Bilua language
{{Short description|Papuan language spoken in Solomon Islands}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Bilua
| states = Solomon Islands
| region = Vella Lavella Island, Western Province
| speakers = {{sigfig|8740|2}}
| date = 1999
| ref = e18
| familycolor = Papuan
| fam1=Central Solomon
| iso3 = blb
| glotto = bilu1245
| glottorefname = Bilua
| map = Lang Status 99-NE.svg
| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Bilua is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}
}}
{{Coord|7.92|S|156.66|E|display=title}}Bilua (also known as Mbilua or Vella Lavella){{Cite web|url=http://www.language-archives.org/language/blb|title=OLAC resources in and about the Bilua language|website=www.language-archives.org|access-date=2017-05-01}} is the most populous Papuan language spoken in the Solomon Islands.{{harvp|Woodley|2002}} 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.{{harvp|Obata|2003|p=1}}
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.{{harvp|Obata|2003|pages=8–11}}
= Consonants =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" | |
| colspan="2" |Nasal
|{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} | |{{IPA link|ɲ}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} |
|---|
| rowspan="2" |Plosive/ Affricate !voiceless |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} |({{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}) | |{{IPA link|k}} |
| voiced
|{{IPA link|b}} ({{IPA link|ᵐb}}) |{{IPA link|d}} ({{IPA link|ⁿd}}) |{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} ({{IPA link|ⁿd͡ʒ}}) | |{{IPA link|g}} ({{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}) |
| rowspan="2" |Fricative
!voiceless | |{{IPA link|s}} | | | |
| voiced
|{{IPA link|β}} |{{IPA link|z}} | | |({{IPA link|w}}) |
| colspan="2" |Lateral
| |{{IPA link|l}} | | | |
| colspan="2" |Rhotic
| |{{IPA link|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 =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! !Back |
| High
|{{IPA link|i}} ({{IPA link|ɪ}}) | || |{{IPA link|u}} ({{IPA link|ʊ}}) |
|---|
| Mid
| {{IPA link|e}} ({{IPA link|ɛ}}) | |{{IPA link|o}} ({{IPA link|ɔ}}) |
| Low
| |{{IPA link|a}} | |
Four vowel sounds /i u e o/ have allophones but only in diphthongs as [ɪ ɛ ɔ ʊ].
Verb construction
= Sample Verbs =
| class="wikitable"
!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.
References
=Footnotes=
{{Reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite book |last=Obata |first=Kazuko |title=A Grammar of Bilua: a Papuan language of the Solomon Islands |location=Canberra |publisher=Pacific Linguistics. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. The Australian National University |year=2003 |series=Pacific Linguistics 540 |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/146708/1/PL-540.pdf |isbn=0-85883-531-2 |doi=10.15144/PL-540 |hdl=1885/146708}}
- {{cite thesis |last=Woodley |first=Ellen Joanne |s2cid=129399351 |title=Local and indigenous knowledge as an emergent property of complexity: A case study in the Solomon Islands |date=2002 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Guelph }}
Further reading
- {{cite book
|author=Terrill, A
|year=2011
|title=Languages in Contact: An Exploration of Stability and Change in the Solomon Islands. Oceanic Linguistics
|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press
}}
- {{citation
|author=Dunn, M., Reesink, G., & Terrill, A.
|year= 2002
|title= The East Papuan Languages: A Preliminary Typological Appraisal
|journal= Oceanic Linguistics
|volume= 41
|pages = 28–62
|doi =10.2307/3623327
| issue=1
|jstor= 3623327
|hdl= 11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1ADC-1
|hdl-access= free
}}
- {{citation
|author=Terrill, A.
|year= 2002
|title= Systems of Nominal Classification in East Papuan Languages
|journal= Oceanic Linguistics
|volume= 41
|pages = 63–88
|doi =10.2307/3623328
| issue=1
|jstor= 3623328
|hdl= 11858/00-001M-0000-0013-189B-5
|hdl-access= free
}}
- {{citation
|author=Donohue, Mark, and Simon Musgrave
|year= 2007
|title= Typology and the Linguistic Macrohistory of Island Melanesia.
|journal= Oceanic Linguistics
|volume= 46
|pages = 348–387
| issue=2
|doi=10.1353/ol.2008.0011
|s2cid= 127188288
}}
- {{cite web
| url =http://wiki.verbix.com/Languages/Bilua
| title =The Bilua Verb
| website =Verbix Languages
| access-date =April 6, 2017
}}
- {{cite web
| url =https://mpi-lingweb.shh.mpg.de/numeral/Bilua.htm
| title =Numerals
| website = Numeral Systems of the World's Languages
| access-date =April 30, 2017
}}
External links
- Paradisec open access collection of [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KO1 recordings of Bilua.]
- [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/001 Bilua words 1 - 209, two texts]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/002 Word List]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/003 Texts 1 - 11]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/004 Texts 12 - 20]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/005 Texts 21 - 27]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/006 Texts 28 - 39]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/007 Texts 40 - 49]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/008 Texts 50 - 62]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/009 Texts 64 - 66]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/010 Texts 67 - 68]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/011 Texts 69 - 72]
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KO1/012 Conversation] - [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/10808 The Endangered Language Project]
- [http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_bil Bilua Grammar]
{{Languages of the Solomon Islands}}
{{Authority control}}