The family of Northwest Solomonic languages is 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 includes the

Austronesian languages The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken ...

of Bougainville and Buka in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, and of Choiseul,

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the List of islands by area, 203rd-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been par ...

, and Santa Isabel (excluding Bugotu) in

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. The unity of Northwest Solomonic and the number and composition of its subgroups, along with its relationship to other Oceanic groups, was established in pioneering work by Malcolm Ross.

Languages

Northwest Solomonic languages group as follows: * Nehan – North Bougainville linkage ** Nehan (Nissan) **Saposa–Tinputz: Hahon, Ratsua, Saposa (Taiof)– Teop, Tinputz **Buka: Halia– Hakö, Petats ** Papapana ** Solos * Piva–Bannoni family: Piva (Lawunuia), Bannoni * Mono–Uruavan family: Mono-Alu, Torau, Uruava *Choiseul linkage: Babatana (including Sisingga)– Ririo, Vaghua– Varisi *New Georgia – Ysabel family **

linkage: Simbo (Simbo Island),

Roviana Roviana is a member of the North West Solomonic branch of Oceanic languages. It is spoken around Roviana and Vonavona lagoons at the north central New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. It has 10,000 first-language speakers and an additional 16,00 ...

– Kusaghe, Marovo, Hoava, Vangunu ( Vangunu Island), Nduke ( Kolombangara Island), Ghanongga ( Ranongga Island), Lungga ( Ranongga Island), Ughele (North

Rendova Island Rendova is an island in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific, east of Papua New Guinea. Geography Rendova Island is a roughly rectangular island, ...

) **Ysabel linkage: Zabana (Kia)– Laghu^†, Kokota– Zazao (Kilokaka)– Blablanga,

Gao Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an imp ...

– Cheke Holo (Maringe, Hograno) In addition, the extinct Kazukuru language was probably one of the New Georgia languages. The unclassified extinct language Tetepare might have also been one of the New Georgia languages, if it was Austronesian at all.

Basic vocabulary

Basic vocabulary in many Northwest Solomonic languages is aberrant, and many forms do not have

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbreviated as POc) is a proto-language that comparative linguistics, historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic languages, Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian ...

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, Ririo, Zabana, and Maringe are compared with two

Southeast Solomonic languages The family of Southeast Solomonic languages forms a branch of the Oceanic languages. It consists of some 26 languages covering the Eastern Solomon Islands, from the tip of Santa Isabel to Makira. It is defined by the merger of Proto-Oceanic ''*l ...

. Aberrant forms are in bold. :

Languages

Basic vocabulary

Notes

References

Further reading