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Language families of the (geographic) Solomon IslandsRed : North Bougainville Blue : South Bougainville Green : Central Solomons Grey : Austronesian
Between 60 and 70 languages are spoken in the Solomon Islands Archipelago [ 1] which covers a broader area than the nation state of Solomon Islands ,[ 2] and includes the island of Bougainville , which is an autonomous province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The lingua franca of the archipelago is Pidgin , and the official language in both countries is English .
Language families
Most of the languages in the Solomon Islands are Austronesian languages . The Central Solomon languages such as Lavukaleve constitute an independent family.
Two other language families are represented on Bougainville , which is geographically part of the Solomon Islands, if not within the national boundaries.
The status of the Reefs – Santa Cruz languages were once thought to be non-Austronesian, but further research found them to be divergent Austronesian languages.[ 3] The neighbouring languages of Vanikoro are also heavily relexified Austronesian languages.[ 4]
An indigenous sign language, Rennellese Sign Language , has gone extinct.
Languages of the Solomon Islands archipelago
Language
Code
Speakers
% of total popⁿ
Area
Family
Branch
Pijin
pis
24,390 (lg 1) 307,000 (lg 2)
4.0689 (lg 1)
51.2162 (lg 2)
Creole
'Are'are
alu
17,800
2.9695
Malaita
Southeast Solomonic
Oceanic
Arosi
aia
6,750
1.1261
Makira
Baeggu
bvd
5,900
0.9843
Malaita
Baelelea
bvc
8,800
1.4681
Malaita
Bauro
bxa
3,420
0.5706
Makira
Birao
brr
5,900
0.9843
Guadalcanal
Bughotu
bgt
4,048
0.6753
Santa Isabel
Dori'o
dor
2,406
0.4014
Malaita
Fagani
faf
902
0.1505
Makira
Fataleka
far
6,703
1.1182
Malaita
Gela
nlg
11,876
1.9813
Nggela Islands
Ghari
gri
12,119
2.0218
Guadalcanal
Gula'alaa
gmb
1,568
0.2616
Malaita
Kahua
agw
5,170
0.8625
Makira
Kwaio
kwd
13,249
2.2103
Malaita
Kwara'ae
kwf
32,433
5.4107
Malaita
Lau
llu
16,937
2.8256
Malaita
Lengo
lgr
13,752
2.2942
Guadalcanal
Longgu
lgu
1,894
0.3160
Guadalcanal
Oroha
ora
38
0.0063
Malaita
Owa
stn
3,069
0.5120
Makira
Sa'a
apb
11,519
1.9217
Malaita
Talise
tlr
12,525
2.0895
Guadalcanal
Toqabaqita
mlu
12,572
2.0974
Malaita
Wala
lgl
6,978
1.1641
Malaita
Malango
mln
4,135
0.6898
Guadalcanal
Gilbertese
gil
1,230
0.2052
Gizo , Choiseul
Micronesian
Tanema
tnx
1
0.0002
Vanikoro
Temotu
Asubuo
aua
10
0.0017
Utupua
Amba
utp
593
0.0989
Utupua
Äiwoo
nfl
8,400
1.4014
Reef Islands
Lovono
vnk
4
0.0007
Vanikoro
Nanggu
ngr
210
0.0350
Nendö
Natügu
ntu
4,280
0.7140
Nendö
Nalögo
nlz
1,620
0.2703
Nendö
Tanibili
tbe
15
0.0025
Utupua
Teanu
tkw
800
0.1335
Vanikoro
Rennellese Sign Language
0
0.0000
Rennell and Bellona Province
Home sign
Rennellese
mnv
3,191
0.5323
Polynesian
Luangiua
ojv
2,367
0.3949
Ontong Java
Sikaiana
sky
731
0.1220
Sikaiana
Tikopia
tkp
3,324
0.5545
Tikopia , Vanikoro
Vaeakau-Taumako
piv
1,142
0.1905
Duff Is , Reef Is
Anuta
aud
267
0.0445
Anuta Island
Lungga
lga
2,767
0.4616
Ranongga
Western Oceanic
Marovo
mvo
8,094
1.3503
New Georgia
Mono
mte
3,337
0.5567
Shortland Is , Treasury Is
Ririo
rri
79
0.0132
Choiseul Province
Roviana
rug
9,871
1.6468
New Georgia
Babatana
baa
5,600
0.9342
Choiseul Province
Blablanga
blp
1,772
0.2956
Santa Isabel
Cheke Holo
mrn
10,840
1.8084
Santa Isabel
Dororo
drr
0
0.0000
New Georgia
Duke
nke
2,312
0.3857
Kolombangara
Ghanongga
ghn
2,508
0.4184
Ranongga
Guliguli
gli
0
0.0000
New Georgia
Hoava
hoa
459
0.0766
New Georgia
Kazukuru
kzk
0
0.0000
New Georgia
Kokota
kkk
530
0.0884
Santa Isabel
Kusaghe
ksg
2,395
0.3996
New Georgia
Simbo
sbb
2,701
0.4506
Simbo
Ughele
uge
1,202
0.2005
Rendova Island
Vaghua
tva
1,960
0.3270
Choiseul Province
Vangunu
mpr
907
0.1513
Vangunu
Varisi
vrs
5,161
0.8610
Choiseul Province
Gao
gga
1,215
0.2027
Santa Isabel
Laghu
lgb
15
0.0025
Santa Isabel
Zabana
kji
3,355
0.5597
Santa Isabel
Zazao
jaj
10
0.0017
Santa Isabel
Lavukaleve
lvk
1,783
0.2975
Russell Islands
Central Solomonic
Savosavo
svs
2,415
0.4029
Savo
Touo
tqu
1,874
0.3126
Rendova Island
Bilua
blb
8,740
1.4581
Vella Lavella
Italics indicate that a language is extinct.
Notes
Further reading
François, Alexandre (2009), "The languages of Vanikoro: Three lexicons and one grammar" (PDF) , in Evans, Bethwyn (ed.), Discovering history through language: Papers in honour of Malcolm Ross , Pacific Linguistics 605, Canberra: Australian National University, pp. 103–126
Ross, Malcolm ; Næss, Åshild (2007). "An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?". Oceanic Linguistics . 46 (2): 456–498. doi :10.1353/ol.2008.0003 . hdl :1885/20053 .
Tryon, Darrell T. ; Hackman, Bryan D. (1983). Solomon Islands languages: an internal classification . Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi :10.15144/PL-C72 .
Official language Lingua franca Indigenous languages
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