Kwaraqae language
{{short description|Austronesian language spoken in the Solomon Islands}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Kwaraʼae
|altname=Kwaraqae
|nativename=Fiu
|states=Solomon Islands
|region=Malaita Island
|speakers={{sigfig|32400|2}}
|date=1999
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Austronesian
|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
|fam3=Oceanic
|fam4=Southeast Solomonic
|fam5=Malaita – San Cristobal
|fam6=Malaita
|fam7=Northern Malaita
|dia1=
|iso3=kwf
|glotto=kwar1239
|glottorefname=Kwaraʼae
}}
The Kwaraʼae or Kwaraqae language is spoken in the West, Central & Eastern regions of Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands. In 1999, there were 32,400 people known to speak the language. It is the largest indigenous vernacular of the Solomon Islands.
Phonology
| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Consonants in Kwaraʼae ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" | Labial ! rowspan="2" | Alveolar ! rowspan="2" |Palatal ! colspan="2" | Velar ! rowspan="2" | Glottal |
| nor.
!lab. |
|---|
| rowspan="2"| Stop
! voiceless | | {{IPA link|t}} | | {{IPA link|k}} | {{IPA link|kʷ}} | rowspan="2"| {{IPA link|ʔ}} |
| voiced
| {{IPA link|b}} | {{IPA link|d}} | | {{IPA link|ɡ}} | {{IPA link|ɡʷ}} |
| colspan="2" | Fricative
| ({{IPA link|f}}) | {{IPA link|s}} | | colspan="3" | {{IPA link|x}} ~ {{IPA link|h}} |
| colspan="2" | Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | {{IPA link|ŋ}} | {{IPA link|ŋʷ}} | |
| colspan="2" |Rhotic
| | {{IPA link|ɾ}} | | | | |
| colspan="2" | Lateral
| | {{IPA link|l}} | | | | |
| colspan="2" |Approximant
| {{IPA link|w}} | | {{IPA link|j}} | | | |
The /f/ sound is merged with /h/. Most speakers of Kwaraʼae choose to pronounce /h/ as an /f/ sound in some vocabulary.
| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Vowels in Kwaraʼae ! ! Front ! Central ! Back |
| High
| {{IPA link|i}} || || {{IPA link|u}} |
|---|
| Mid
| {{IPA link|ɛ}} || | {{IPA link|ɔ}} |
| Low
| || {{IPA link|a}} || |
The sound [ə] is recognized as an allophone of /a/.{{Cite thesis |last=Macdonald |first=Daryl Eveline |title=A Grammar Sketch of Kwaraqae |date=2010 |degree=Master of Arts |publisher=University of Waikato |hdl=10289/5755 |hdl-access=free}} There is vowel reduction, so final /i/ and /u/ are often deleted. Before /i/, the vowel /a/ may become [e], forming the diphthong [ei].
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://anglicanhistory.org/oceania/kwaraae/ Anglican liturgical publications in Kwaraʼae] from Project Canterbury
{{Languages of the Solomon Islands}}
{{Austronesian languages}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwaraʼae Language}}
Category:Languages of the Solomon Islands
{{SESolomonic-lang-stub}}