Engdewu, also known as Nanggu or Nagu, is an Oceanic language of the Solomon Islands. Along with Natügu and Nalögo, Engdewu is one of three Reefs – Santa Cruz languages spoken on the island of Nendö or Santa Cruz.
Names The language used to be known by outsiders as Nanggu (), from the name of one of the villages where it is still spoken. This name is also spelled Nangu or Nagu.
The local population prefers to name the language Engdewu, after the name of the ancient village where it was initially spoken. This name has now been adopted by linguists.
Grammar A description of the language was produced in 2013 by linguist Anders Vaa.
Phonology Consonants Nanggu has 14 phonemic consonants. Labial Alveolar Alveolo-palatal Palatal VelarPlosive Voiceless Voiced Fricative Nasal Approximant
Vaa (2013) consistently uses and , which he describes as "lamino-palatoalveolar."
Vowels Nanggu has ten phonemic vowels. FrontCentralBackCloseʉClose-midɵOpen-MidɛɞɔOpenaɒ
Notes
References
External links Materials on Nanggu are included in the open access Arthur Capell (AC2) and Stephen Wurm (SAW2) collections held by Paradisec