| Drehu | |
|---|---|
| Region | Lifou, New Caledonia |
Native speakers | unknown; est. 13,000 includes many L2 speakers (2009)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | dhv |
| Glottolog | dehu1237 |
 Drehu is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Drehu ([ɖehu]; also known as Dehu,[2] Lifou,[3] Lifu,[4] qene drehu[5]) is an Austronesian language mostly spoken on Lifou Island, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia. It has about 12,000 fluent speakers and the status of a French regional language. This status means that pupils can take it as an optional topic for the baccalauréat in New Caledonia itself or on the French mainland.[6] It has been also taught at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO) in Paris since 1973 and at the University of New Caledonia[7] since 2000. Like other Kanak languages, Drehu is regulated by the Académie des langues kanak, founded in 2007.
A separate register of Drehu, known as qene miny, was once used to speak to chiefs (joxu). Very few Drehu speakers know qene miny today.[8]
- ^ Drehu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ In missionary time
- ^ In French
- ^ In English
- ^ Qene means language (literally "qe" : mouth, "ne" : of)
- ^ Only five of the twenty-eight Kanak languages (in the 1999 Rapport Cerquilini or 40 according to the Académie des langues kanak) have this status: Drehu (island of Lifou), Nengone (island of Maré), A'jië (around Houaïlou), Paicî (around Poindimié) and Xârâcùù (around Canala and Thio).
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2005-12-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ As Maurice Leenhardt did ("Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mélanésie" (1946), the Académie considers qene miny not only as a respective register but also a distinct language