Bilua language
Bilua | |
---|---|
Native to | Solomon Islands |
Region | Vella Lavella Island, Western Province |
Native speakers | (8,700 cited 1999)[1] |
Central Solomon
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | blb |
Glottolog | bilu1245 |
ELP | Bilua |
![]() Bilua is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
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 Papuan non-Austronesian languages spoken in the Solomon Islands.[4]
Classification
[edit]"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
[edit]The consonant and vowels sounds of Bilua.[5]
Consonants
[edit]Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | (t͡ʃ) | k | |
voiced | b (ᵐb) | d (ⁿd) | d͡ʒ (ⁿd͡ʒ) | g (ᵑɡ) | ||
Fricative | voiceless | s | ||||
voiced | β | z | (w) | |||
Lateral | l | |||||
Rhotic | r |
The voiced stops and 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
[edit]Front | Central | 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
[edit]Sample Verbs
[edit]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
[edit]Bilua has a masculine-feminine gender system with no neuter nouns. Truly males are always male and truly female are always female.[3]
Numerals
[edit]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
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ 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), p. 1
- ^ Obata (2003), pp. 8–11
Sources
[edit]- Obata, Kazuko (2003). A Grammar of Bilua: a Papuan language of the Solomon Islands (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 540. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. The Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-540. hdl:1885/146708. ISBN 0-85883-531-2.
- Woodley, Ellen Joanne (2002). Local and indigenous knowledge as an emergent property of complexity: A case study in the Solomon Islands (PhD thesis). University of Guelph. S2CID 129399351.
Further reading
[edit]- 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, S2CID 127188288
((citation))
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "The Bilua Verb". Verbix Languages. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- "Numerals". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
External links
[edit]- Paradisec open access collection of recordings of Bilua.
- Bilua words 1 - 209, two texts
Word List
Texts 1 - 11
Texts 12 - 20
Texts 21 - 27
Texts 28 - 39
Texts 40 - 49
Texts 50 - 62
Texts 64 - 66
Texts 67 - 68
Texts 69 - 72
Conversation - The Endangered Language Project
- Bilua Grammar
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