Cèmuhî language
# Cèmuhî language

Cèmuhî (Camuhi, Camuki, Tyamuhi, Wagap) is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of New Caledonia, in the area of Poindimié, Koné, and Touho. The language has approximately 3,300 speakers and is considered a regional language of France.

## Phonology

### Consonants

The consonants of Cèmuhî (after Rivierre 1980) are shown in the table below.

Consonant phonemes :

| | Labiovelar | Labial | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Laryngeal |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Voiceless stop | pʷ | p | t | c | k | |
| Prenasalized stop | ᵐbʷ | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | ᵑg | |
| Nasal | mʷ h̃ʷ | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | h̃ |
| Continuant | w | | (r) l | | | (h) |

Rivierre (1980) analyzes the contrasts of Cèmuhî along three emic categories: nasal, semi-nasal (i.e. prenasalized), and oral consonants.

### Vowels

The chart below shows Cèmuhî vowels, all of which can contrast in both length and nasality.

Vowel phonemes :

| | Front | Back |
| - | - | - |
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | a | a |

### Tone

Like its neighbour Paicî, Cèmuhî is one of the few Austronesian languages which have developed contrastive tone. However, unlike other New Caledonian tonal languages, Cèmuhî has three tonal registers: high, mid, and low tones.

