Nume (also called Gog and Tarasag), is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 700 speakers live on the northeast coast of Gaua.
Nume is a distinct language from its immediate southern neighbors, Mwerlap and Dorig.List of Banks islands languages. Names
The name Nume originates in the name of a village, now abandoned. Tarasag is currently the community's main village. The alternate name Gog refers to the broader area, and by extension, to the island.
Phonology Nume has 15 consonant phonemes. +ConsonantsLabiovelarBilabialAlveolarDorsalVoiceless stop Prenasalized stop Fricative Nasal Rhotic Approximant
/β/ can also be heard as [ɸ] among speakers.
Nume has 7 phonemic vowels, which are all short monophthongs.François (2005a): 445).
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Vowels ! ! Front ! Back |- !Close
!Near-close
!Open-mid
!Open | colspan="2"|
Grammar The system of personal pronouns in Nume contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural).François (2016).
Spatial reference in Nume is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages.François (2015).
References
Bibliography
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External links Linguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing range of Nume on Gaua. Audio recordings in the Nume language, in open access, by A. François (source: Pangloss Collection). U Line Tatar Ve Vosog Le Ale Gavrund Simplified Anglican Morning and Evening Prayer in Nume (c. 1965), digitized by Richard Mammana.