Tanema language
Endangered Oceanic language of the Solomon Islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tanema (Tetawo, Tetau) is a nearly extinct language of the island of Vanikoro, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands.
Vitality
As of 2012, Tanema is only spoken by one speaker, Lainol Nalo.[1][3] Like its neighbour Lovono, it has been replaced by Teanu, the main language of Vanikoro.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.[4] She was one of the last speakers of Tanema.
The language
Some information on the languages of Vanikoro, including Tanema, can be found in François (2009) for the grammar, and François (2021) for the lexicon.[5]
