Touo language

{{Infobox language

|name=Touo

|altname=Baniata

|states=Solomon Islands

|region=southern Rendova Island, Western Province

|speakers={{sigfig|1870|2}}

|date=1999 census

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Papuan

|fam1=Central Solomons

|iso3=tqu

|glotto=touo1238

|glottorefname=Touo

| map = Lang Status 99-NE.svg

| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Touo is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

}}

File:Central_Solomons_languages.png

The Touo language, also known as Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru, is spoken over the southern part of Rendova Island, located in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.

Classification

Touo is generally seen to be a member of the tentative Central Solomons family, although Glottolog considers it an isolate. Pedrós (2015) cautiously suggests Lavukaleve as the closest relative to Touo. Most of the surrounding languages to Touo belong to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family.

Names

The Touo language is sometimes called the Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru language, after the largest two villages where the language is spoken.{{Cite book |title=Solomon Islands languages: an internal classification |last1=Tryon |first1=D. T. |last2=Hackman |first2=B. D. |date=1983 |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |isbn=978-0-85883-292-3 |series=Pacific Linguistics Series C - No. 72 |location=Canberra |doi=10.15144/PL-C72 |hdl=1885/145227 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/solomonislandsla0000tryo }} The word Touo comes from the ethnonym that Touo speakers use to refer to themselves.

Phonology

=Consonants=

Touo consonants are:{{rp|869}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
colspan="2" \| ! labial ! alveolar ! velar ! glottal
colspan="2" \| nasal \| {{IPAlink\|m}} \| {{IPAlink\|n}} \| {{IPAlink\|ŋ}} \|
rowspan="2" \| stop ! {{small\|voiceless}} \| ({{IPAlink\|p}}) \| {{IPAlink\|t}} \| ({{IPAlink\|k}}) \|
{{small\|voiced}} \| {{IPAlink\|b}} \| {{IPAlink\|d}} \| {{IPAlink\|ɡ}} {{grapheme\|q}} \|
rowspan="2" \| fricative ! {{small\|voiceless}} \| {{IPAlink\|f}} \| {{IPAlink\|s}} \| \| {{IPAlink\|h}}
{{small\|voiced}} \| {{IPAlink\|v}} \| {{IPAlink\|z}} \| \|
colspan="2" \| approximant \| \| \| {{IPAlink\|ɰ}} {{grapheme\|g}} \|
colspan="2" \| liquid \| \| {{IPAlink\|l}} \| \|

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

colspan="2" |

! labial

! alveolar

! velar

! glottal

colspan="2" | nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}}

| {{IPAlink|n}}

| {{IPAlink|ŋ}}

rowspan="2" | stop

! {{small|voiceless}}

| ({{IPAlink|p}})

| {{IPAlink|t}}

| ({{IPAlink|k}})

| {{IPAlink|b}}

| {{IPAlink|d}}

| {{IPAlink|ɡ}} {{grapheme|q}}

rowspan="2" | fricative

! {{small|voiceless}}

| {{IPAlink|f}}

| {{IPAlink|s}}

| {{IPAlink|h}}

| {{IPAlink|v}}

| {{IPAlink|z}}

colspan="2" | approximant

| {{IPAlink|ɰ}} {{grapheme|g}}

colspan="2" | liquid

| {{IPAlink|l}}

=Vowels=

Touo has six lax and five tense vowels.{{cite thesis |last=Nammari |first=Maisa |title=Touo: An Exploration of Grammar through Narration |degree=BA |publisher=University of Colorado |location=Boulder |url=https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/05741s97n }}

Tense	Lax	Tense	Lax
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+Vowels !rowspan=2\| !! colspan=2\|Front !! colspan=2\|Back
High \| {{IPAlink\|ḭ}} {{angbr\|ḭ}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|i}} {{angbr\|i}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|ṵ}} {{angbr\|ṵ}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|u}} {{angbr\|u}}
Mid \| {{IPAlink\|ḛ}} {{angbr\|ḛ}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|e}} {{angbr\|e}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|o̰}} {{angbr\|o̰}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|o}} {{angbr\|o}}
Low \| {{IPAlink\|a̰}} {{angbr\|a̰}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|a}} {{angbr\|a}} \|\| \|\| {{IPAlink\|ɔ}} {{angbr\|w}}

Some minimal pairs showing the tense/lax vowel phonemic distinction in Touo:{{cite book |last1=Stebbins |first1=Tonya |last2=Evans |first2=Bethwyn |last3=Terrill |first3=Angela |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=The Papuan languages of Island Melanesia |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=775–894 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}

Orthography	Gloss	Orthography	Gloss
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+Lax vs. Tense Vowels !colspan=2\|Lax !! colspan=2\|Tense
{{lang\|tqu\|e}}	road	{{lang\|tqu\|ḛ}}	oven
{{lang\|tqu\|avo}}	garden	{{lang\|tqu\|a̰vo}}	four
{{lang\|tqu\|ua}}	who?	{{lang\|tqu\|ṵa}}	eat
{{lang\|tqu\|isi}}	small	{{lang\|tqu\|ḭsi}}	sleep

Grammar

Word order in Touo is SOV.

Touo has four genders.

masculine
feminine
neuter I (generic)
neuter II (certain trees)

Only in certain paradigms of the singular number can neuter I and II be distinguished.

Touo distinguishes four numbers.

singular
dual
enumerated (i.e., numerically specified; can be used for both few or many numbers)
non-enumerated (i.e., not numerically specified; used for numbers greater than three)

Notes

Paradisec has two collections of Arthur Cappell's materials ([http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC1 AC1], [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC2 AC2]) that include Touo language materials.

References

{{Cite journal |last=Dunn |first=Michael |year=2005 |title=Vernacular Literacy in the Touo Language of the Solomon Islands |journal=Current Issues in Language Planning |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=239–250 |doi=10.1080/14664200508668283 |s2cid=130210017 }}
{{Cite journal |last1=Terrill |first1=Angela |last2=Dunn |first2=Michael |year=2003 |title=Orthographic design in the Solomon Islands: The social, historical, and linguistic situation of Touo (Baniata) |journal=Written Language & Literacy |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=177–192 |doi=10.1075/wll.6.2.03ter }}

Category:Languages of the Solomon Islands

Category:Western Province (Solomon Islands)

Category:Central Solomon languages