The family of Southeast Solomonic languages forms a branch of the

Oceanic languages The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...

. It consists of some 26 languages covering the South East Solomon Islands, from the tip of Santa Isabel to Makira. The fact that there is little diversity amongst these languages, compared to groups of similar size in Melanesia, suggests that they dispersed in the relatively recent past. Bugotu and Gela are two of the most conservative languages.

Languages

According to Lynch, Ross, & Crowley (2002), the structure of the family is as follows: *Bugotu–Gela–Guadalcanal family ** Bughotu (Bugotu) **Gela–Guadalcanal family ***Gelic:

Lengo The ancient rock art site of Lengo is located in the Bakouma region of the Central African Republic. Site Description The village of Lengo is on the road of Yalinga 3 km from Bakouma. The site of engravings is located on the right of this ro ...

, Gela ***Guadalcanal: Birao, Ghari, Malango, Talise *Longgu–Malaita–Makira family ** Longgu **Malaita–Makira family *** Sa'a ***Makira (San Cristobal):

Arosi Arosi is a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on the island of Makira. Arosi is primarily spoken by inhabitants who live to the west of the Wango River on Makira (formerly known as San Cristobal Island). Makira is in the easternmost part of the ...

, Fagani, Bauro, Kahua– Owa, ? Marau Wawa ***Malaita ****Central–North Malaita: North ( To'abaita, Baelelea, Baeggu, Fataleka),

Lau Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebane ...

Kwara'ae The Kwara'ae language (previously called Fiu after the location of many of its speakers) is spoken in the north of Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands. In 1999, there were 32,400 people known to speak the language. It is the largest indigenous ...

Wala __NOTOC__ Wala may refer to: Places *Wala (island), a small island in Vanuatu, and a popular destination for cruise ships * Wala, Panama, a community in Kuna de Wargandí, Panama *Kingdom of Wala a pre-colonial polity in the north of modern Ghana ...

, Gula'alaa,

Kwaio Kwaio is an ethnic group found in central Malaita, in the Solomon Islands. According to Ethnologue, they numbered 13,249 in 1999. Much of what is known about the Kwaio is due to the work of the anthropologist Roger M. Keesing, who lived among t ...

, Dori'o ****Southern Malaita: 'Are'are,

Marau Marau is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was initially populated by Italian immigrants that were escaping from the war. The city name is based on the brave native chief "cacique Marau" which fought against the white ...

, Oroha

Basic vocabulary

Basic vocabulary in many Southeast Solomonic languages is somewhat conservative, unlike Northwest Solomonic forms, many of which have no

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbr. ''POc'') is a proto-language that historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Oceanic is a descendant ...

cognates.Pawley, Andrew. Explaining the Aberrant Austronesian Languages of Southeast Melanesia: 150 Years of Debate. ''Journal of the Polynesian Society'', The, Vol. 115, No. 3, Sept 2006: 215-258. Below, Gela and

are compared with three Northwest Solomonic languages. Aberrant forms are in ''italics''. :

Languages

Basic vocabulary

References

Further reading