Nalögo language

Nalögo [nalɵᵑgo] is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of Nendö or 'Santa Cruz', in the Solomon Islands. It used to be lumped together with Natügu under a single language called "Santa Cruz language"; but the two varieties were finally recognized to be two distinct languages.^[1]

Santa Cruz
Nalögo
Native to	Solomon Islands
Region	Santa Cruz Islands, Eastern Solomons
Native speakers	1,500 (2012)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Temotu ? Reefs – Santa Cruz Santa Cruz
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nlz
Glottolog	nalo1235
Coordinates: 10°49′18″S 165°49′30″E

Together, Nalögo, Natügu and Nanggu are the three indigenous languages of Nendö island.

Nalögo has been described by linguist Valentina Alfarano.^[2]

The language

Name

The name Nalögo (new orth. Nalrgo) comes from nalö-go [nalɵᵑgo], literally "our language"^[1] – from nalö "language, word" + -go "1st + 2nd person augmented enclitic").

Genetic affiliation

Like its neighbours Natügu and Nanggu, Nalögo was once thought to be dialects of a language labelled “Santa Cruz”; and the latter was long thought to be a Papuan language. In the 2000s however, it became clear that was shown to be a member of the Austronesian language family, like the rest of the Reefs – Santa Cruz languages.^[3]

Dialects

Nalögo and Natügu are recognised as opposite ends of a dialect continuum.^[1] The Nalögo section of the dialect chain includes two named dialects, Nea and Nooli.

Phonology

Consonants

Alfarano's analysis^[2]: 42 counts 15 consonant phonemes. They are indicated here, with the orthography in ⟨angled brackets⟩:

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-velar
Stop	voiceless	p ⟨p⟩	t ⟨t⟩		k ⟨k⟩
	prenaszd	ᵐb ⟨b⟩	ⁿd ⟨d⟩		ᵑɡ ⟨g⟩
Affric.	prenaszd			ⁿd​͡ʒ ⟨j⟩
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩		ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Fricative		v ⟨v⟩	s ⟨s⟩
Approximant			l ⟨l⟩	j ⟨y⟩		w ⟨w⟩

Nalögo has the same consonants as those of neighbouring Natügu – with the addition of Nalögo pronunciation: [ⁿd​͡ʒ].

Prenasalized stops can optionally be realized as plain voiced consonants.^[2]: 43

Vowels

Nalögo has ten vowel phonemes:^[2]: 53

Oral vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ⟨i⟩	ʉ ⟨ʉ⟩	u ⟨u⟩
Close-mid	e ⟨u⟩	ɵ ⟨ö⟩	o ⟨o⟩
Near-open	ɛ ⟨ä⟩	ɜ ⟨ë⟩
Open		a ⟨a⟩	ɒ ⟨â⟩

These vowels can be nasalized; but Alfarano does not consider nasalization to be phonemic in the language.^[2]: 60

Notes