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Proto-Torres–Banks Language
Proto-Torres-Banks (abbr. PTB) is the reconstructed ancestor of the seventeen languages of the Torres and Banks Islands of Vanuatu. Like all indigenous languages of Vanuatu, it belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian languages. Descendants Proto-Torres-Banks is the shared ancestor of the following modern languages: Hiw, Lo-Toga, Lehali, Löyöp, Volow, Mwotlap, Lemerig, Vera'a, Vurës, Mwesen, Mota, Nume, Dorig, Koro, Olrat, Lakon, and Mwerlap. Reconstruction Proto-Torres-Banks, as reconstructed with the comparative method from the attested daughter languages, evidently represented an early, mutually intelligible chain of Oceanic dialects in the northern part of Vanuatu, as evidenced by the pattern of loss and retention of the Proto-Oceanic phoneme ''*R'', which merged with ''*r'' in the early history of the North-Central Vanuatu dialect chain. It therefore is not a "true" proto-language in the sense of an undifferentiated language ancestral to all Torres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torres Islands
The Torres Islands are in the Torba Province of the country of Vanuatu, and is that country’s the northernmost island group. The chain of islands that make up this micro-archipelago straddles the broader cultural boundary between Island Melanesia and several Polynesian outliers located in the neighbouring Solomon Islands. To the island chain’s north is Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, to its south is Espiritu Santo, and to its southeast are the Banks Islands. To the west, beneath the ocean surface, is the deep Torres Trench, which is the subduction zone between the Australian and Pacific plates. The seven islands in the Torres group, from north to south, are Hiw or ''Hiu'' (the largest), Metoma, Tegua, Ngwel (an uninhabited islet), Linua, Lo or ''Loh'', and Toga. The island chain stretches across . The highest point of the chain is only above sea level. These islands are less rugged than the other islands of Vanuatu that lie further to the south. Contrary to popul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mwotlap Language
Mwotlap (pronounced ; formerly known as ''Motlav'') is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of Ra (or ''Aya'') and Vanua Lava, as well as migrant groups in the two main cities of the country, Santo and Port Vila. Mwotlap was first described in any detail in 2001, by the linguist Alexandre François. Volow, which used to be spoken on the same island, may be considered a dialect or a separate language. The language Name The language is named after the island. Geographic distribution Mwotlap is spoken by about 2,100 people in the Banks Islands, in the North of Vanuatu. Among them, 1,640 live on the island of Mota Lava and its neighbor island, Ra. It is also spoken by a few hundred people living elsewhere in Vanuatu: * Vanua Lava, particularly in the northeast * Several other northern Vanuatu islands including Ureparapara, Gaua, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daughter Language
In historical linguistics, a daughter language, also known as descendant language, is a language descended from another language, its mother language, through a process of genetic descent. If more than one language has developed from the same proto-language, or 'mother language', those languages are said to be sister languages, members of the same language family. These concepts are linked to the tree model of language evolution, in which the relationships between languages are compared with those between members of a family tree. This model captures the diversification of languages from a common source. Strictly speaking, the metaphor of the mother-daughter relationship can lead to a misconceptualization of language history, as daughter languages are direct continuations of the mother language, which have become distinct, principally by a process of gradual change; the languages are not separate entities "born" to a parent who eventually dies. Mother languages do not "die", the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparative Method
In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards to infer the properties of that ancestor. The comparative method may be contrasted with the method of internal reconstruction in which the internal development of a single language is inferred by the analysis of features within that language. Ordinarily, both methods are used together to reconstruct prehistoric phases of languages; to fill in gaps in the historical record of a language; to discover the development of phonological, morphological and other linguistic systems and to confirm or to refute hypothesised relationships between languages. The comparative method was developed over the 19th century. Key contributions were made by the Danish scholars Rasmus Rask and Karl Verner and the German scholar Jacob Grimm. The first linguist to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mwerlap Language
Mwerlap is an Oceanic language spoken in the south of the Banks Islands in Vanuatu. Its 1,100 speakers live mostly in Merelava and Merig, but a fair proportion have also settled the east coast of Gaua island.François (2012: 97). Besides, a number of Mwerlap speakers live in the two cities of Vanuatu, Port Vila and Luganville. Name The language is named after ''Mwerlap'', the native name of Merelava island. Phonology Mwerlap has 12 phonemic vowels. These include 9 monophthongs and 3 diphthongs . Grammar The system of personal pronouns in Mwerlap contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes three numbers (singular, dual, plural). Spatial reference in Mwerlap is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is in part typical of Oceanic languages, and yet innovative. François (2015:) 173-175). References Bibliography * * . * * * External linksLinguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing range of MwerlapOnline material in Mwerlap (Merlav) audio recordings, docu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakon Language
