Nanggu language

Engdewu
Nanggu
Native to	Solomon Islands
Region	Nendo Island
Coordinates	10°44′S 165°53′E / 10.733°S 165.883°E
Native speakers	210 (1999)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Temotu ? Reefs – Santa Cruz Engdewu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ngr
Glottolog	nang1262[2]

Engdewu (formerly Nanggu, Nagu), is one of two Reefs – Santa Cruz languages spoken on Nendö Island (the other is called Santa Cruz). It was described in 2013 by linguist Anders Vaa.^[3]

Names

The language used to be known by outsiders as Nanggu (IPA: [naᵑɡu]), 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.^[4][5] This name has now been adopted by linguists.^[1]

References

• Boerger, Brenda; Næss, Åshild; Vaa, Anders; Emerine, Rachel; Hoover, Angela. 2012. Sociological factors in Reefs-Santa Cruz language vitality: a 40 year retrospective. International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Volume 2012, Issue 214, Pages 111–152, ISSN (Online) 1613-3668, ISSN (Print) 0165-2516, DOI: 10.1515/ijsl-2012-0023.
• Vaa, Anders. 2013. A Grammar of Engdewu. An Oceanic language of Solomon Islands. Doctoral thesis, U. of Oslo, Norway. 588 pp.

Notes

1. Engdewu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Nanggu". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
3. See Vaa (2013).
4. See ISO639-3 renaming proposal.
5. See Boerger et al., p. 130.