Sudest, also known as Tagula, is an Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea.

Sudest
Tagula
RegionTagula Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
(2,000 cited 1987)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3tgo
Glottologsude1239

Name

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The name Sudest is a word meaning 'southeast' in French or Italian.[relevant?]

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar
plain lab. plain lab.
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɟ ɡ ɡʷ
prenasal ᵐb ᵐbʷ ⁿd ᶮɟ ᵑɡ ᵑɡʷ
Fricative voiced β βʷ ð ɣ ɣʷ
voiceless s
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant j w
  • /ɣ/ is heard as a glottal [h] before /o/ or /u/.
  • /ɣʷ/ is heard as [hʷ], in free variation within different dialects.
  • /β, βʷ/ are originally bilabial, although many speakers under the influence of English pronounce them as labio-dental [v, vʷ].[2]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a
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References

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  1. ^ Sudest at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Anderson, Mike; Ross, Malcolm (2002). Sudest. The Oceanic Languages: Richmond: Curzon. pp. 322–346.