Palauan

Palauan is a language spoken in Palau, an island country in the Pacific Ocean. It is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes Hawaiian and Maori. Palauan is spoken by about 18,000 people, most of whom live on the island of Babeldaob. The Palauan language is distinctive in a number of ways. For example, it has a large number of vowel sounds, as well as a unique system of consonant harmony. It is also one of the few languages in the world that make use of the so-called glottal stop, a sound produced by stopping the flow of air through the vocal cords. The Palauan language has been heavily influenced by other languages, particularly English. As a result, many Palauans are bilingual, and English is widely used in government and education. Nevertheless, Palauan remains the first language of the majority of the population, and is an important part of Palauan culture.