Kwaraqae
Austronesian language spoken in the Solomon Islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
| Kwaraʼae | |
|---|---|
| Kwaraqae | |
| Fiu | |
| Native to | Solomon Islands |
| Region | Malaita Island |
Native speakers | (32,000 cited 1999)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kwf |
| Glottolog | kwar1239 |
Phonology
The /f/ sound is merged with /h/. Most speakers of Kwaraʼae choose to pronounce /h/ as an /f/ sound in some vocabulary.
The sound [ə] is recognized as an allophone of /a/.[2] There is vowel reduction, so final /i/ and /u/ are often deleted. Before /i/, the vowel /a/ may become [e], forming the diphthong [ei].