Bilua language
Bilua | |
---|---|
Native to | Solomon Islands |
Region | Vella Lavella Island, Western Province. |
Native speakers | (8,700 cited 1999)[1] |
Central Solomons
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | blb |
Glottolog | bilu1245 |
ELP | Bilua |
7°55′S 156°40′E / 7.92°S 156.66°EBilua (also known as Mbilua or Vella Lavella)[2] is the most populous Papuan language spoken in the Solomon Islands.[3] It is a Central Solomon language spoken by about 9,000 people on the island of Vella Lavella. It is one of the four non-Austronesian languages spoken in the Solomon Islands.[4] The number of different languages spoken in the Solomon Islands is attributed to the dynamic geographic features of the island and the isolation of its different populations.
Classification
"Bilua is sometimes grouped with the other Central Solomons languages and beyond (Wurm 1975b) but closer inspection shows that a genealogical relation is not demonstrable (Dunn and Terrill 2012, Terrill 2011)" (Hammarström, forthcoming).
Phonology
The consonant and vowels sounds of Bilua.[5]
Consonants
Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | ||
voiced | b (ᵐb) | d (ⁿd) | g (ᵑɡ) | |||
Fricative | voiceless | s | ||||
voiced | β | z | (w) | |||
Affricate | voiceless | d͡ʒ (ⁿd͡ʒ) | ||||
voiced | (t͡ʃ) | |||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Lateral | l | |||||
Rhotic | r |
The voiced stops and the affricate sounds /b d ɡ dʒ/ can occur as prenasalized allophones, when occurring intervocalically [ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ ⁿdʒ]. Other consonant allophones include [w tʃ] for /β dʒ/.
Vowels
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i (ɪ) | u (ʊ) |
Mid | e (ɛ) | o (ɔ) |
Low | a |
Four vowel sounds /i u e o/ have allophones but only in diphthongs as [ɪ ɛ ɔ ʊ].
Verb construction
Sample Verbs
English | Bilua |
---|---|
to bite | nanae, nanaelɔu |
to blow | pueka, puzeka, puzeko |
to breathe | kozato |
to burn | siŋgae, siŋgato |
to come | kua |
to count | ataito, atiato |
to cry | ziaʔo, zialo |
to cut, hack | kombue, kombuto, paŋgoe,
paŋgoilo, rupe |
to die, be dead | vou |
to dig | telite, telito |
to drink | nozutɔ, nĵuvuatɔ, sapɔ |
to eat | ɔkua, vuato |
to fall | pialo |
to fear | ŋalo |
to flow | rundundu |
to fly | akazo, salosalo, sindiki |
to hear | viŋgo |
to hit | pazɔvɔ, pazoto, pazovo |
to hold | kamaka, kamako |
to hunt | zaulao, zaulau |
to kill | vouvaiva, vouvato |
to know, be knowledgeable | ñaño |
to laugh | kisiko, nureo |
to lie down | teku |
to live, be alive | saevo, saivo |
to say | kaseka, kiŋɔla, pesio |
to scratch | kirikirito, pirakasa |
to see | alea, kea, kelo |
to sew | turue, turuto |
to sit | papi, papu |
to sleep | maroŋa, maroŋo |
to sniff, smell | tuiño, tuimikɔ, tuimiko |
to spit | supato |
to split | reseilo, seseto |
to squeeze | zuzuto, žužue |
to stab, pierce | nĵokuto, zatae |
to stand | lonĵo |
to steal | kuilɔ, kuilo |
to suck | kuzukuzuto, kuzutɔ |
to swell | tumbu |
to swim | lilitɔ, ruazo, siusiutɔ, siusiuto |
to think | kɛrukɛruto, kerukeruto |
to tie up | lupika |
to turn | lilite, vipulɔ |
to walk | ɔla, ola, saŋgɔre, tali, talio, zakei |
to vomit | sakoezo |
to work | irurupoto, iruruputo |
Noun classification
Bilua has a masculine-feminine gender system with no neuter nouns. Truly males are always male and truly female are always female.[3]
Numerals
English | Bilua |
---|---|
1 | ɔmaⁿdeu |
2 | ɔmuᵑɡa |
3 | zouke |
4 | ariku |
5 | sike |
6 | varimuⁿɟa |
7 | sikeura (5 + 2 ?) |
8 | siotolu (5 + 3 ?) |
9 | siakava (5 + 4 ?) |
10 | toni |
11 | toni ɔmaⁿdeu |
12 | toni ɔmuᵑɡa |
13 | toni zouke |
14 | toni ariku |
15 | toni sike |
16 | toni varimuⁿɟa |
17 | toni sikeura |
18 | toni siotolu |
19 | toni siakava |
20 | karabete (borrow from Choiseul) |
21 | karabete ɔmaⁿdeu |
30 | zouke toni |
40 | ariku toni |
50 | sike toni |
60 | varimuⁿɟa toni |
70 | sikeura toni |
80 | siotolu toni |
90 | siakava toni |
100 | ɔmaⁿdeu paizana |
200 | ɔmuᵑɡa paizana |
1000 | ɔmaⁿdeu vurɔ |
2000 | ɔmuᵑɡa vurɔ |
References
- ^ Bilua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ "OLAC resources in and about the Bilua language". www.language-archives.org. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
- ^ a b Woodley (2002)
- ^ Obata (2003)
- ^ Obata (2003), pp. 8–11
Further reading
- Obata, Kazuko (2003). A Grammar of Bilua: A Papuan language of the Solomon Islands (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 540. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/PL-540. hdl:1885/146708.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Terrill, A (2011). Languages in Contact: An Exploration of Stability and Change in the Solomon Islands. Oceanic Linguistics. University of Hawai'i Press.
- Dunn, M., Reesink, G., & Terrill, A (2002), "The East Papuan Languages: A Preliminary Typological Appraisal", Oceanic Linguistics, 41 (1): 28–62, doi:10.2307/3623327, hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1ADC-1, JSTOR 3623327
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Terrill, A. (2002), "Systems of Nominal Classification in East Papuan Languages", Oceanic Linguistics, 41 (1): 63–88, doi:10.2307/3623328, hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0013-189B-5, JSTOR 3623328
- Donohue, Mark, and Simon Musgrave (2007), "Typology and the Linguistic Macrohistory of Island Melanesia.", Oceanic Linguistics, 46 (2): 348–387, doi:10.1353/ol.2008.0011
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Woodley, Ellen Joanne (2002). Local and indigenous knowledge as an emergent property of complexity: A case study in the Solomon Islands (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Guelph.
{{cite thesis}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - "The Bilua Verb". Verbix Languages. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- "Numerals". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. Retrieved April 30, 2017.