Fwâi language

Fwâi (Poai) is a Kanak language of New Caledonia, spoken in the commune of Hienghène. In 2009, there were around 1,900 speakers of Fwâi. It’s considered a vulnerable language by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.

Fwâi
Native to	Hienghène, New Caledonia
Native speakers	1,900 (2009 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic New Caledonian – Loyalties New Caledonian Northern New Caledonian North Northern Nemi Fwâi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	fwa
Glottolog	fwai1237
Fwâi is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants

		Bilabial		Labio- dental		Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
		plain	lab.	plain	lab.
Stop	voiceless	(p)	(pʷ)			(t)	(c)	(k)
	aspirated	pʰ	pʰʷ			(tʰ)		(kʰ)
	prenasal	ᵐb	ᵐbʷ			ⁿd	ᶮɟ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	ɸ		(f)	(fʷ)	s			h
	voiced	β						ɣ
Nasal	voiceless	m̥	m̥ʷ			n̥	ɲ̊
	voiced	m	mʷ			n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant	voiceless	w̥				l̥	j̊
	voiced	w				l	j
Rhotic	voiceless					r̥
	voiced					r

• Consonant sounds in parentheses occur either rarely, or from loanwords.

Vowels

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i ĩ		u ũ
Mid	e ẽ		o õ
Low		a ã

Bibliography

• Haudricourt, André-Georges; Ozanne-Rivierre, Françoise (1982). Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : pije, fwâi, nemi, jawe. Précédé d'une phonologie comparée des langues de Hienghène et du proto-océanien. Paris: Société d'Etudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France. p. 285. ISBN 978-2852971349.
• Soon, Samantha (2022). Kwényï: A Sketch Grammar from a Historical Perspective. Sydney University.