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Gela language

{{short description|Austronesian language spoken in the Solomon Islands}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Gela

|altname=Nggela

|states=Central Solomon Islands

|region=Big Nggela, Small Nggela, Sandfly and Buenavista Islands

|speakers={{sigfig|11,900|2}}

|date=1999

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Oceanic

|fam4=Southeast Solomonic

|fam5=Gela–Guadalcanal

|fam6=Gelic

|iso3=nlg

|glotto=gela1263

|glottorefname=Gela

|notice=IPA

}}

Gela ({{IPAc-en|lang|'|ɡ|eɪ|l|ɑː}} {{respell|GAY|lah}}), also known as Nggela {{IPA|nlg|ᵑgela|}}{{Cite journal| volume = 59| issue = 2| pages = 135–168| last = Fox| first = Charles E.|author-link =Charles Fox (missionary)| title = Some notes on Nggela grammar| journal = Journal of the Polynesian Society| date = 1950}} and formerly as Florida,[http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Melanesia/florida_intro.html Na Lei Kokoeliulivuti: Prayers in the Florida Language]. Anglican Church of Melanesia. is an Oceanic language spoken in the Nggela Islands, in the middle of the Solomon Islands. It belongs to the Southeast Solomonic group of the Oceanic family.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Gela was used by the Melanesian Mission of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, as a language of Christianisation{{Cite book| publisher = De Gruyter Mouton| isbn = 978-3-11-013417-9| pages = 619–624| editor1 = Stephen A. Wurm| editor2 = Peter Mühlhäusler| editor3 = Darrell T. Tryon| last = Tryon| first = Darrell T.|author-link=Darrell T. Tryon| title = Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas| chapter = Mission and church languages in Island Melanesia| accessdate = 2023-06-18| date = 1996-12-31| chapter-url = https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110819724.2.619/html}} ‒ along with Mota, a language of the Banks islands of northern Vanuatu. The first translation of the scriptures in Gela was published in 1882.

Dialects

The three dialects of Gela are very similar, differing mainly on a small number of phonological points.

Phonology

=Phonemes=

==Consonants==

Gela has the following consonant phonemes:

class="wikitable" style=text-align:center

!

!colspan="2"| Labial

!colspan="2"| Alveolar

!colspan="2"| Velar

Nasal

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|m}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|n}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

Stop

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|p}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|b}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|t}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|d}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|k}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|g}}

Fricative

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|v}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|s}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|z}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɣ}}

Approximant

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|w}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|l}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|j}}

Trill

|colspan="2"|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|r}}

|colspan="2"|

The fricative /z/ is realized as [ð] in alternation with a retroflex sibilant [ʐ], initially before /a/.{{Cite book|last=Crowley|first=Terry|author-link=Terry Crowley|chapter=Gela|location=Richmond|publisher=Curzon|year=2002|editor1=John Lynch |editor2=Malcolm Ross |editor3=Terry Crowley|title=The Oceanic Languages|pages=525–537}}

The Gela dominant voiced is "h" not "z". "Z" is found in Savosavo language speakers (and Bugotu and part of Guadalcanal) who also speak Gela - primarily due to their use of the Church of Melanesia Common Prayer Books and Hymns (written in Gela in the 1940s).

==Vowels==

Gela uses {{IPA|/i, e, a, o, u/}} with no contrastive vowel length.

=Stress=

Stress generally occurs on each word's penultimate syllable.

Sample vocabulary

=Numbers=

  1. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|keha (keha or sakai, not keza)}}
  2. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua}}
  3. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu}}
  4. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati}}
  5. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|lima}}
  6. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|ono}}
  7. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vitu}}
  8. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|alu}}
  9. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hiua (not hiwa)}}
  10. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu}}
  11. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu sakai}}
  12. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu rua}}
  13. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu tolu}}
  14. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu vati}}
  15. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu lima}}
  16. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu ono}}
  17. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu vitu}}
  18. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu alu}}
  19. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|hangavulu hiua}}
  20. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu}}
  21. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu sakai}}
  22. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu rua}}
  23. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu tolu}}
  24. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu vati}}
  25. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu lima}}
  26. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu ono}}
  27. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu vitu}}
  28. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu alu}}
  29. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|rua hangavulu hiua}}
  30. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu}}
  31. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu sakai}}
  32. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu rua}}
  33. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu tolu}}
  34. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu vati}}
  35. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu lima}}
  36. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu ono}}
  37. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu vitu}}
  38. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu alu}}
  39. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|tolu hangavulu hiua}}
  40. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu}}
  41. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu sakai}}
  42. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu rua}}
  43. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu tolu}}
  44. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu vati}}
  45. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu lima}}
  46. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu ono}}
  47. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu vitu}}
  48. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu alu}}
  49. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|vati hangavulu hiua}}
  50. {{Transliteration|nlg|italic=no|lima hangavulu}}

In general, for two-digit numbers, numbers are expressed as a*10+b, where a and b are numbers ranging from 1 to 9.

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Melanesia/florida_intro.html Na Lei Kokoeliulivuti] Portions of the Anglican Prayer Book in Gela
  • [https://books.google.com/books?id=wNIpAAAAYAAJ Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles] in Gela
  • Paradisec open access [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC2/items/OLVOC311 collection of texts] in Gela
  • Paradisec open access [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC1?items_page=2&items_per_page=118 collection of recordings] in Gela

{{Languages of the Solomon Islands}}

{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}

Category:Gela-Guadalcanal languages

Category:Verb–object–subject languages

Category:Languages of the Solomon Islands