Tanema language
{{Short description|Endangered Oceanic language of the Solomon Islands}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Tanema
|nativename = Tetawo
|states=Solomon Islands
|region=Vanikoro
|speakers=1
|date=2012
|familycolor=Austronesian
|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
|fam3=Oceanic
|fam4=Temotu
|fam5=Vanikoro
|iso3=tnx
|glotto=tane1237
|glottorefname=Tanema
|map = Lang Status 20-CR.svg
|mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Tanema is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}
}}
Tanema (Tetawo, Tetau) is a nearly extinct language of the island of Vanikoro, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands.
Vitality
File:AlexFrancois_carte-Vanikoro-ile-821.jpg I., showing the historical territories of the three tribes of Lovono, Tanema and Teanu.Source: [http://alex.francois.online.fr/AF-maps-Vanikoro.htm#a Maps of Vanikoro (languages, place names)].]]
As of 2012, Tanema is only spoken by one speaker, Lainol Nalo.[http://alex.francois.online.fr/AF-field.htm#Solomons Homepage of the linguist A. François] (CNRS).[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/south-pacific-islands-threatened-by-more-than-just-rising-sea-levels-a-838675-2.html “The Mystery of the Sinking South Pacific Islands” — Part 2: A Language's Lone Survivor] (article in Der Spiegel, 15/06/2012). Like its neighbour Lovono, it has been replaced by Teanu, the main language of Vanikoro.
The late Emele Mamuli was a prolific storyteller who could speak fluently the three languages of Vanikoro: Teanu, Lovono and Tanema.[https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Tanema?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=true#:~:text=Fran%C3%A7ois%2C%20Alexandre-,%E2%80%A0Emele%20Mamuli,-was%20a%20prolific Photograph of Emele Mamuli] (2005). She was one of the last speakers of Tanema.
The language
Some information on the languages of Vanikoro, including Tanema, can be found in {{Harvcoltxt|François|2009}} for the grammar, and François (2021) for the lexicon.See also François (2022) for a general presentation.
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{Citation
| last = François
| first = Alexandre
| author-link = Alexandre François (linguist)
| contribution = The languages of Vanikoro: Three lexicons and one grammar
| editor-last = Evans
| editor-first = Bethwyn
| title = Discovering history through language: Papers in honour of Malcolm Ross
| volume =
| pages = 103–126
| publisher = Australian National University
| place = Canberra
| year = 2009
| series = Pacific Linguistics 605
| isbn =
| url=
| contribution-url = http://alex.francois.online.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2009_Vanikoro-languages.pdf
}}
- —— (2021). [http://alex.francois.free.fr/AF-Vanikoro-notes_e.htm Online Teanu–English dictionary], with lexical data in Lovono and Tanema. Paris, CNRS.
- {{cite web
|url=https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Tanema?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=true
|title=Presentation of the Tanema language, and audio archive
|last=François
|first=Alexandre
|author-mask=2
|author-link=
|date=2022
|website=Pangloss Collection
|location=Paris
|publisher=CNRS
|access-date=26 September 2022
|quote=
|ref=pangloss}}
External links
- [https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Tanema?lang=en&mode=pro Audio recordings in the Tanema language], in open access, by A. François (source: Pangloss Collection of CNRS).
{{Languages of the Solomon Islands}}
{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages}}
Category:Languages of the Solomon Islands
Category:Endangered Austronesian languages
Category:Critically endangered languages
{{oceanic-lang-stub}}