South Vanuatu languages
Subgroup of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian language family
| South Vanuatu | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Southern Vanuatu |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Proto-language | Proto-South Vanuatu |
| Glottolog | sout2868 |
The nine South Vanuatu languages form a family of the Southern Oceanic languages,[1] spoken in Tafea Province (Tanna, Aneityum, Futuna, Erromango, and Aniwa) of Vanuatu.
Languages
- Erromango family
- Southern: Sie, Sorung†
- Northern: Ifo (Utaha)†, Ura
(See Erromanga language#Linguistic situation for a description)
- Tanna family
- Southern: Kwamera (South Tanna), Southwest Tanna
- Northern: Lenakel (West Tanna), Whitesands (Weasisi, East Tanna), North Tanna
- Aneityum
- Aneityum (Anejom̃)
François (2015)
François (2015:18–21) lists the following names and locations for the 9 South Vanuatu languages.
| No. | Language | Other names | Speakers | ISO 639-3 | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 128 | Sie | Se, Sie, Erromanga | 1900 | erg | Erromango |
| 129 | Ura | 6 | uur | Erromango | |
| 130 | Utaha | 0 | iff | Erromango | |
| 131 | North Tanna | 5000 | tnn | Tanna | |
| 132 | Lenakel | Netvaar | 11500 | tnl | Tanna |
| 133 | Southwest Tanna | Nawal | 5000 | nwi | Tanna |
| 134 | Whitesands | Narak | 7500 | tnp | Tanna |
| 135 | Kwamera | Nafe, Nɨfe | 3500 | tnk | Tanna |
| 137 | Anejom̃ | Aneityum | 900 | aty | Aneityum |
Proto-South Vanuatu
| Proto-South Vanuatu | |
|---|---|
| PSV | |
| Reconstruction of | South Vanuatu languages |
Reconstructed ancestors | |
Proto-South Vanuatu was reconstructed by John Lynch in 2001.
The language, compared to Proto-Oceanic, went through a series of vowel reductions, leading to the creation of a new vowel written as *ə, such as in *na-waiR "fresh water" resulting in Proto-South Vanuatu *nə-wai of the same meaning.
However, it also preserves some, but not all final consonants. For example, *tanum "to plant, bury" is reflected in Proto-South Vanuatu as *(a)-tenum "to bury", but *taŋis "to cry" is instead reflected as *(a)-taŋi.
Vowels
The vowels of Proto-South Vanuatu, according to Lynch, are:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | *i | *u | |
| Close-mid | *e | *ə | *o |
| Open | *a |
Consonants
The consonants of Proto-South Vanuatu, according to Lynch, are:
Consonants Labiovelar Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Stop voiced *bʷ *b *d *g voiceless *pʷ *p *t *k *q Nasal *mʷ *m *n *ŋ Fricative *v *s *c, *ɟ
[clarification needed]*ɣ Approximant *w *l, *r *j
References
- ^ Lynch, John; Ross, Malcolm; Crowley, Terry (2002). The Oceanic languages. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. ISBN 978-0-7007-1128-4. OCLC 48929366.
- François, Alexandre; Franjieh, Michael; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Schnell, Stefan (2015), "The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu" (PDF), in François, Alexandre; Lacrampe, Sébastien; Franjieh, Michael; Schnell, Stefan (eds.), The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity, Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia, Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access, pp. 1–21, ISBN 9781922185235.
- Lynch, John. 2001. The linguistic history of southern Vanuatu. (Pacific Linguistics, 509.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
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| North Vanuatu |
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| Nuclear Southern Oceanic |
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- * indicates proposed status
- ? indicates classification dispute
- † indicates extinct status