Lakon is an Oceanic language, spoken on the west coast of Gaua island in Vanuatu. Names The language name ''Lakon'' refers originally to the area where it is spoken ‒ namely Lakona Bay, corresponding to the west coast of Gaua. The alternative name ''Lakona'' is from the Mota language. These names are derived from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *''laᵑgona'', of unknown meaning. Lakon had four dialects, named Qatareu (''Qätärew'' ), Vure (''Vurē'' ), Toglatareu, and Togla. Phonology Consonants Lakon has 16 phonemic consonants. François (2022). The glottal stop only occurs before vowels in syllable-initial position. While non-phonemic, it is sometimes noted in the orthography, using a mark. Vowels Lakon has 16 phonemic vowels. These include 8 short /i ɪ ɛ æ a ɔ ʊ u/ and 8 long vowels /iː ɪː ɛː æː aː ɔː ʊː uː/. Historically, the phonemicisation of vowel length originates in the compensatory lengthening of short vowels when the alveolar trill w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olrat Language
Olrat was an Oceanic language of Gaua island, in northern Vanuatu. It became extinct in 2009, with the death of its last speaker Maten Womal. François (2022). Name The name ''Olrat'' (spelled natively as ''Ōlrat'' ) is an endonym. Robert Codrington mentions a place south of Lakon village under the Mota name ''Ulrata''. A few decades later, Sidney Ray mentions the language briefly in 1926 under the same Mota name ‒ but provides no linguistic information. The language In 2003, only three speakers of Olrat remained, who lived on the middle-west coast of Gaua. Their community had left their inland hamlet of Olrat in the first half of the 20th century, and merged into the larger village of Jōlap where Lakon is dominant.. Alexandre François identifies Olrat as a distinct language from its immediate neighbor Lakon, on phonological, grammatical, and lexical grounds. Phonology Olrat has 14 phonemic vowels. These include 7 short /i ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ u/ and 7 long vowels /iː ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koro Language (Vanuatu)
Koro is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 280 speakers live in the village of Koro, on the south coast of Gaua. Koro is a distinct language from its immediate neighbours, Dorig (300 sp.) and Olrat (4 sp.). Name The name ''Koro'', spelled natively as ''Kōrō'' , is an endonym referring to the village. Phonology Koro has 8 phonemic vowels. These include 7 monophthongs and one diphthong . The diphthong is spelled as . Grammar The system of personal pronouns in Koro contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural). Spatial reference in Koro is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages. François (2015). Notes and references References Bibliography * * . * * * * External links Linguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing range of Koro on Gaua Audio recordings in the Koro language in open access, by A. François (''Pangloss Collection The Pangloss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorig Language
Dorig (formerly called ''Wetamut'') is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. The language’s 300 speakers live mostly in the village of Dorig (), on the south coast of Gaua. Smaller speaker communities can be found in the villages of Qteon (east coast) and Qtevut (west coast). Dorig's immediate neighbours are Koro and Mwerlap. Name The name ''Dorig'', spelled ''Dōrig'', is derived from the name of the village where it is spoken. The term is related to ''Dōlav'' (the Dorig name of a village that is called in Lakon as ''Jōlap'' ), with the ''-rig'' and ''-lav'' parts meaning "small" and "big" respectively. The element ''dō'' is obscure; hence the only term that can be reconstructed for Proto-Torres-Banks is ''*-riɣi''. Phonology Dorig has 8 phonemic vowels. These include 7 short monophthongs and one long vowel . Dorig has 15 consonant phonemes. The phonotactic template for a syllable in Dorig is: — e.g. ‘woman’; ‘poor’; ‘octopus’. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nume Language
Nume (also called ''Gog'' and ''Tarasag'') is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 700 speakers live on the northeast coast of Gaua. Nume is a distinct language from its immediate southern neighbors, Mwerlap and Dorig. Names The name ''Nume'' originates in the name of a village, now abandoned. ''Tarasag'' is currently the community's main village. The alternate name ''Gog'' refers to the broader area, and by extension, to the island. Phonology Nume has 7 phonemic vowels, which are all short monophthongs. : Grammar The system of personal pronouns in Nume contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural). Spatial reference in Nume is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages. François (2015). References Bibliography * * . * * * External links Linguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing range of Nume on Gaua Audio recordings in the Nume language in open access, by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mota Language
Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. The language (named after the island) is one of the most conservative Torres–Banks languages, and the only one to keep its inherited five-vowel system intact while also preserving most final vowels. History During the period 1840-1940, Mota was used as a missionary ''lingua franca'' throughout areas of Oceania included in the Melanesian Mission, an Anglican missionary agency. Mota was used on Norfolk Island, in religious education; on other islands with different vernacular languages, it served as the language of liturgical prayers, hymns, and some other religious purposes. Elizabeth Fairburn Colenso translated religious material into the language. Robert Henry Codrington compiled the first dictionary of Mota (1896), and worked with George Sarawia and others to produce a large number of early publications in this language. Phonology Phoneme inventory Mota phonemically con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mwesen Language
Mwesen (formerly known by its Mota name ''Mosina'') is an Oceanic language spoken in the southeastern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 10 speakers. François (2012): 88). Mwesen shows many similarities with the island's dominant language Vurës, to such an extent that they have sometimes been considered dialects of a single language. However, studies have shown that Mwesen and Vurës have various dissimilarities, e.g. in their vowel systems, in their noun articles, in their pronoun paradigms. François (2009), François (2016). Name The name ''Mwesen'' is originally the name of a village, in the eastern part of Vanua Lava; it is spelled ''M̄ēsēn'' both in Mwesen itself, and in neighbouring Vurës. The village is known as ''Am̄sēn'' (with locative prefix ''a-'') in Mwotlap, and as ''M̄osina'' (modern: ''M̄osna'' ) in Mota. All these different names are derived from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *''mʷosina''. The old Mota ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
