Nanumea dialect

The Nanumea dialect, also known as te 'Gana Faka Nanumea or Nanumean, is a dialect of Tuvaluan, also considered by some to be a separate language, spoken on the island of Nanumea in northern Tuvalu. It is part of the Northern dialect group of Tuvaluan, and is closely related to other Polynesian languages, especially the languages of the Polynesian outliers, such as Tuvaluan, Nukuoro, Kapingamarani, Samoan and Tokelauan, and less so related to more well-known Polynesian languages such as Māori and 'Ōlelo Hawai'i. There is one Nanumean lexicon.

Phonology

Nanumea's phonemes are the same as to the phonemes of other northern dialects of the Tuvaluan language, as can be observed:

Consonants

Consonants can also be germinated, just like Tuvaluan.

Challenges

Nanumea may eventually sink completely below sea level by the near future, which is a threat to te 'Gana Faka Nanumea, because if the atoll was no longer there, there would be no use for Nanumean.