Lakon language

The language name Lakon {{IPA|lkn|laˈkɔn|}} refers originally to the area where it is spoken ‒ namely Lakona Bay, corresponding to the west coast of Gaua. The alternative name Lakona {{IPA|mtt|lakona|}} is from the Mota language. These names are derived from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *laᵑgona, of unknown meaning.

Lakon had four dialects, named Qatareu (Qätärew {{IPA|lkn|k​͡pʷætæˈrɛw|}}), Vure (Vurē {{IPA|lkn|βuˈrɪ|}}), Toglatareu, and Togla.

Lakon has 16 phonemic consonants.François (2022).

The glottal stop {{IPA|[ʔ]}} only occurs before vowels in syllable-initial position. While non-phonemic, it is sometimes noted in the orthography, using a {{angbr|’}} mark.

Lakon has 16 phonemic vowels.

These include 8 short /i ɪ ɛ æ a ɔ ʊ u/ and 8 long vowels /iː ɪː ɛː æː aː ɔː ʊː uː/.

{{Harvcoltxt|François|2005|p=445}}, {{Harvcoltxt|François|2011|p=194}}.

Historically, the phonemicisation of vowel length originates in the compensatory lengthening of short vowels when the alveolar trill {{IPA|/r/}} was lost syllable-finally. This is considered to be a very recent change, perhaps within the last century, as Codrington still indicates the trill syllable-finally.{{Harvcoltxt|François|2005|p=461}}. However, the 1897 Book of Common Prayer in Lakon shows loss of the trill, as evidenced by tataa {{IPA|lkn|taˈtaː|}} "prayer" (spelled as tata) for Mota tataro.

The system of personal pronouns in Lakon contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural).François (2016).

Spatial reference in Lakon is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages.François (2015).

{{reflist|2|}}

• {{citation

|doi=10.1353/ol.2005.0034

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-link = Alexandre François (linguist)

|year=2005

|title=Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages

|journal=Oceanic Linguistics

|volume=44

|issue=2

|pages=443–504

|s2cid=131668754

|url=https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf

}}

• {{citation

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-mask=2

|year=2011

|title=Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence

|journal=Journal of Historical Linguistics

|volume=1

|issue=2

|pages=175–246

|doi=10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra

|url=https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2011_JHL1-2_Social-ecology_Vanuatu.pdf

|hdl=1885/29283

|s2cid=42217419

|hdl-access=free

}}.

• {{citation

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-mask=2

|year=2012

|title=The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages

|journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language

|volume=2012

|issue=214

|doi=10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022

|pages=85–110

|s2cid=145208588

|url=https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2012_NorthVanuatuSocioling_IJSL.pdf

}}

• {{Cite book

| publisher = Asia-Pacific Linguistics

| isbn = 978-1-922185-23-5

| pages = 137–195

|editor=Alexandre François |editor2=Sébastien Lacrampe |editor3=Michael Franjieh |editor4=Stefan Schnell

| last = François

| first = Alexandre

|author-mask=2

| title = The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity

| chapter = The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages

| location = Canberra

| series = Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia

| url = http://hdl.handle.net/1885/14819

| contribution-url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2015_North-Vanuatu-space-directionals.pdf

| date = 2015

| hdl = 1885/14819

| ref = updown }}

• {{citation

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-mask=2

|year=2016

|contribution = The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu

|editor1-last = Pozdniakov

|editor1-first = Konstantin

|title = Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles

|volume = 47

|pages = 25–60

|publisher = Peter Lang

|place = Bern

|series = Faits de Langues

|contribution-url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2016_History-personal-pronouns_north-Vanuatu_s.pdf

|ref=pronouns

}}

• {{cite web

|url=https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Lakon?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=true

|title=Presentation of the Lakon language, and audio archive

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-mask=2

|author-link=

|date=2022

|website=Pangloss Collection

|location=Paris

|publisher=CNRS

|access-date=18 March 2023

|quote=

|ref=pangloss}}

• [http://anglicanhistory.org/oceania/lakona1897.html Portions of the Book of Common Prayer] in Lakon from Project Canterbury
• [http://alex.francois.online.fr/AF-literacy-stories-e.htm A book of traditional stories, monolingual in Lakon language] (site of linguist A. François)
• [http://alex.francois.online.fr/AF-field.htm Detailed list and map of the Banks and Torres languages, showing range of Lakon].
• [https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Lakon?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=false Audio recordings in the Lakon language], in open access, by A. François (source: Pangloss Collection).
• Paradisec has collections with Lakon language materials including Arthur Capell's fieldnotes ([http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC2 AC2]) and [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/PAMBU Digitised microfilm images from Pacific Manuscripts Bureau (PAMBU)].

{{Languages of Vanuatu}}

{{Southern Oceanic languages}}

{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}

Category:Languages of Vanuatu

Category:Banks–Torres languages

Category:Torba Province

Category:Vulnerable languages