequencing Principle.[5]

Grammar

The system of personal pronouns in Dorig contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural).[6]

Spatial reference is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages.[7]

gollark: Some systems will conveniently go back to an equilibrium regardless of how hard you poke them. Some will not, and might just vary wildly or get stuck in one state or whatever.
gollark: That isn't actually true except in specific technical contexts.
gollark: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Logistic_Map_Animation.gif
gollark: There's that famous "iterated logistic map" thing.
gollark: I'm pretty sure I can easily construct models without that sort of thing.

References
  1. François (2012): 88).
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Dorig". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. List of Banks islands languages.
  4. François (2005:445)
  5. François (2010:407)
  6. François (2016).
  7. François (2015).

Bibliography


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